The Lion in Winter (1968 lm)

For the 1966 Broadway play, see The Lion in Winter.

When the deal is revealed at the wedding, Richard refuses

to go through with the ceremony. After Richard leaves,
Eleanor masochistically asks Henry to kiss Alais in front
of her, and then looks on in horror as they perform a mock
marriage ceremony. Having believed Henrys intentions,
John, at the direction of middle brother, Georey II,
Duke of Brittany, plots with Philip to make war on England. Henry and Phillip meet to discuss terms, but Henry
soon learns that Phillip has been plotting with John and
Georey, and that he and Richard were once lovers.

The Lion in Winter is a 1968 historical drama lm based

on the Broadway play by James Goldman. It was directed
by Anthony Harvey and produced by Joseph E. Levine
and Martin Poll from Goldmans adaptation of his own
play, The Lion in Winter. The lm stars Peter O'Toole,
Katharine Hepburn, John Castle, Anthony Hopkins as
Richard the Lionheart (in his lm debut), Jane Merrow
and, in early appearances, Timothy Dalton (in his lm
debut) and Nigel Terry.
Henry dismisses all three sons as unsuitable, and locks
Alais, the royal boys are
The lm was a commercial success (the 12th highest them in a wine cellar, telling
[3]
aging
with
the
royal
port.
He
makes plans to travel to
grossing lm of 1968) and won three Academy Awards,
Rome
for
an
annulment,
so
that
he
can have new sons with
including one for Hepburn as Best Actress. There was a
Alais,
but
she
says
he
will
never
be
able to release his sons
television remake in 2003.
from prison or they will be a threat to his future children.
Henry sees that she is right and condemns them to death,
but cannot bring himself to kill them, instead letting them
1 Plot summary
escape. He and Eleanor go back to hoping for the future,
with Eleanor going back on the barge to prison, laughing
The Lion in Winter is set during Christmas 1183, at it o with Henry before she leaves.
King Henry II's chteau and primary residence in Chinon,
Though the background and the eventual destinies of the
Anjou, within the Angevin Empire of medieval France.
characters are historically accurate, The Lion in Winter
Henry wants his youngest son, the future King John, to inis ctional; none of the dialogue or action is historical.
herit his throne, while his estranged and imprisoned wife,
There was a Christmas court at Caen in 1182 but there
Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, favours their oldest survivwas no Christmas court at Chinon in 1183. In reality,
ing son, the future King Richard the Lionheart. MeanHenry had many mistresses and many illegitimate chilwhile, King Philip II of France, the son and successor of
dren; the "Rosamund" mentioned in the lm was his misLouis VII of France, Eleanors ex-husband, has given his
tress until she died. The article on the Revolt of 1173
half-sister Alais, who is currently Henrys mistress, to the
1174 describes the historical events leading to the plays
future heir, and demands either a wedding or the return
events. As a matter of historical record, Richard the Liof her dowry.
onheart succeeded Henry II, and was followed by John.
Georey died before his father.

2 Cast
Peter O'Toole as King Henry II
Katharine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor
Anthony Hopkins as Richard the Lionheart
John Castle as Georey
Nigel Terry as John
Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Timothy Dalton as King Philip II of France

As a ruse, Henry agrees to give Alais to Richard and make

him heir-apparent. He makes a side deal with Eleanor for
her freedom in return for Aquitaine, to be given to John.

Jane Merrow as Alais

Nigel Stock as Captain William Marshall
1

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Kenneth Ives as Queen Eleanors guard

Best Director Nomination for Anthony Harvey

O. Z. Whitehead as Hugh de Puiset, the Bishop of

Durham

Best Actor Nomination for Peter O'Toole

Best Costume Design Nomination for Margaret

Furse

Background and production

5.2 BAFTA Awards

In October 1967, the actors rehearsed at Haymarket

Theatre in London.[4] Production started in November The lm received two wins out of seven nominations.
1967[5] and continued until May 1968.[6]
Best Actress Win for Katharine Hepburn, jointly
The lm was shot at Ardmore Studios in Bray, County
awarded with Hepburns performance in Guess
Wicklow, Ireland, and on location in Ireland, Wales,[7]
Whos Coming To Dinner
and in France at Abbaye de Montmajour, Arles, Chteau
de Tarascon, Tarascon and Tavasson, Sane-et-Loire.
Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music Win for
The lm debuted on 30 October 1968 (29 December
John Barry
1968 London premiere).
O'Toole, who was 36, portrays Henry II at age 50. He had
played the same king as a young man in the lm Becket
just four years earlier.
The sculpted stone gures appearing during the main title music were a lucky, unexpected nd by the director
while shooting scenes in France. They were lmed along
the artists driveway and later edited to create the title sequence where they appear to be on interior walls of the
castle.[8]

Reception

Best Cinematography Nomination for Douglas

Slocombe
Best Costume Design Nomination for Margaret
Furse
Best Screenplay Nomination for James Goldman
Best Sound Track Nomination for Chris Greenham
Best Supporting Actor Nomination for Anthony
Hopkins

5.3 Golden Globe Awards

The lm earned an estimated $6.4 million in distributor

rentals in the domestic North American market during
The lm received two wins out of seven nominations.
its initial year of release.[9] It was the 14th most popular
[10]
movie at the U.S. box oce in 1969. The Lion in Win Best Motion PictureDrama Win (Martin Poll,
ter received a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on
Joseph E. Levine)
31 reviews.
Best Actor Win for Peter O'Toole

Awards and nominations

5.1

Academy Awards

The lm received three awards out of seven nominations.

Best Actress Win for Katharine Hepburn, tied
with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (the only time
this has happened for actresses in Academy history)

Best Actress Nomination for Katharine Hepburn

Best Motion Picture Director Nomination for
Anthony Harvey
Best Original Score Nomination for John Barry
Best Screenplay Nomination for James Goldman
Best Supporting Actress Nomination for Jane
Merrow

Best Adapted Screenplay Win for James Goldman

5.4

Other awards

Best Music Score Win for John Barry (comBritish Society of Cinematographers
poser)
Best Picture Nomination for Martin Poll and
Joseph E. Levine

Best Cinematography Win for Douglas Slocombe

3
David di Donatello Awards
Best Foreign Production Win for Martin Poll and
Joseph E. Levine
Directors Guild of America Awards
Outstanding Directorial Achievement Win for
Anthony Harvey
Laurel Awards
Best Female Dramatic Performance Win for
Katharine Hepburn
Best Drama Nomination
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Film Win
Writers Guild of Great Britain
Best British Screenplay Win for James Goldman
Writers Guild of America Awards
Best Written American Drama Win for James
Goldman

See also
List of historical drama lms

References

[1] Joseph, Robert. Films Come to the Emerald Isle: Emerald Isle Welcomes Films Los Angeles Times (1923Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 17 March 1968: q26.
[2] The Lion in Winter (1968)". The Numbers. Retrieved
February 13, 2016.
[3] Quote from the 1968 movie, The Lion in Winter.
[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] Big Rental Films of 1969, Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15
[10] The Worlds Top Twenty Films, Sunday Times, [London, England], 27 September 1970: 27. The Sunday
Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 April 2014

8 Bibliography
Paden, William (2004). Utz, Richard; Swan, Jesse
G, eds. I Learned It at the Movies: Teaching Medieval Film in: Postmodern Medievalisms. Cambridge: Brewer. pp. 7998.
Bergan, Ronald (1996). Katharine Hepburn: An Independent Woman. Arcade Publishing. p. 155.
ISBN 9781559703512.
Callan, Michael Feeney (2004). Anthony Hopkins:
A Three Act Life. London: Robson Books. pp. 98,
100, 105. ISBN 186105761X.
Wapshott, Nicholas (1984). Peter O'Toole: A
Biography. Beaufort Books. p. 145. ISBN
9780825301964.

9 External links
The Lion in Winter at the American Film Institute
Catalog
The Lion in Winter at the Internet Movie Database
The Lion in Winter at the TCM Movie Database

10

10
10.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

The Lion in Winter (1968 lm) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_in_Winter_(1968_film)?oldid=710662491 Contributors: Olivier, Paul Barlow, Vardion, David Gerard, DocWatson42, Litalex, Kuralyov, Necrothesp, Discospinster, Marasmusine, Kelisi,
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10.2

Images

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The Lion In Winter trailer Original artist: Anthony Harvey
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Contributors:
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Tkgd2007
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