The Lion in Winter [1968]

EMM# : 27900
Added: 2015-11-28

The Lion in Winter (1968)
The most significant reserved seat attraction of the year!

Rating: 8.2

Movie Details:

Genre: Biography (Drama| History)

Length: 2 h 14 min - 134 min

Video: 1920x816 (24.000 Fps - 1 982 Kbps)

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Plot
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Christmas 1183--an aging and conniving King Henry II plans a reunion where he hopes to name his successor. He summons the following people for the holiday: his scheming but imprisoned wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine; his mistress, Princess Alais, whom he wishes to marry; his three sons (Richard, Geoffrey, and John), all of whom desire the throne; and the young but crafty King Philip of France (who is also Alais' brother). With the fate of Henry's empire at stake, everybody engages in their own brand of deception and treachery to stake their claim. Written by

Katharine Hepburn is descended from Elinor of Aquitaine in numerous lines, from both Elinor's marriage to Louis VII, King of France, and Elinor's marriage to Henry II, King of England.
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Timothy Dalton's first film role.
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Katharine Hepburn is the only movie star to win four Academy Awards (2009) for her leading roles in Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981).
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Debut of Anthony Hopkins.
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This was the second time that Peter O'Toole played King Henry II. The first time was in Becket (1964). He received Academy Award nominations for both performances.
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According to Anthony Harvey, the director of The Lion in Winter (1968), Katharine Hepburn kept the Oscar she received for the film in a paper bag and in a cupboard for years after he'd delivered it to her.
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Eleanor greets King Philip by telling him that she could have been his mother. This is in fact, true. Eleanor's first husband, Louis VII, later fathered Alais by his second wife and Philip by his third. Eleanor's marriage to Louis was annulled by the Pope when she was unable to bear him sons. She gave Henry five boys, two of whom died before the action of the movie takes place.
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Timothy Dalton was hugely impressed by Katharine Hepburn, particularly when she came in to shoot reverse shots with him on her day off from filming.
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Katharine Hepburn affectionately referred to Peter O'Toole as "pig" during filming. Every day at five o'clock the two would unwind over a cigarette and a glass of white wine.
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While close-ups of Richard (Anthony Hopkins) in his jousting costume were being filmed, the horse was spooked and bolted. Hopkins fell off and broke his arm. Filming the scene with his sword raised above his jousting opponent was very difficult due to this.
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Although Peter O'Toole plays the father of Anthony Hopkins, John Castle and Nigel Terry, he is only five, seven and thirteen years older than them respectively. Moreover, O'Toole is twenty-five years Katharine Hepburn's junior but plays her husband. It should be noted, however, that there was quite a substantial age gap between Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine - she was approximately eleven years his senior. At the time frame set for this film, Christmas 1183, Eleanor of Aquitaine, born 1122, would have been 61 years old, as played by Katherine Hepburn, who was born May 12, 1907, also 61 years old at the time of production (1968). Henry II, born March 5, 1133 was 50 years old during Christmas 1183, as played by Peter O'Toole, born August 2, 1932, only 35-36 at the time of production, approximately 15 years younger than the character he was playing.
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Katharine Hepburn would occasionally have to berate her co-stars Peter O'Toole and Anthony Hopkins for turning up drunk or hungover onto the set.
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Peter O'Toole said that his first choice for Eleanor of Aquitaine was Katharine Hepburn, but he was not sure she would do the film so soon after the death of her long time partner Spencer Tracy. As the only two other actresses he could think of for the part, he mentioned Vivien Leigh and Margaret Rutherford.
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Katharine Hepburn bested Peter O'Toole as the top dog on the set. Known to be something of a tyrant on most of his shoots, O'Toole meekly obliged when she told him "Peter, stop towering over me. Come and sit down and try to look respectable." O'Toole readily admitted in her presence that she reduced him "to a shadow of my former gay-dog self." "She is terrifying. It is sheer masochism working with her. She has been sent by some dark fate to nag and torment me." Her reply: "Don't be so silly. We are going to get on very well. You are Irish and you make me laugh. In any case, I am on to you and you to me."
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One of four films which tied with another for the same acting Oscar. The others are Funny Girl (1968) (Barbra Streisand who tied with Katharine Hepburn) and The Champ (1931) (Wallace Beery) which tied with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) (Fredric March).
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Most of the actors cast in major parts are alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London: Peter O'Toole (Henry II), Anthony Hopkins (Richard), Timothy Dalton (Philip II), John Castle (Geoffrey), Jane Merrow (Alais), Nigel Stock (William Marshall).
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Although Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole had met years earlier and she was a great admirer of his work, she had no intention of putting up with the rather bad behaviour he often exhibited on his productions. "You're known to be late," she told him on the first day of work. "I intend for you to be on time. I hear you stay out at night. You'd better be rested in the morning if you're going to work with me!"
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In spite of her stern warnings, Katharine Hepburn enjoyed Peter O'Toole and his work tremendously. She said his vigour and energy helped restore her own vitality at a time when she really needed it.
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According to Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn's reaction to receiving the script for the film and the offer to play Eleanor of Aquitaine was "Do it before I die."
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The stone figures seen during the opening credits were discovered by chance by director Anthony Harvey along a driveway while filming was underway in France.
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On the first day of rehearsal, Katharine Hepburn slammed her thumb in a heavy iron door at the theatre, crushing the nail and causing a deep cut down the length of her hand. But she refused to go to the hospital and insisted on continuing with rehearsal. She also refused stitches, saying the wound would take too long to heal before shooting began.
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Katharine Hepburn threw herself into the role of the "tough as nails" Eleanor with great relish and interest. "Both she and Henry were probably big-time operators who played for whole countries," she said. "I like big-time operators."
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To the company's amazement, Katharine Hepburn swam twice a day in the frigid winter sea in Ireland, early in the morning and during her lunch break. When Peter O'Toole asked her why she did it, she explained, "It's the shock -so horrible that it makes you feel great afterwards."
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Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe worked out a rich lighting pattern that was meant to give the film the look of illuminated manuscripts from the historical period.
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Anthony Harvey and Art Director Peter Murton decided to make the setting as true as possible to the times. Therefore, although the principal characters were royalty, they lived in drafty, dirty castles rather than the sanitized, glamorized view of medieval life most movies have taken.
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For the greatest authenticity, the actors wore their costumes as long as possible before shooting a scene so that they looked soiled and frayed. Although costume designer Margaret Furse preferred dark clothes, Katharine Hepburn talked her into brighter colours for Eleanor, who she reasoned had been to the Middle East and would have owned many vividly colored articles.
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Production shut down for a time when Anthony Harvey fell ill with hepatitis and the flu.
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The film takes place in December 1183.
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Peter O'Toole knew Katharine Hepburn for many years before this production. He named his daughter Kate O'Toole, born in 1960, after her.
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The original Broadway stage production written by James Goldman opened at the Ambassador Theatre in New York on March 3, 1966 and ran for 92 performances. The cast included Rosemary Harris as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Robert Preston as Henry II, and Christopher Walken as King Philip of France. Rosemary Harris won the 1966 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Drama. A 1999 revival starred Stockard Channing as Eleanor and Laurence Fishburne as Henry II.
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The company rehearsed for two weeks in London's Haymarket Theatre. Exteriors were shot in Ireland, Wales and France and interiors in Dublin's Ardmore Studios.
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Christmas trees were an obscure German tradition, unknown to the English until its introduction by Queen Victoria's husband over 700 years later. Furthermore, even the concept of decorating with glass balls was even unknown to the Germans until long after this era.
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Henry refers to the lack of value of Eleanor's signature on paper. Paper was a Chinese invention unknown to Europe at this time. The very first paper mills were not founded in Europe until the 13th Century. Instead, parchment was used at this time.
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Eleanor refers to syphilis in 1183, although the first recorded outbreak was in 1494. The term 'syphilis' wasn't coined until 1530.
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The song Alais sings while Henry is fighting John is called "Allon, Gay Bergeres." This chanson was written by Guillaume Costeley during the Renaissance, nearly 400 years after the events in the movie take place.
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Henry refers to the royal sons in the wine cellar as aging with the royal port. Although acidic Portuguese wines were introduced into England in the 12th Century, port wine was introduced there 500 years later.
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Just after Henry II finishes the sword fight with Prince John, a modern white house appears momentarily on the hill behind him.
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During a scene in the dining hall, Henry is watching his jesters perform. At one point, he throws his head back with his mouth open as he roars with laughter. Metal fillings are clearly visible in his upper molars.
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Eleanor refers to her first husband as "Simon pure and Simon simple", both of which are anachronisms coming from a late-12th century character. The former refers to a character in the play "A Bold Stroke for a Wife", which would not be written until the early 18th century. The latter refers to the English nursery rhyme "Simple Simon", which cannot be found in any reliable source before the late 17th century.
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For a moment Eleanor appears in front of Henry and Alais. Then she puts her hands one on the other, about her breast, and says to Henry she wants to watch him to kiss Alais. In the following shot her hands had changed position.
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After John goes out of the room, Eleanor stands up and talks to Geoffrey gesticulating with her right hand about her neck. Next shot her right hand is lower, about her belly.
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After Henry asks for an annulment from Eleanor, he gets up from his chair, crosses the room, and leans forward against a stone pillar. When Eleanor follows him in the next shot, as she draws closer to him, he is standing in the middle of the room, nowhere near a pillar.
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During the fight between Eleanor's guard and the jail-keep, Eleanor's guard pushes the other against the wall and knocks the sword out of his hand. When the jail-keep draws his knife, suddenly Eleanor's guard is against the wall instead.
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In the scene involving Philip's first negotiation with Henry, the goblet that Katharine Hepburn is holding switches hands in two consecutive shots.
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Wake from the boat carrying the camera and crew visible when Eleanor is being ferried to Henry's castle.
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At one point Eleanor states that the year is 1183. At another point Henry II claims "I'm 50 now! Good God, boy. I'm the oldest man I know. I've got a decade on the Pope!" However, the pope in 1183 was Lucius III who was born in Lucca Italy in 1097. Henry II was born on 5 March 1133, making him 36 years younger than the pope.
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John was renown for having flaming red hair, yet Nigel Terry has brown.
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There was a Christmas Court at Caen in 1182, but not one at Chinon in 1183.
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At the beginning of the film, Henry compares his situation to that of King Lear. Although Shakespeare wrote King Lear more than 400 years after the death of Henry II, it was based on a legend of Leir of Britain as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who was alive in Henry II's day.
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During the battle at the beginning of the movie, the second group of ambushing mounted warriors charge onto the beach from their hiding place in the rocks. Although it is supposed to be a surprise attack, the pathway from the hiding place to the battle, on otherwise pristine sand, is visible from previous takes.
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When Eleanor lights a torch and steps down the stairs followed by a guard, the torch shadow projects on the guard and, after, on the wall on the left. It is supposed to be the only light came from the torch.
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AKAs Titles:
Argentina - El león en invierno
Belgium (Flemish title) - De leeuw in de winter
Bulgaria (Bulgarian title) - Ðâ€ºÑÅ Ð²ÑÅ Ñâ€š Ð¿Ñâ‚¬ÐµÐ· Ð·Ð¸Ð¼Ð°Ñâ€šÐ°
Brazil - O Leào no Inverno
Canada (French title) - Le lion en hiver
Colombia - El león en invierno
Germany - Der Löwe im Winter
Denmark - Løve ved vintertide
Spain - El león en invierno
Finland - Leijona talvella
France - Le lion en hiver
Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title) - To liontari tou heimona
Hungary - Az oroszlán tè len
Italy - Il leone d'inverno
Mexico - El león en invierno
Netherlands - Leeuw in de winter
Poland - Lew w zimie
Portugal - O Leào no Inverno
Romania - Leul în iarna
Serbia - Zima jednog lava
Sweden - Så tuktas ett lejon
Soviet Union (Russian title) - Ðâ€ºÐµÐ² Ð·Ð¸Ð¼Ð¾Ð¹
West Germany - Der Löwe im Winter

Certifications:
Argentina:13 / Australia:PG / Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) / Canada:PG (Ontario) / Finland:K-12 / Germany:16 / Iceland:16 / Netherlands:18 (1970) / Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) / Singapore:PG / Sweden:11 / UK:A (original rating) / UK:12 (tv rating) / UK:12 (video re-rating) (2003) / UK:15 (video rating) (1986) (1998) (2000) / USA:PG / West Germany:12