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Showing posts with the label The Lion in Winter

Scandalous Women in London Part Deux - The Lion in Winter & Enchanted Princesses

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A family Christmas becomes a family at war. Henry II, not so young as he was, invites his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitane, and his three sons, Richard, Geoffrey and John, to spend the festive season with him, his mistress Princess Alais, and her brother, the young King Philip of France. Will Henry name who is to be his successor as King of England? Their yuletide celebration turns into a combat zone of deceit, betrayal, bitter power games and scabrous wit. "I am excited to be directing the London premiere of a famous play about a power struggle full of sexual politics and political sex, with two such brilliant actors as Robert Lindsay and Joanna Lumley." - Trevor Nunn I had no idea when I decided to attend the matinee of The Lion in Winter that it was the London premiere! I had just assumed that there was a London production soon after the Broadway one.  Although given that the Broadway production was a bit of a flop, perhaps I was a bit optimistic.  Still, the mov...

Christmas with the Plantagenets: The Lion in Winter

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"What should we hang? The holly or each other?" Henry II to his assembled family. The Lion in Winter:   (1968 Avco Embassy Pictures) Directed by Anthony Harvey. Based on the Broadway play by James Goldman (which starred Richard Preson as Henry II, Rosemary Harris as Eleanor and a young Christopher Walken as Philip). Katherine Hepburn (Eleanor of Aquitaine ) Peter O’Toole (Henry II) Anthony Hopkins (Richard) Nigel Terry (John) John Castle (Geoffrey) Timothy Dalton (Philip II of France) Jane Merrow (Princess Alais of France) Nigel Stock (William Marshall)   Some people watch A Christmas Carol at the holidays or A Christmas Story but my favorite Christmas film is The Lion in Winter . I could watch this film over and over (and I have) and never get tired of it. From the opening credits, as the music swells, and the chorus starts singing in Latin, the audience is plunged into this 12th century world, where no one can be trusted, brother is pitted against brother, h...