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9:05 am
June 5, 2010
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I looked over the old topics on the forum, and I don't think I saw this one for a subject, so here goes.
Of all the movies and TV shows you've seen on Henry VIII, who is your favorite Henry, your favorite Anne, your least favorite Henry and your least favorite Anne. And if you want to throw any other portrayals in the mix, be my guest. (As for Elizabeth — I think I'll start that over on The Elizabeth Files).
Favorite Anne Boleyn: Natalie Dormer, Genevieve Bujold, Dorothy Tutin.
MAJOR Missed Opportunity: Merle Oberon in The Private Life of Henry VIII. Her Anne is on and off the screen so quickly, if you blink, you'll miss her. Her marriage to Henry is never shown, only her execution, but as usual, Oberon is stunning and you wonder what might have been.
Least Favorite Anne: Henny Porten of Anna Boleyn (Also See Least Favorite Henry). Plain, chubby/chunky, this is about the most unsexiest Anne I have ever seen. She spends the movie downcast and depressed because she doesn't want Henry's love and is forced to marry him. HUH?
What???
******************
Favorite Henry VIII: Keith Michell (my first Henry *sigh*), Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (for all his lack of red hair, a few inches in height and fat suit for Season 4), Richard Burton, Robert Shaw.
Least Favorite Henry VIII: German silent movie great Emil Jannings in Ernst Lubitsch's silent film Anna Boleyn. (Also See Least Favorite Anne). Does it make sense when I say that this movie “feels” too German? There's nothing English about it. Jannings leers and Porten draws back in disgust — for pretty much the whole friggin' thing! The sex appeal in it is about a MINUS 10. And it's dull. This may have been one of the worst portrayals of English history until the Nazis made their version of Titanic with a German officer warning everybody about the iceberg!
Mixed Emotions: The great Charles Laughton, Ray Winstone.
******
Other Favorites, Also Rans and Not So Favorites in Tudor Movies and TV shows:
**** Patrick Troughton as the Duke of Norfolk in The Six Wives of Henry VIII. He made me hate the Duke so much, I can barely watch an OLD Doctor Who with Troughton without thinking “You hung your niece and nephew out to dry you dirty old…”
**** Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons and Jeremy Northam's Thomas in The Tudors.
**** Orson Welles (A Man For All Seasons), Anthony Quayle (Anne of the Thousand Days), Sam Neill (The Tudors) — Cardinal Wolsey
he and Ms. Simmons were married to each other when they played Thomas and Elizabeth so wow factor there too.I know I've forgotten somebody but you get some idea of my favorites and not-so-favorites!
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
2:29 pm
August 3, 2010
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Hmmm, I'm not sure about Henry, but my favorite Anne acting-wise is Natalie Dormer and my favorite Anne physical appearance-wise is, don't hate me for saying this!, Natalie Portman. My least favorite Anne? I'd have to agree with you, Tina: Henny Porten.
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
4:32 pm
June 5, 2010
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Boleynfan said:Hmmm, I'm not sure about Henry, but my favorite Anne acting-wise is Natalie Dormer and my favorite Anne physical appearance-wise is, don't hate me for saying this!, Natalie Portman. My least favorite Anne? I'd have to agree with you, Tina: Henny Porten.
Hey, I don't hate you!
I think Dormer may not be the physical image of Anne, but there was something about her I liked a lot, and it likely had to do with her performance.
I wasn't sure what to think of Natalie Portman — and no, I didn't have problems putting her Princess Amadala aside LOL (I didn't even like Star Wars chapters 1-3 but that's another story LOL). But there were moments, physically, when she struck me as how I thought Anne might have looked.
Dorothy Tutin may have been the embodiment of Anne physically and with her acting, emotionally. She was my “first Anne.” I still remember crying during the trial scene, crying so hard in fact that my grandmother nearly made me turn off the TV. Then I told her what was going on…and do you know I got her hooked on the show too! LOL (She HATED Henry LOL).
Glad someone else knows Henny Porten. I “lucked” up on the movie a year or so ago because I'm a silent movie fan, but wasn't expecting anything that dull. Somebody over on YouTube has made a video of stills from it and if you've never seen this Anne Boleyn before, it's worth a quick look. I'm sure she was a good actress in other things, but Anne Boleyn she ain't! LOL
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
11:28 am
June 5, 2010
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Was on YouTube trying to find something else for a question I want to ask you all, and I found that someone had taken some highlights of Dorothy Tutin's performance and made them into a video. This just brought up a lot of old memories, and why she remains one of my favorite Annes.
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
12:42 pm
August 22, 2010
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TinaII2None said:
Dorothy Tutin may have been the embodiment of Anne physically and with her acting, emotionally. She was my “first Anne.” I still remember crying during the trial scene, crying so hard in fact that my grandmother nearly made me turn off the TV. Then I told her what was going on…and do you know I got her hooked on the show too! LOL (She HATED Henry LOL).
Glad someone else knows Henny Porten. I “lucked” up on the movie a year or so ago because I'm a silent movie fan, but wasn't expecting anything that dull. Somebody over on YouTube has made a video of stills from it and if you've never seen this Anne Boleyn before, it's worth a quick look. I'm sure she was a good actress in other things, but Anne Boleyn she ain't! LOL
I also really like Dorothy Tutin's Anne. And I agree about the silent Anne Boleyn. It was totally inaccurate and so incredibly boring.
2:18 pm
June 5, 2010
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Iguazu said:
I also really like Dorothy Tutin's Anne. And I agree about the silent Anne Boleyn. It was totally inaccurate and so incredibly boring.
Well, I knew the director's other works (at least one of his comedies had me LMAO), so I was looking forward to seeing his Anne Boleyn and the famous Lubitsch touch. Boy was I in for a disappointment. “Totally inaccurate” is an understatement and any movie about Anne and Henry that is “incredibly boring”, well, the director deserves 40 lashes! I'm not even sure where he was going with it. (There was even oe scene when Princess Mary is standing in the middle of a crowd screaming hysterically, and at the time I kept thinking “She wouldn't have done that.” LOL I don't even remember WHY she was doing it, but it was just ridiculous). Just one mess of a movie and one mess of an Anne Boleyn!
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
6:48 pm
August 25, 2010
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I confess, I have a lot of Anne watching to do yet but my favorite is Natalie Dormer. I do like Natalie Portman's look as Anne as it was more plain and that is how I see those days. The costume designer for The Tudors even said she tried to modern the show up a bit so that leads to fancier clothes and more makeup which in turn makes Natalie Dormer even more stunning than she already is. However, hands down performance goes to Dormer of the two. She was amazing and in my opinion the perfect Anne! For all the other Anne movies I watch they have a LOT to live up to in my mind; which is sadly one of the reasons I keep putting off watching them (besides my husband saying Hell no, so I have to wait until he isn't around lol).
“Oh death, rock me asleep, Bring me to quiet rest, Let pass my weary guiltless ghost out of my careful breast.”
7:15 pm
August 3, 2010
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I agree, TeamAnne, but the only thing is, you have to remember that Natalie Portman's part wasn't the Anne that we know, she was playing Philippa Gregory's romanticized, rather monstrous Anne.
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
8:17 pm
June 5, 2010
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TeamAnne said:
I confess, I have a lot of Anne watching to do yet but my favorite is Natalie Dormer. I do like Natalie Portman's look as Anne as it was more plain and that is how I see those days. The costume designer for The Tudors even said she tried to modern the show up a bit so that leads to fancier clothes and more makeup which in turn makes Natalie Dormer even more stunning than she already is. However, hands down performance goes to Dormer of the two. She was amazing and in my opinion the perfect Anne! For all the other Anne movies I watch they have a LOT to live up to in my mind; which is sadly one of the reasons I keep putting off watching them (besides my husband saying Hell no, so I have to wait until he isn't around lol).
TeamAnne — I'm not sure how many Anne movies/TV shows I've seen total. In the last year or two, I've run across some I never even knew existed (Barbara Kellerman…Henny Porten…Charlotte Rampling??) — and then there are the ones that stay in mind for better or worst. I think you definitely got one of the best in Ms. Dormer, and I wasn't even sure I'd like her Anne at first . But I know how you feel about the others having a lot to live up to! Here's hoping you'll have a chance to catch up to them soon cause I'd love to hear what you think about the other Annes. Merle Oberon you can knock out in about 5 minutes; she's a blip in a movie which focuses more on Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard! Vanessa Redgrave didn't have a line in 'A Man For All Seasons'. (Can you watch some of the movies or shows on your computer or laptop via Netflix or YouTube so that hubby won't have to 'suffer'? LOL). Anyway, good luck on the Anne watching!
By the way, are Dormer and Portman the only ones you've seen?
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
4:36 am
August 25, 2010
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Boleynfan, I don't like Portman's performance for that reason exactly. She is a fine actress but I don't like the Anne the author and therefore movie protrayed so in turn I don't like Portman's performance.
TinaII2None, yeah I go upstairs sometimes to watch whatever I want but he gets all lonely and complains, haha. He is in the military so travels a lot and therefore I do a lot of my watching then. I have seen one other Anne and I can't remember it but it wasn't anything special. It was a movie on TV I know that much and it was a while ago. I will probably re-watch it not knowingly in my quest to see all things Anne.
“Oh death, rock me asleep, Bring me to quiet rest, Let pass my weary guiltless ghost out of my careful breast.”
10:55 am
February 24, 2010
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My favorite would have to be Natalie Dormer. She was perfect. I didn't even mind that she had blue eyes.
My next favorite would be Genevieve Bujold. Loved her as Anne. Then Natalie Portman.
10:58 am
August 3, 2010
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TeamAnne, I see what you mean. I think Portman is a great actress and played the part well but the part that she plays reeeaaally gets under my skin because it portrays Anne in a bad way.
I have decided that I am going to go on Amazon and buy the movies/shows that everyone thinks are best. If you could pick your top favorite films about Anne, Henry, and the Tudors, which ones would everybody pick?
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
10:59 am
June 5, 2010
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TeamAnne said:
Boleynfan, I don't like Portman's performance for that reason exactly. She is a fine actress but I don't like the Anne the author and therefore movie protrayed so in turn I don't like Portman's performance.
TinaII2None, yeah I go upstairs sometimes to watch whatever I want but he gets all lonely and complains, haha. He is in the military so travels a lot and therefore I do a lot of my watching then.
I have seen one other Anne and I can't remember it but it wasn't anything special. It was a movie on TV I know that much and it was a while ago. I will probably re-watch it not knowingly in my quest to see all things Anne.
I only saw 'The Other Boleyn Girl' once and that was enough! Whatever I thought about Portman's performance went out the window about the time I was screaming at my TV (and throwing soft objects) regarding the last 5 minutes or so of the movie prior to the end credits (won't put a spoiler in case some of you still haven't seen it and would like to). My baby sister — who is also a Tudor fan — later told me that her husband was wondering why SHE was screaming at her TV after she saw it! LOL But from little I remember, I'd have to agree with you all about Ms. Portman's turn as Anne. She got a bit of a short-shrift because she was playing the adaptation of an Anne created by a woman who obviously only sees Anne as a backstabbing, deceitful, lying monster.
TeamAnne — thank your hubby for his service (my brother-in-law is on leave right now from Kuwait ).
I wish you could remember which Anne you saw that wasn't special LOL (Sort of my feeling toward Henny Porten's Anne). I love trying to keep track of all of them, mainly because this is the first time I've really had a chance to hear opinions about favorites and least favorites (my whole reason for starting the thread). Hearing someone else discuss a performance I've never seen might encourage me to check it out, if only out of curiosity, but I know what you mean about “all things Anne.” She is as fascinating as her daughter, that's for sure. 
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
11:05 am
June 5, 2010
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Curious — have any of you seen Vanessa Redgrave's silent turn as Anne in A Man For All Seasons? I guess it really stands out because Robert Shaw's Henry serenades her and she just watches him and listens. Maybe it's just me, but there was something in the way Redgrave played those brief moments that made me think haughty and unlikeable. It's been ages since I've seen the movie, but was wondering if any of you saw it and thought the same, or perhaps had different ideas. Or maybe the part was such a tiny blip in time, you didn't even notice. (I think the reason I paid close attention was that I first saw the movie not long after The Six Wives of Henry VIII with Dorothy Tutin and — yep, even as a child — I hoped Anne Boleyn would get to do or say more).
And PS — do any of you have a favorite (or least favorite) Henry since we're about it? (I mentioned mine in my original post).
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
11:13 am
August 25, 2010
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TinaII2None said:
TeamAnne said:
Boleynfan, I don't like Portman's performance for that reason exactly. She is a fine actress but I don't like the Anne the author and therefore movie protrayed so in turn I don't like Portman's performance.
TinaII2None, yeah I go upstairs sometimes to watch whatever I want but he gets all lonely and complains, haha. He is in the military so travels a lot and therefore I do a lot of my watching then.
I only saw 'The Other Boleyn Girl' once and that was enough! Whatever I thought about Portman's performance went out the window about the time I was screaming at my TV (and throwing soft objects) regarding the last 5 minutes or so of the movie prior to the end credits (won't put a spoiler in case some of you still haven't seen it and would like to). My baby sister — who is also a Tudor fan — later told me that her husband was wondering why SHE was screaming at her TV after she saw it! LOL But from little I remember, I'd have to agree with you all about Ms. Portman's turn as Anne. She got a bit of a short-shrift because she was playing the adaptation of an Anne created by a woman who obviously only sees Anne as a backstabbing, deceitful, lying monster.
TeamAnne — thank your hubby for his service (my brother-in-law is on leave right now from Kuwait
I wish you could remember which Anne you saw that wasn't special LOL (Sort of my feeling toward Henny Porten's Anne). I love trying to keep track of all of them, mainly because this is the first time I've really had a chance to hear opinions about favorites and least favorites (my whole reason for starting the thread). Hearing someone else discuss a performance I've never seen might encourage me to check it out, if only out of curiosity, but I know what you mean about “all things Anne.” She is as fascinating as her daughter, that's for sure.
Oh well thank your brother-in-law for me too! I wish I could remember too but it was so long ago and I wasn't as obsessed then as I am now, lol. I really want to see Anne of a Thousand Days at that seems to be a popular one here.
As far as my favorite Henry between the two I remember, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors, I would have to say JRM's Henry is my favorite so far (and nortfor his looks, lol, I'm a Cavill fan anyways *swoon*). Bana did a wonderful job but I felt his Henry was too one diminsional. With JRM I felt a range of emotions and that's what I like. I like actors who can make me love them and then hate them at the drop of a dime; cry and laugh all the same too. Just my opinion.
“Oh death, rock me asleep, Bring me to quiet rest, Let pass my weary guiltless ghost out of my careful breast.”
12:46 pm
August 22, 2010
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TeamAnne said:
Boleynfan, I don't like Portman's performance for that reason exactly. She is a fine actress but I don't like the Anne the author and therefore movie protrayed so in turn I don't like Portman's performance.
Me too!!!! I thought Portman's Anne looked permanently under pressure, never superior and debonair, whereas the real Anne at some point in her life had everything quite under control. Besides, Portman's picture of misery at her execution was an insult to the historical character.
So the character Portman played was not Anne Boleyn at all, but some fictional character from a novel. Natalie Portman is probably the Anne Boleyn I like least after Henny Porten.
My Anne Boleyn ranking (only the major ones) would be:
1. Natalie Dormer
2. Dorothy Tutin
3. Charlotte Rampling (very sexy I thought, and I love Rampling as an actress)
4. Genevieve Bujold
5. Helena Bonham Carter
6. Jodhi May (had the right looks for the part I thought, but no personality)
7. Natalie Portman
8. Henny Porten
3:17 pm
June 5, 2010
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Boleynfan said:
TeamAnne, I see what you mean. I think Portman is a great actress and played the part well but the part that she plays reeeaaally gets under my skin because it portrays Anne in a bad way.
I have decided that I am going to go on Amazon and buy the movies/shows that everyone thinks are best. If you could pick your top favorite films about Anne, Henry, and the Tudors, which ones would everybody pick?
1) Anne of a Thousand Days (they always sell it in a set with Mary Queen of Scots unless you can find the VHS — I don't remember the DVD having any behind the scenes or special features anyway. Oh and MQS has Glenda Jackson in it as Elizabeth; she has a meeting with Mary and — I guess you would call it, gets told off by Mary Stuart in a scene similar to Anne Boleyn's meeting with Henry VIII. One of those “my heirs will rule England because you wouldn't give your heart to a man so you could have heirs Elizabeth…” kind of scenes that had me gagging).
2) Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Years (with Cate Blanchett) — historically inaccurate in places but her performance is SO good.
3) The Six Wives of Henry VIII — the BBC series with Keith Michell as Henry; the six episodes feature one of the wives. BUT if you have Netflix, you can get them free and on demand.
4) Elizabeth R — BBC series sequel with Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth — this one's also on Netflix so you can get it free and on demand. Jackson is one of the best Elizabeths ever.
5) The Sea Hawk — 1940 with Errol Flynn as the fictional Captain Geoffrey Thorpe and Flora Robson as Elizabeth. Ms. Robson isn't in the entire movie, but her scenes are always quite good and “Elizabeth-like.”
Anyway, those are some of mine off the top of my head. Hope that helps.
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
5:35 pm
June 5, 2010
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TeamAnne said:
Oh well thank your brother-in-law for me too!
As far as my favorite Henry between the two I remember, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Tudors, I would have to say JRM's Henry is my favorite so far (and nortfor his looks, lol, I'm a Cavill fan anyways *swoon*). Bana did a wonderful job but I felt his Henry was too one diminsional. With JRM I felt a range of emotions and that's what I like. I like actors who can make me love them and then hate them at the drop of a dime; cry and laugh all the same too. Just my opinion.
Bujold is very good! I think you'll enjoy the movie.
I'd say JRM is my favorite Henry after Keith Michell (as I mentioned, he was the first Henry I ever saw and Lord knows he's a heck of a lot better looking than Charles Laughton! LOL). Ditto about Cavill
You know, I saw the trailer and a moment when Eric Bana is strolling through a chamber and I thought 'Wow…he reminds me a bit of Henry.' But I don't think I got enough, not like I did with Michell or JRM or Richard Burton or even Laughton (who often came close to being a caricature of Henry), and it may have been because — as you said — he was one dimensional. I'm not sure the movie gave him much of a chance since it was PG's warped version of the Boleyn girls.
By the way, am I the only one out here who has seen The Private Life of Henry VIII? Laughton has one line that I still like a lot, but while it might not have worked for Michell or JRM, it worked for Laughton because, well, he was Charles Laughton. As Henry is led (like a sheep to the slaughter) to his marriage bed with Anne of Cleves, he takes one final look at his courtiers and mumbles “The things I do for England.”
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
5:58 pm
June 5, 2010
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Iguazu said:
Me too!!!! I thought Portman's Anne looked permanently under pressure, never superior and debonair, whereas the real Anne at some point in her life had everything quite under control. Besides, Portman's picture of misery at her execution was an insult to the historical character.
So the character Portman played was not Anne Boleyn at all, but some fictional character from a novel. Natalie Portman is probably the Anne Boleyn I like least after Henny Porten.
My Anne Boleyn ranking (only the major ones) would be:
1. Natalie Dormer
2. Dorothy Tutin
3. Charlotte Rampling (very sexy I thought, and I love Rampling as an actress)
4. Genevieve Bujold
5. Helena Bonham Carter
6. Jodhi May (had the right looks for the part I thought, but no personality)
7. Natalie Portman
8. Henny Porten
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I had forgotten Charlotte Rampling, but actually, I didn't even realize she had played Anne until about a year ago. She's a very good actress — you're right about that, and what's funny is that I have seen her play sexy before…'Hammer Over the Anvil' with a young and still relatively unknown Russell Crowe. Threw me a bit as I'd never seen her in that sort of role before.
I forget about Helena Bonham Carter! I only saw that miniseries once…which is probably why I'm still not sure what I thought of Ray Winstone's Henry.
Henry: Mistress Anne, will you teach the king of England how they dance in the French court?
Anne: There is nothing that France can teach England, your majesty.
King Henry VIII: Well said. Well said.
– Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
12:34 am
January 9, 2010
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It's hard to pick a favourite Anne! I would have said Genevieve Bujold but now I see Natalie Dormer as the ultimate Anne. Both are fantastic but perhaps because Natalie Dormer got to play her for longer she had the time to give a more nuanced performance. I also really like Charlotte Rampling. So those are my top three!
As for Henry I still don't think you can beat Keith Michell. JRM was great but the fact that they didn't really age him up until the last couple of episodes really bugged me. I like my historical movie character to at least have a passing resemblance to the real life individual!!! Ray Winstone could have made a terrific Henry but for some reason the producers thought it a good idea to have Henry speak with an awful east-London sort of accent. Why??????!!
As for worst Anne and Henry, I'm sorry but that would have to be Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Both are fine actors so why each are so dreadful is a complete mystery. But then everything else about 'The Other Boleyn Girl' was dreadful so perhaps it sort of rubbed off on them!
I haven't seen a lot of the older movies set in Tudor times, and have always wondered about 'The Private Life of Henry Vlll'. It's available on Amazon UK and was thinking of getting it so was wondering if it was any good?
'Anne of the Thousand Days' is also on Amazon UK for about four pounds fifty, which is where I got mine from earlier this year. Hunted for the DVD for years so in the end I just gave in!
