The Private Life of Henry VIII
Director: Alexander Korda
Year Released: 1933
Rating: 2.0
King Henry VIII of England (Charles Laughton) goes through a string of wives while on the throne - he divorces the first one and then proceeds to either execute or divorce the rest, eventually settling on "the worst wife," Katherine, who would nurse him until his death. As far as portraits of egomaniacal hedonists go, you could do much worse than Laughton, who relishes the role and is the sole selling point of the movie. Korda isn't a director of much substance, and his scenes kind of sit there limply while Laughton takes over, though it is admittedly a challenge to pack so much history in such a limited period of time.
