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Richard Burton, Geneviève Bujold, Irene Papas, Anthony Quayle, John Colicos ... see more see more... , Michael Hordern , Katherine Blake , Peter Jeffrey , Joseph O'Conor , William Squire , Valeiie Gearon , Vernon Dobtcheff , Gary Bond , Terence Wilton , Denis Quilley , Esmond Knight , T.P. McKenna , Michael Johnson , Marne Maitland , Nora Swinburne , June C. Ellis , Cyril Luckham , Brook Williams , Lesley Paterson , Kynaston Reeves , Amanda Jane Smythe , Nicola Pagett , Kate Burton , Liza Todd Burton , Elizabeth Taylor , Katharine Blake

Anne of the Thousand Days is the belated film adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's 1948 stage play. The story concentrates on the romance between Britain's King Henry VIII (Richard Burton) and his ill-fat... read more read more...ed second wife Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold). After holding out for marriage rather than an illegitimate union, Anne marries Henry after he sheds himself of Katherine of Aragon -- causing a rift between the Crown and the Church in the process. Anne's inability to produce a male heir leads Henry to look about for other suitable mates. Henry's sinister right-hand man Cromwell (John Colicos) arranges for Anne to be condemned on a charge of adultery. She is beheaded, while Henry disconsolately sits in Windsor Castle, regretting this callous example of political expediency. Richard Burton is ideally cast in Anne of the Thousand Days, but it is Genevieve Bujold who delivers the best, most complex performance in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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83% liked it

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42% liked it

12 critics

PG, 2 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: Charles Jarrott

Release Date: December 18, 1969

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DVD Release Date: February 28, 1995

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Stats: 217 reviews

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Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days Geneviève Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days Anne of the Thousand Days Anthony Quayle & Geneviève Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days Anne of the Thousand Days Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days Anthony Quayle in Anne of the Thousand Days Anthony Quayle in Anne of the Thousand Days Genevieve Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days Anne of the Thousand Days
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Flixster Reviews (217)

  • binky013
    February 4, 2011
    binky013
    I just caught this the other night on Turner's month of Oscar-related films marathon. If you know me, you know that I'm not Ricard Burton's biggest fan. I know I'm in something of a minority, but seeing him play such a jerk as Henry VIII does nothing to help his cause with me. ... read more I mean he was nominated -- although not by me -- as best actor for this role in 1969, but like Hoffman and Voight in Midnight Cowboy, Burton was also up against The Duke as Rooster Cogburn, so you just knew that John Wayne had to be the odds-on favorite -- as in the proverbial handwriting was on the wall.

    I tell you, when Geneviève Bujold's head comes off at the end, there is nothing I want more than to see Henry's head come off instead. Especially with that disgusting final line about heading off to Mistress Seymour's home once he knows Boleyn is dead. I love the way the movie closes with Bujold's voice-over predicting that little Elizabeth, her daughter, will be greater than any English monarch before her. And arguably, that pronouncement became prophetically true.

    Bujold herself was nominated for Best Actress, but for once I agree 100% with the Academy: Maggie Smith stands as the hands-down winner for her job in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

    I'm not really sure why Anthony Quayle was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. I think Jack NIcholson had a better chance for Easy Rider, and I'll 95% agree that Gig Young did deserve it for a great job in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
  • harrycaul
    March 14, 2008
    harrycaul
    I usually find this sort of historical drama fascinating to read about but a bit dull on film, though "Anne of the Thousand Days" is distinguished by the excellence of its performances. The story covers the rise to power and fall from grace of Anne Boleyn. It also contrasts the f... read moreluctuating fortunes of several of the key courtiers of Henry VIII, including Cardinal Wolsey, Sir Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. Perhaps for budgetary reasons, we see next to nothing of the vanished Tudor London; the action takes place against a backdrop of National Trust/English Heritage exteriors and cardboard and polystyrene studio interiors. Interestingly, the spectacular cinematic potential of this turbulent age -- the reformation of the church, the dissolution of the monasteries, the burning of 'heretics' and the hanging, drawing and quartering of the treasonous -- is deliberately downplayed in favour of the causative machinations of a well-insulated court. I'm all for strong portrayals of women on film, but if the real Boleyn was half as insolent as Genevieve Bujold's I doubt whether she'd have kept her head as long as she did. Bujold never looked lovelier than she does here, and she and Richard Burton spar wonderfully well together.
  • envel2
    January 18, 2008
    envel2
    Seeing how politics in the time of Henry VIII was interesting. Nicely done.
  • lasmoak
    May 24, 2008
    lasmoak
    Fantastic performance by Genevieve Bujould, but I found the film to be a little dry overall. Perhaps this period of history has been depicted a bit too often to offer anything really new...

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Critic Reviews

March 23, 2011
TIME Magazine

It is a story fit for the second Elizabeth, though it has perhaps one minor fault: the first two hours. Full Review

Variety Staff
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

Anne of the Thousand Days is a stunning-acted, sumptuous, grand-scale widescreen drama of the royal bed chamber and political intrigues that created the Church of England. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

One of those almost unbearably classy movies, like A Man for All Seasons and Becket, that have a way of elevating the reputations of moviemakers without doing much for the art. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

It's about what you'd expect -- slow, dry, fleetingly intelligent. Full Review

March 23, 2011
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A superbly acted costume drama. Full Review

David Parkinson
March 23, 2011
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

Some plucky performance don't manage to embue this historical drama with the regal spectacle the source material deserves. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
December 24, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

The performances (by Burton and Bujold in the leads) are decent but the film is dull, overly long, and overwrought--the kind of Royalty picture that impresses Oscar voters. Full Review

Tom Milne
June 24, 2006
Tom Milne, Time Out

Interminable plod through the story of Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn. Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

Bujold gives a sweet and creditable performance, though, and Burton adds some humanity to a character often portrayed simply as a monster. Yet they cannot salvage this sprawling mess. Full Review

Jeffrey Westhoff
May 13, 2005
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

No review available.

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  • Which famous actress made a masked cameo in "Anne of the thousand Days" as the masked woman who bursts in on Queen Katherine praying?  Answer »
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