A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)

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A Man for All Seasons
Image:66A.gif Original movie poster
Directed by	Fred Zinnemann
Produced by	Fred Zinnemann
Written by	Robert Bolt
Starring	Paul Scofield Wendy Hiller Leo McKern Orson Welles Robert Shaw John Hurt
Music by	Georges Delerue
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 12, 1966
Running time	120 min
Language	English
Budget	$3,900,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Paul Scofield. It is based on the Robert Bolt play, A Man for All Seasons.

1 Background
2 Plot
3 Trivia
4 Quotes
5 External link

[edit] Background

Paul Scofield, who played the leading role in the West End stage premiere, played More again in the first of two film versions (1966), winning an Oscar in the process. The film also stars Robert Shaw as Henry VIII, Orson Welles as Wolsey, John Hurt as Richard Rich and Wendy Hiller as More's second wife, Alice. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann who had previously directed such films as High Noon and From Here to Eternity. In addition to the Best Actor Oscar won by Scofield, the film won Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, cinematography, costume design, Best Director, and Best Picture.

[edit] Plot

The plot is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Chancellor of England, who refused to sign a letter asking the Pope to annul the King's marriage and resigned rather than take an oath declaring the king the supreme head of the English church. The King is Henry VIII of England and his wife is Catherine of Aragon, the first of an eventual six wives. Both the play and the film portray More as a man of principle, motivated by his Catholic faith and envied by rivals such as Thomas Cromwell. He is also deeply loved by the common people and by his family.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film opens with Cardinal Wolsey, played by Orson Welles, summoning More (Paul Scofield) to his palace at Hampton Court. Desiring his support in obtaining a divorce from the Pope so that the King can marry Anne Boleyn, Wolsey chastises More for being the only member of Parliament to argue against him. When More states that the Pope will never grant a divorce, he is scandalized by Wolsey's suggestion that they apply "pressure" to Church lands in order to force the issue. "No, Your Grace," says More, "I'm not going to help you." Wolsey indignantly suggests that if only More could see "facts flat on" without his "horrible moral squint", he might have made a statesman." More responds, "I think that when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos." Wolsey declares that until More can "see reason", they will remain enemies.

Returning by a Thames River ferry to his estate at Chelsea, More finds Richard Rich (John Hurt), a young acquaintance from Cambridge waiting by the dock for his return. Rich pleads with More for a position at Court, but More, citing the various corruptions there, advises him to become a teacher instead. Entering the house, More finds his daughter Meg (Susannah York) with a young Protestant named William Roper. Roper announces his intention to marry Meg. More, a devout Catholic, announces that his answer is no as long as Roper remains a heretic. Roper angrily retorts that Martin Luther has proved to him that Catholicism is "a heretic church." "Now, listen, Will," declares More. "Two years ago you were a passionate Churchman. Now you're a passionate Lutheran. We must just pray that when your head's finished turning, your face is to the front again."

Shortly thereafter, Wolsey dies in disgrace, having failed to obtain a divorce from the Pope for the King. King Henry (Robert Shaw, in the role which earned him an Academy Award Nomination) then appoints More as Lord Chancellor of England. When the King arrives by boat at Chelsea to inquire about his divorce, Sir Thomas, rather than admit that his conscience forbids him to act against the Catholic Faith, subtly provokes the King into a raging tantrum. The King screams that Queen Catherine is not his wife and that those who say otherwise "are not only liars but traitors", before storming off in a huff, returning to his barge and ordering the oarmen to cast off. His entourage is left to run through the mud and into the river to catch up as Henry laughs at their predicament.

Roper, having heard of More's predicament from Meg, reveals that his religious opinions have altered considerably. He declares that by attacking the Catholic Church, the King has become "the Devil's minister". A frightened More begs him to be more guarded as Rich arrives, pleading again for a position at Court. When More again refuses, Rich denounces More's steward as a spy for Thomas Cromwell (Leo McKern), one of More's enemies at Court. As a humiliated Rich leaves, More's family pleads with him to have Rich arrested. More refuses, stating that Rich, while dangerous, has broken no law. Still seeking a position at Court, Rich enlists Cromwell's patronage and joins him in attempting to bring down More.

Thomas More (Paul Scofield) is accused of high treason by Cromwell (Leo McKern)

King Henry, tired of awaiting a divorce from The Vatican, declares himself "Supreme Head of the Church in England." More quietly resigns his post as Chancellor rather than accept the new order. As he does so, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, a close friend of More's, attempts to draw his opinions out as part of a friendly chat with no witnesses present. More, however, knows that the time for speaking openly of such matters is past. The Duke, believing that More is simply paranoid, tries to soothe his fears. He tells him, "This isn't Spain, you know. This is England".

The King, however will not be appeased. He demands that More attend his wedding to Anne Boleyn. When More refuses, he is summoned again to Hampton Court, now occupied by Cromwell. When Cromwell interrogates him on his opinions, More refuses to answer, citing it as his right under English Law. Cromwell angrily declares that the King now views him as a traitor, but allows him to go.

As More returns home he is confronted by Meg, now married to Roper. Meg informs him that a new oath about the marriage is being circulated and that all must take it on pain of high treason. Unable to find any loopholes in the oath, More refuses to take it. He is then imprisoned in the Tower of London. Despite repeated threats from Cromwell, the more subtle tactics of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, and the pleadings of his family, More remains steadfast in his refusal to take the oath. When he is finally brought to trial, he remains silent until after being convicted of treason on the perjured testimony of Richard Rich. Informed that Rich has been promoted as Attorney General for Wales as a reward, More wittily remarks "Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to lose his soul for the whole world... but for Wales?"

Now having nothing left to lose, More angrily denounces the illegal nature of the King's actions, citing the Biblical basis for Catholicism and declaring that the immunity of the Church is guaranteed both in Magna Carta and in the King's own Coronation Oath. "But it was not for the Supremacy you sought my blood," he cries loud enough for all the courtroom to hear. "But because I would not bend to the marriage!" As the spectators scream in protest, More is sentenced to death.

Later, in the Tower of London, More declares, "I am commanded by the king to be brief, and since I am the king's obedient subject, brief I will be. I die His Majesty's good servant, but God's first." More then makes the Sign of the Cross and kneels down before the executioner's axe. The axe is raised and brought down off screen with a sickening crack, and a man for all seasons is gone.

A narrator intones the epilogue.

"Thomas More's head was stuck on Traitor's Gate for a month. Then his daughter, Margaret, removed it and kept it 'til her death. Cromwell was beheaded for high treason five years after More. The Archbishop was burned at the stake. The Duke of Norfolk should have been executed for high treason but the King died of syphilis the night before. Richard Rich became Chancellor of England and died in his bed."

[edit] Trivia

Robert Bolt adapted the screenplay from his own stage production. The running commentary of The Common Man was deleted and the character was divided into the roles of the Thames boatman, More's steward, an innkeeper, and the jailer from the Tower. The subplot involving the Spanish ambassador, Eustache Chapuys, was also excised.
In order to keep the budget at under $2 million, the actors all took salary cuts.
Appearing in a non-speaking role as Anne Boleyn, Vanessa Redgrave performed her scene for the fun of it and refused to accept any money.
The title is borrowed from Robert Whittington, who in 1520 wrote of Sir Thomas:

"More is a man of an angel's wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons."

So impressed was Mel Gibson with Paul Scofield's performance in this film, that he compared appearing alongside him in Hamlet to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson."

[edit] Quotes

Sir Thomas More: You threaten like a dockside bully.

 Cromwell: How should I threaten?
 Sir Thomas More: Like a minister of state. With justice. 
 Cromwell: Oh, justice is what you're threatened with. 
 Sir Thomas More: Then I am not threatened.

Cromwell: I know a man who wants to change his woman.

Cromwell: Yet how can this be? Because this silence betokened, nay, this silence was, not silence at all, but most eloquent denial!

 Sir Thomas More: Not so. Not so, Master Secretary. The maxim is "Qui tacet consentiret": the maxim of the law is "Silence gives consent". If therefore you wish to construe what my silence betokened, you must construe that I consented, not that I denied. 
 Cromwell: Is that in fact what the world construes from it? Do you pretend that is what you wish the world to construe from it? 
 Sir Thomas More: The world must construe according to its wits; this court must construe according to the law.

The Duke of Norfolk: Oh confound all this. I'm not a scholar, I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not but dammit, Thomas, look at these names! Why can't you do as I did and come with us, for fellowship!

 Sir Thomas More: And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?

Sir Thomas More: Why not be a teacher? You'd be a fine teacher; perhaps a great one.

 Richard Rich: If I was, who would know it? 
 Sir Thomas More: You; your pupils; your friends; God. Not a bad public, that.

King Henry VIII: Oh, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas! Does a man need a Pope to tell him where he's sinned? It was a sin. God's punished me. I have no son. Son after son she's borne me - all dead at birth or dead within the month. Never saw the hand of God so clear in anything. It's my bounden duty to put away the Queen and all the popes back to Peter shall not come between me and my duty! How is it that you cannot see? Everyone else does.

 Sir Thomas More: Then why does your Grace need my poor support? 
 King Henry VIII: Because you're honest... and what is more to the purpose, you're known to be honest. There are those like Norfolk who follow me because I wear the crown; and those like Master Cromwell who follow me because they are jackals with sharp teeth and I'm their tiger; there's a mass that follows me because it follows anything that moves. And then there's you... 
 Sir Thomas More: I am sick to think how much I must displease your Grace. 
 King Henry VIII: No, Thomas, I respect your sincerity. But respect... man, that's water in the desert.