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A Man For All Seasons (Collector's Edition) [1966]


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Editorial
Amazon.com

Robert Bolt's successful play was not considered a hot commercial property by Columbia Pictures--a period piece about a moral issue without a star, without even a love story. Perhaps that's why Columbia left director Fred Zinnemann alone to make A Man for All Seasons, as long as he stuck to a relatively small budget. The results took everyone by surprise, as the talky morality play became a box-office hit and collected the top Oscars for 1966. At the play's heart is the standoff between King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw, in young lion form) and Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield, in an Oscar-winning performance). Henry wants More's official approval of divorce, but More's strict ethical and religious code will not let him waffle. More's rectitude is a source of exasperation to Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles in a cameo), who chides, "If you could just see facts flat on without that horrible moral squint." Zinnemann's approach is all simplicity, and indeed the somewhat prosaic staging doesn't create a great deal of cinematic excitement. But the language is worth savoring, and the ethical politics are debated with all the calm and majesty of an absorbing chess game. --Robert Horton


A Film For All Time
Review date: 2008-06-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

"A Man For All Seasons" is one of my all time favourite films. It is absolutely faultless and could not possibly be bettered. I have seen it so many times I think I know the whole script by heart! Every actor and actress are perfect for their part.I could mention them all but then I would go on for ages so I will confine myself to just a few comments. There will never be a better cameo performance on screen of Henry VIII to match that of Robert Shaw; Wendy Hillier's leavetaking of her husband in the Tower brings tears to the eyes every time; Orson Welles is just awesome as Cardinal Wolsey; and Paul Scofield, of course, is matchless in every way. "Utopia" by the way IS mentioned - in the very first scene!
Buy this and watch again and again - there is something to reward you every time.
Ray Taylor - Barnsley

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Reviews


Conscience of the King
Review date: 2008-03-15 Rating: 10 out of 10

I remember the first time I saw this film in the mid-Sixties in Middlesbrough on a school trip. I thought it utterly wonderful, most of my classmates thought it wordy and foolish.

Sir Thomas More is played as a man of unbending conscience who depends upon his lawyerly skills to keep him from the axe (for this is England, not Spain) as such it is an evocation of the joys of hairsplitting. At times almost Shakesperarian in its language, it is a play about words and what they mean. More must seem a terribly unreal person to our present generations, but Scofield plays him very believably as a rather autistic good man who finds the foibles of others hard to accept. He is surrounded by a bevy of thespian talent. Nigel Davenport as the stentorian Duke of Norfolk, Leo McKern as the evil Cromwell, John Hurt as the man who gains all and loses all, Robert Shaw giving us a Henry VIII that (like Alec Guinesses's Charles I) sticks in the mind; and Colin Blakeney as the servant Matthew. It's a joy to behold. (And I've forgotten to mention Orson Welles and many many others).

I cannot think how many times I've seen it; please give it a shot, I think you'll enjoy it.

A Classic
Review date: 2007-10-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

Robert Shaw, Paul Schofield, Orson Welles, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern, John Hurt, Susannah York etc., etc.
You just are never, never going to get a cast line up like that ever again. At the time, the best actors in the Anglo world. Americans, Canadians, Irish, Australians and Brits at their best.
A story of one man's conscience and the consequences of going against his one time friend, Henry VIII.
A must have movie.
Buy and enjoy.

A Film For All Collections
Review date: 2007-04-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

This tells the better known part of the story of Sir Thomas More, who was raised from lawyer and then judge to become Lord Chancellor or England, only to be sentenced to death and beheaded for treason, having failed to take an oath which would legitimize the divorce of Henry VIII from his Spanish wife and his soon-following marriage to Anne Boleyn (later also beheaded). More's book "Utopia" is not mentioned in this film. The film itself is a production of such quality that it is hard to praise it enough. Directed by Fred Zinnemann, the photography, especially of "sweet Thames" and its bird life, is of the highest and most moving quality. The acting likewise, featuring some of the best British film actors of the time of filming, as well as Orson Welles (playing the previous Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey). The screenplay by the unrivalled Robert Bolt is what really puts the seal on this most valued film. If you have never seen A Man For All Seasons, see it.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Wendy Hiller
Robert Shaw
Orson Welles
Leo McKern
Paul Scofield

Creators:
Paul Scofield (Primary Contributor)
Wendy Hiller (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822001398
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2007-02-12
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 116 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1966
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Bulgarian (Subtitled)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)

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