This film concentrates its attention on Henry VIII's solution to the serious problem the Tudors had - their tenuous hold on the monarchy. Henry VII, father of Henry VIII, had no legal claim to the crown, being descended from the Plantagenets, absolute holders of the monarchy, only via an illegitimacy. Henry VIII's mother, Elizabeth Grey, was in fact the primary heir to the throne after the supposed deaths of her brothers, Edward V and the Duke of York, but the female succession was not favored and there were plenty of residents of England who had better claims to the crown than Henry VII. Much earlier, Henry II pledged the barons to honor his daughter as Queen upon his death (in 1135), but they reneged and gave it to her cousin Stephen, grandson of William the Conqueror, instead. Henry VIII had to have a male heir to make his family's title to the throne secure, and that is where all the trouble started. No one knew at that time that the male partner determined the sex of the child, so Henry blamed his wife (wives) for all the difficulty. After several failures, Katherine of Aragon was too old for future childbearing, leaving Henry with only a daughter, Mary. Up through Jane Seymour, who died producing Henry's only surviving legitimate son, Henry caused many pregnancies among his wives and others, and had three more or less legitimate children, all of whom make an appearance in this film, plus an unknown number of illegitimate children, including an acknowledged surviving son. His marriage to Anne of Cleves he refused to consummate, and he probably was unable to do so with Katherine Howard or Catherine Parr. As it turned out, of course, Henry VIII produced a dead branch on the tree, in spite of the success of his daughter Elizabeth, and his sister Margaret carried the Tudor genes to the present via her son James V of Scotland, his daughter Mary Queen of Scots, and her son James, who became King James I of England in 1603.

While the famous scene from The Private Life of Henry VIII is unarguably the turkey leg scene, during which a very angry King Henry VIII eats an entire turkey while shouting his frustrations that another marriage is being forced upon him, this movie shows much more than the king's eating habits. As the title suggests, it reveals the private side of a king history has painted so vilely. The word "king" isn't even included in the title, because for most of the movie, he's shown to be a man, not a ruler. If you only think of King Henry VIII as a cruel, wicked king who beheaded his wife, give this movie a watch. You'll see a completely different side, a heartbreakingly human side.If you've seen a painting of King Henry VIII, you know he looks nothing like Richard Burton's portrayal in Anne of the Thousand Days. In this 1933 biopic, Charles Laughton completely transforms into the role. When he strides forward in his entrance, it's shocking to see the historical figure come to life. Charles won an Oscar for his performance, and even during the first ten minutes of the film, it's clear why. He's a master at transforming for different parts, and everything, from his walk to his laugh to his air as he interacts with his subjects, is utterly regal. As the film progresses, the audience is treated to more of his private personality. He may be annointed to the throne by God, but he feels terribly out of control of his life, and his anguish is palpable. Marriages are arranged without his desire, daughters are born instead of sons, and his very movements within the palace are curtailed by his guards.One of the most interesting aspects of the story is the power women have over the queen. King Henry VIII is a figure best remembered for his cruelty to Anne Boleyn, but this film shows a different reality behind closed doors. Henry's different wives exert enormous control over him. He's portrayed as a terribly romantic figure-despite his outward appearance-and when in love, will do anything and everything to impress his woman of choice. Merle Oberon, Wendy Barrie, Elsa Lanchester, Binnie Barnes, and Everley Gregg play the various wives. Binnie, the wife with the greatest screen time, isn't in love with her husband and has an affair with one of his loyal subjects, Robert Donat. It's incredibly heartbreaking, because, even though Charles Laughton's feelings run deep. He may be a king, but he can crumble and weep from a broken heart like any man.I've heaped a great deal of praise on this film, and if you start watching it and think, "I don't want to watch this gross guy onscreen for ninety minutes!" just give it another ten minutes. It's a fascinating character piece, and Charles gives a wonderfully layered performance.

Highly enjoyable British film from Alexander Korda, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII gives CHARLES LAUGHTON the plum role of his career and he munches on all the scenery with artistic skill and great humor. Even though he has the spotlight, others around him make the film a highly enjoyable one to watch.ROBERT DONAT is handsome and sensitive as Culpepper, a favorite of the Court who has the misfortune to love one of Henry's wives (BINNIE BARNES).MERLE OBERON has a brief role as Ann Boleyn in a sensitive scene where she worries about meeting the executioner's ax. Oberon would later marry Korda and this was a showy but brief role that gave her career a good start.ELSA LANCHESTER provides a lot of chuckles as Anne of Cleves, the woman whose portrait fascinates Henry--until he meets her. Her facial displays are deliberately meant to provoke him--that and her ungainly movements--and she and Laughton play their scenes together with great finesse.TCM is showing a good print of the film which makes it all the more enjoyable, because the sets and costumes are quite opulent and photographed skillfully. The pace is brisk, the humor is ever present, the story never loses interest and Laughton--even at his hammiest--is superb as the king who tried to find happiness but found out that it eluded him at every turn.

What a pity that many people's defining image of Henry the Eighth,founder of The Church of England and probably the last all-powerful king of the realm should be that of a fat greedy badly-behaved overgrown baby with appalling table manners.The truth was very different.Henry was a disciple of the "New Learning",a man with impeccable manners,a linguist,fluent in French and Latin,a poet,a musician,keenly interested in all aspects of science and aware of his position as head of the most elegant and sophisticated Court in Europe. In common with aristocratic beliefs of his time Henry considered sex within marriage was principally for the purposes of procreation.For sexual pleasure he took mistresses. His main purpose in contracting marriages was to secure the male line of the monarchy.If Katherine of Aragon had given him a son the history of Europe would have been significantly different. "The private life of Henry V111th" is Hollywood history at its most absurd.It makes "The black shield of Falworth" seem like a prestige BBC2 documentary.It's history for people who don't care about it . Mr Charles Laughton -the scenery chewer's scenery chewer - is allowed to run riot and the rest of the cast overact like mad in a vain attempt to keep up with him.Important events in English history ,complex motives and multi - layered characters are trivialised.The whole look and feel of the movie is pure 1933,nothing even remotely suggests Tudor England. As a respite from the grimness of the height of the Depression this may have been worth a punt.73 years down the line I submit it has no value whatsoever.