Apparently when Alexander Korda first came to England, he rode in a taxi in which the driver was singing "I'm Henry the eighth I am, I am." He mistakenly assumed that the population of this country were all great fans of that old Tudor king rather than just knowing a very popular music hall song of the time which was about someone called Henry who was a widow's eighth husband. Undaunted by the truth, he eventually received enough funding to make something surprisingly witty and still entertaining.
Because neither Korda nor Biro were not English, they weren't weighed down with the forelock tugging reverence and respect we English used to have for 'our betters' back then. They are therefore able to cheekily mock this particular king, whom in the patriotic 1930s unlike today was revered as one of our great and glorious monarchs. It seems quite strange for such a film from this period to completely abandon our inbred sense of deference towards royalty albeit in a very gentle way.
Who will this appeal to in the 21st century? Anyone interested not just in early talkies but in really well-made early talkies will appreciate this. Anyone with some knowledge about this period in history although it's obviously not trying to be a serious history film but rather a slightly pantomimic character study (the clue is in the title!) and as such it's pretty good. It cannot therefore be compared with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall but maybe could be better compared with Ben Elton's Upstart Crow?
It's not all jokes and chicken eating though, there is of course quite a lot of death, betrayals and sorrow which Korda handles easily as well as his contemporaries in Hollywood. It's beautifully filmed, imaginatively directed and superbly acted. Charles Laughton is great as too is his real wife Elsa Lanchester as Henry's quirky failed fourth wife but future best. Merle Oberon also features in just the first few minutes as Anne Boleyn and is absolutely mesmerising. Even however in those very intense scenes leading up to her execution there's a chance for a bit of British gallows humour. And it's that switching from tragedy to comedy, that ever changing mood is what keeps this film so alive and refreshing.
Because neither Korda nor Biro were not English, they weren't weighed down with the forelock tugging reverence and respect we English used to have for 'our betters' back then. They are therefore able to cheekily mock this particular king, whom in the patriotic 1930s unlike today was revered as one of our great and glorious monarchs. It seems quite strange for such a film from this period to completely abandon our inbred sense of deference towards royalty albeit in a very gentle way.
Who will this appeal to in the 21st century? Anyone interested not just in early talkies but in really well-made early talkies will appreciate this. Anyone with some knowledge about this period in history although it's obviously not trying to be a serious history film but rather a slightly pantomimic character study (the clue is in the title!) and as such it's pretty good. It cannot therefore be compared with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall but maybe could be better compared with Ben Elton's Upstart Crow?
It's not all jokes and chicken eating though, there is of course quite a lot of death, betrayals and sorrow which Korda handles easily as well as his contemporaries in Hollywood. It's beautifully filmed, imaginatively directed and superbly acted. Charles Laughton is great as too is his real wife Elsa Lanchester as Henry's quirky failed fourth wife but future best. Merle Oberon also features in just the first few minutes as Anne Boleyn and is absolutely mesmerising. Even however in those very intense scenes leading up to her execution there's a chance for a bit of British gallows humour. And it's that switching from tragedy to comedy, that ever changing mood is what keeps this film so alive and refreshing.