The Lion in Winter (1968 film)

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The Lion in Winter
Lion In Winter1.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Anthony Harvey
Screenplay by James Goldman
Based on The Lion in Winter
1966 play
by James Goldman
Produced by Martin Poll
Starring
Cinematography Douglas Slocombe
Edited by John Bloom
Music by John Barry
Color processColor
Production
company
Haworth Productions
Distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
Release date
  • October 30, 1968 (1968-10-30)
Running time
134 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million [1]
Box office$22.3 million [2]

The Lion in Winter is a 1968 historical drama centred on Henry II of England and his attempt to establish a line of succession during a family gathering at Christmas 1183. His efforts unleash both political and personal turmoil among his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their three surviving sons, the French king, and the king's half-sister Alais, who is Henry's mistress. The film stars Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn, was directed by Anthony Harvey, written by James Goldman, and produced by Joseph E. Levine, Jane C. Nusbaum, and Martin Poll. Actors John Castle, Anthony Hopkins (in his first major film role), Jane Merrow, Timothy Dalton (in his film debut) and Nigel Terry appear in support.

Contents

Based on Goldman's play "The Lion in Winter", the film was a commercial and critical success, winning three Academy Awards (including Hepburn's tie with Barbra Streisand for Best Actress, making Hepburn the first three-time winner in the category). A television remake of the film was released in 2003.

Plot

It is 1183 in the medieval Angevin Empire. Fifty-year-old Henry II of England seeks to establish a line of succession while he is still powerful enough to do so. He summons his family for Christmas at his castle in Chinon, Touraine. He wants his youngest son, John, a weakling, to inherit his throne, while his estranged wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, reprieved from imprisonment in England by Henry for the holiday, favours their eldest surviving son, Richard, a proven warrior.

Henry invites Philip II of France, son and successor of Louis VII, Eleanor's first husband, to settle some important outstanding business with him. Louis had made a treaty with Henry pledging Philip's half-sister Alais, currently Henry's devoted mistress, in troth to Henry's future heir; Philip demands either a wedding or the return of her dowry, the strategically important county of Vexin near Paris.

Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine, an Oscar winning performance Hep-lion.jpg
Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine, an Oscar winning performance

Henry comes up with a solution that will make nobody happy. He agrees to give Alais to hard-hearted Richard to wed, and make him heir-apparent, in return for Eleanor surrendering the Duchy of Aquitaine she wishes to keep to the wretched John, buying with her gift her precious freedom. When the arrangement is revealed at the wedding, Richard, who coveted the Aquitaine himself, refuses to go through with the marriage – just as Henry had anticipated.

Perceiving treachery in Henry's ploy, John is easily manipulated by his scheming middle brother, the "unloved" Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, to plot with Philip to make war on Henry, in return for being named John's chancellor. Richard then appears and plots with Philip, being easily maneuvered while John and Geoffrey hide behind a curtain. Henry and Philip then meet to discuss terms, with all three princes in hiding. Philip reveals he had been caballing with John and Geoffrey, then with Richard separately, and that he and Richard may once have been lovers. Philip casts their romantic liaison as always having been a scheme. Richard emerges and decries this, but Philip, saying he had always loathed Richard's sight and touch, just turns the knife deeper.

Recognizing his sons' limitations, and their various and multiple plottings against him, Henry dismisses all three as unsuitable heirs to his throne and endungeons them. He readies a train to travel to Rome to demand an annulment of his marriage to Eleanor by the Pope, intending then to wed and have new sons with Alais. She protests he will never be able to release his treasonous offspring from prison as they will slay any new legitimate heir. Eleanor confirms this, thrusting a verbal dagger into her husband by telling him not to worry, they will wait till he is dead to do so.

Henry recognizes the peril to his plan and confronts all three sons at once, holding them at bay three knives to one. Condemning them to death, he raises his sword over Richard first, but brings the blade down harmlessly upon Richard's mailed shoulder. Weeping, he lets the threesome escape.

Realizing all his hopes are lost, and that he has been successfully checked by Eleanor, he is resigned, and falls pitifully into her arms.

In the morning she leaves on her barge, waving affectionately while he bellows cheerful nonsenses, each realizing their love for one-another and their mutual plight as beholden to the other's spell. They will resume their jousting next year.

Cast

Production

Writing

The original stage production had not been a success, getting a bad review in The New York Times and losing $150,000. Producer Martin Poll optioned Goldman's novel Waldorf for the movies. They discussed Lion in Winter, which Poll had read and loved. He hired Goldman to write a screenplay.

Casting

Poll was meant to make a film with Joseph Levine and Peter O'Toole, The Ski Bum (which would be written by James Goldman's brother William). That project fell through and Poll suggested they do Lion in Winter instead. [3] O'Toole, who was 36, and had portrayed Henry II in 1964's Becket , plays him at age 50.

In October 1967, the actors rehearsed at Haymarket Theatre in London. [4] Production started in November 1967 [5] and continued until May 1968. [6]

Filming

The film was shot at Ardmore Studios in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, and on location in Ireland, Wales (Marloes Sands), [7] and France at Abbaye de Montmajour, Arles; Château de Tarascon, Carcassonne; and Saône-et-Loire. In an interview Peter O'Toole said that Katharine Hepburn, who was sixty years old, was at her best early in the morning while he favoured starting work in the afternoon. They came to a compromise and shot their scenes from 8:30 to 16:00 each day.

The sculpted stone figures which appear during the main title sequence were discovered by the director along a driveway near a shooting location in France. They are portrayed as appearing on interior walls of the castle in the film. [8]

After the seeing the completed film, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman offered Timothy Dalton the role of James Bond for the first time, as a replacement for Sean Connery in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Dalton declined because he felt he was too young, although he would later be cast in the role in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989). [9]

Reception

Box office

The film premiered on 30 October 1968 (29 December 1968 London premiere).

The film earned an estimated $6.4 million in distributor rentals in the domestic North American market during its initial year of release. [10] It was the 14th most popular movie at the U.S. box office in 1969. [11]

Critical

Renata Adler of The New York Times wrote that the film was "for the most part, outdoorsy and fun, full of the kind of plotting and action people used to go to just plain movies for." [12]

Variety called it "an intense, fierce, personal drama put across by outstanding performance of Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. Anthony Harvey, a relatively new director, has done excellent work with a generally strong cast, literate adaptation by the author, and superb production values assembled by Martin H. Poll, who produced for Joseph E. Levine presentation under the Embassy banner." [13]

Roger Ebert gave the film 4 stars out of 4, writing in 1968, "One of the joys which movies provide too rarely is the opportunity to see a literate script handled intelligently. 'The Lion in Winter' triumphs at that difficult task; not since 'A Man for All Seasons' have we had such capable handling of a story about ideas. But 'The Lion in Winter' also functions at an emotional level, and is the better film, I think." [14]

Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times declared, "Top honors for the most literate movie of the year, and for the finest and most imaginative and fascinating evocation of an historical time and place, can be awarded this very day to 'The Lion in Winter.'" [15]

Pauline Kael of The New Yorker was less positive, writing that the film miscalculated in attempting to elevate the melodramatic plot "with serious emotions, more or less authentic costumes and settings, pseudo-Stravinsky music, and historical pomp. And it just won't do to have actors carrying on as if this were a genuine, 'deep' historical play on the order of 'A Man for All Seasons' ... They're playing a camp historical play as if it were the real thing—delivering commercial near-poetry as if it were Shakespeare." [16]

In a mixed review for The Monthly Film Bulletin , David Wilson called Katharine Hepburn's performance "perhaps the crowning achievement of an extraordinary career" but described the film as a whole as being "essentially a piece of highly polished theatricality, and not much else if one looks beyond its insistently sophisticated surface gloss." [17]

Rotten Tomatoes collected 43 reviews through October 2021, amalgamating to a 91% approval and an average rating of 8.2/10. The critical consensus reads, "Sharper and wittier than your average period piece, The Lion in Winter is a tale of palace intrigue bolstered by fantastic performances from Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, and Anthony Hopkins in his big-screen debut." [18]

Accolades

AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
Academy Awards Best Picture Martin Poll Nominated [19]
Best Director Anthony Harvey Nominated
Best Actor Peter O'Toole Nominated
Best Actress Katharine Hepburn Won [lower-alpha 1]
Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium James Goldman Won
Best Costume Design Margaret Furse Nominated
Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (Not a Musical) John Barry Won
British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Katharine Hepburn [lower-alpha 2] Won [20]
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Anthony Hopkins Nominated
Best Screenplay James GoldmanNominated
Best Cinematography Douglas SlocombeNominated
Best Costume Design Margaret FurseNominated
Best Film Music John BarryWon
Best Sound Chris Greenham and Simon Kaye Nominated
United Nations AwardAnthony HarveyNominated
British Society of Cinematographers Awards Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film Douglas Slocombe Won [21]
David di Donatello Awards Best Foreign Production Martin PollWon [22]
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Anthony HarveyWon [23]
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Won [24]
Best Director – Motion Picture Anthony HarveyNominated
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Peter O'TooleWon
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Katharine HepburnNominated
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Jane Merrow Nominated
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture James GoldmanNominated
Best Original Score – Motion Picture John BarryNominated
Laurel Awards Top DramaNominated [25]
Top Female Dramatic PerformanceKatharine HepburnWon
National Board of Review Awards Top Ten Films 7th Place [26]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film Won [27]
Best Actor Peter O'TooleNominated
Best Screenplay James GoldmanNominated
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Written American Drama Won [28]
Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards Best British ScreenplayWon [29]

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved The Lion in Winter in 2000. [30]

Historical accuracy

Map of France in 1180. The Vexin is located northwest of Paris, between it and Rouen, straddling the Duchy of Normandy and the Royal Domaine surrounding Paris. Map France 1180-fr.svg
Map of France in 1180. The Vexin is located northwest of Paris, between it and Rouen, straddling the Duchy of Normandy and the Royal Domaine surrounding Paris.

Though the background and the eventual destinies of the characters are generally accurate, The Lion in Winter is fictional: while there was a Christmas court at Caen in 1182, there was none at Chinon in 1183. In reality, Henry had many mistresses and many illegitimate children; the "Rosamund" mentioned in the film was his mistress until she died. The Revolt of 1173–1174 provides the historical background leading to the play's events. There was also a second rebellion, when Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. While some historians have theorized that Richard was homosexual, it is not certain.

Geoffrey died in 1186 in a jousting tournament held in Paris (with some speculation that Geoffrey was involved in plotting against Henry with Philip at the time). A third rebellion against Henry by Richard and Philip in 1189 was finally successful, and a decisively defeated Henry retreated to Chinon in Anjou, where he died. Richard the Lionheart succeeded Henry II, but spent very little time in England (perhaps 6 months), after which he became a central Christian commander during the Third Crusade, leading the campaign after the departure of Philip. Richard won some considerable victories, but he did not succeed in retaking Jerusalem. John finally succeeded Richard in 1199 after Richard's death. During his unsuccessful reign he lost most of his father's holdings in Northern France and angered the English barons, who revolted and forced him to accept and add his seal to Magna Carta. John is also known for being the villain in the Robin Hood legends. Lastly, William Marshal, who during the film is harried about by Henry II, outlived the English main characters and eventually ruled England as regent for the young Henry III. [31]

Eleanor was only released after Henry's death by Richard.

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor of Aquitaine</span> Queen of France (1137–52) and England (1154–89)

Eleanor of Aquitaine was Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As the heiress of the House of Poitiers, which controlled much of southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. Militarily, she was a leading figure in the Second Crusade, and in a revolt in favour of her son. Culturally, she was a patron of poets such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn, and of the arts of the High Middle Ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John, King of England</span> King of England from 1199 to 1216

John was the king of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard I of England</span> King of England from 1189 to 1199

Richard I, known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony; Lord of Cyprus; Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and was therefore not expected to become king, but his two elder brothers predeceased their father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis VII of France</span> King of France from 1137 to 1180

Louis VII, called the Younger, or the Young, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI and married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees.

The Lion in Winter is a 1966 play by James Goldman, depicting the personal and political conflicts of Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children and their guests during Christmas 1183. It premiered on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre on March 3, 1966, starring Robert Preston and Rosemary Harris, who won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Eleanor. It was adapted by Goldman into an Academy Award-winning 1968 film of the same name, starring Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn. The play has been produced numerous times, including Broadway and West End revivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosamund Clifford</span> Mistress of King Henry II of England

Rosamund Clifford, often called "The Fair Rosamund" or "Rose of the World", was a medieval English noblewoman and mistress of Henry II, King of England, and she became famous in English folklore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany</span> Duke of Brittany and 3rd Earl of Richmond

Geoffrey II was Duke of Brittany and 3rd Earl of Richmond between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage to Constance, Duchess of Brittany. Geoffrey was the fourth of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angevin Empire</span> Medieval dynastic union of states in present-day England, France, Ireland, and Wales

The term Angevin Empire describes the possessions held by the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly all of present-day England, half of France, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and had further influence over much of the remaining British Isles. It may be described as an early example of a composite monarchy. The empire was established by Henry II of England, who succeeded his father Geoffrey as Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, acquiring the Duchy of Aquitaine, and inherited his mother Empress Matilda's claim to the English throne, succeeding his rival Stephen in 1154. Although their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, the Plantagenets held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou, and at Chinon in Touraine.

Alys of France, Countess of Vexin, known in English as "Alice", was a French princess, initially betrothed to Richard I of England. Her engagement was broken in 1190, through negotiations between Richard and her half-brother Philip Augustus of France. Philip then attempted to betroth her to King John of England but it was rejected. Alys married William IV, Count of Ponthieu on 20 August 1195. She died between 1218 and 1220.

<i>Becket</i> (1964 film) 1964 film by Peter Glenville

Becket is a 1964 British historical drama film about the historic, tumultuous relationship between Henry II of England and his friend-turned-bishop Thomas Becket. It is a dramatic film adaptation of the 1959 play Becket or the Honour of God by Jean Anouilh made by Hal Wallis Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Peter Glenville and produced by Hal B. Wallis with Joseph H. Hazen as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Edward Anhalt based on Anouilh's play. The music score was by Laurence Rosenthal, the cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth and the editing by Anne V. Coates.

<i>The Lion in Winter</i> (2003 film) 2003 American television film by Andrei Konchalovsky

The Lion in Winter is a 2003 American drama television film based on the 1966 play of the same name by James Goldman, and his screenplay for the 1968 film. It starred Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close, and was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky.

Anthony Harvey was an English filmmaker who began his career as a teenage actor, was a film editor in the 1950s and moved into directing in the mid-1960s. Harvey had fifteen film credits as an editor, and he directed thirteen films. The second film that Harvey directed, The Lion in Winter (1968), earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. Harvey's career is also notable for his recurring work with a number of leading actors and directors including Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers, Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, Liv Ullman, Sam Waterston, Nick Nolte, the Boulting Brothers, Anthony Asquith, Bryan Forbes and Stanley Kubrick. He died in November 2017 at the age of 87.

Events from the 1180s in England.

Geoffrey VI was Count of Nantes from 1156 to 1158. He was also known as Geoffrey of Anjou and Geoffrey FitzEmpress. He was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Empress Matilda. His brothers were Henry II of England and William FitzEmpress.

Events from the 1150s in England.

Henry II ruled as King of England from 1154 to 1189 and at various times he also partially controlled Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Duchy of Brittany. He has been depicted in various cultural media.

The Devil's Crown is a BBC television series which dramatised the reigns of three medieval Kings of England: Henry II and his sons Richard I and John. It is also known as La couronne du Diable in French.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Château de Chinon</span> Castle in France

Château de Chinon is a château located on the bank of the river Vienne in Chinon, France. It was founded by Theobald I, Count of Blois. In the 11th century the castle became the property of the counts of Anjou. In 1156 Henry II of England, a member of the House of Anjou, took the castle from his brother Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, after Geoffrey rebelled for a second time. Henry favoured the Château de Chinon as a residence. Most of the standing structure can be attributed to his reign; he died there in 1189.

Martin Poll was an American film and television producer. Poll produced eleven feature films during his career, including The Lion in Winter, for which he received a 1968 Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Picture. The Lion in Winter, which starred Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, received nine nominations and won three Academy Awards. It also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angevin kings of England</span> 12th–13th century English royal house of French origin

The Angevin kings of England were Henry II and his sons, Richard I and John, who ruled England from 1154 to 1216. With ancestral lands in Anjou, they were related to the Norman kings of England through Matilda, the daughter of Henry I, and Henry II's mother. They were also related to the earlier Anglo-Saxon kings of England through Matilda's great-great-great grandfather, Aethelred the Unready. Their descendants, the main line of Plantagenets, continued to rule England until 1485; some historians make no distinction between the Angevins and the Plantagenets, while others name John's son Henry III the first Plantagenet king.

References

  1. ↑ "Joseph, Robert. "Films Come to the Emerald Isle: Emerald Isle Welcomes Films"". Los Angeles Times . 17 March 1968. p. q26.
  2. ↑ "The Lion in Winter (1968)". The Numbers. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  3. ↑ Smith, C. (Dec 1, 1968). "'Lion in winter'--play that refused to die". Los Angeles Times . ProQuest   156111474.
  4. ↑ Bergan 1996, p. 155.
  5. ↑ Callan 2004, pp. 90, 100, 105.
  6. ↑ Wapshott 1984, p. 145.
  7. ↑ Wales hosts Hollywood blockbusters
  8. ↑ Director Anthony Harvey, audio commentary in Lion in Winter, 2000.
  9. ↑ Field, Matthew (2015). Some kind of hero : 007 : the remarkable story of the James Bond films. Ajay Chowdhury. Stroud, Gloucestershire. ISBN   978-0-7509-6421-0. OCLC   930556527.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15
  11. ↑ "The World's Top Twenty Films", Sunday Times, [London, England], 27 September 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 April 2014
  12. ↑ Adler, Renata (October 31, 1968). "Screen: James Goldman's 'Lion in Winter' Arrives". The New York Times : 54.
  13. ↑ "The Lion In Winter". Variety : 6. October 23, 1968.
  14. ↑ Ebert, Roger (November 4, 1968). "The Lion In Winter". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  15. ↑ Champlin, Charles (December 17, 1968). "'The Lion in Winter' Opens Run". Los Angeles Times . Part IV, p. 1.
  16. ↑ Kael, Pauline (November 9, 1968). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker . p. 189.
  17. ↑ Wilson, David (March 1969). "The Lion In Winter". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 36 (422): 50.
  18. ↑ "The Lion in Winter (1968)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved 6 October 2021. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  19. ↑ "The 41st Academy Awards (1969) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  20. ↑ "BAFTA Awards: Film in 1969". British Academy Film Awards . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film" (PDF). British Society of Cinematographers . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  22. ↑ "David di Donatello Awards 1968". Mubi . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  23. ↑ "The 21st Annual DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America Awards . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  24. ↑ "The Lion in Winter". Golden Globe Awards . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  25. ↑ "The Lion in Winter – Awards". IMDb . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  26. ↑ "National Board of Review of Motion Pictures :: Awards". National Board of Review. Archived from the original on December 18, 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  27. ↑ "1968 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". New York Film Critics Circle . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  28. ↑ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America Awards. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  29. ↑ "Writers' Guild Awards 1969". Writers' Guild of Great Britain . Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  30. ↑ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  31. ↑ Painter, S., William Marshal, Knight-Errant, Baron & Regent of England, p.268

Bibliography


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