The foundation of “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”, a 6
part mini-series broadcasted on BBC in 1970 was posted in my last blog on
1/6/12. The purpose of this post is to
write my review of the series.
I highly recommend this series to ANY Tudor
fan. The series gets an A-, as well as the
acting. I never give A’s, as nothing is
perfect, but this series is shy of perfection.
Keith Mitchell is the best actor as Henry VIII of all the Tudor Movies/Series
and I have seen many them.
There were 6 parts to this series. My favorite parts were Part 1 (Catherine of
Aragon), Part 5 (Catherine Howard), & Part (6 Catherine Parr). If I had to choose, my absolute favorite part was Part
5 (Catherine Howard). I, particularly,
enjoyed this part the most because I learned a lot about Henry’s fifth wife.
Usually, I just thought of Catherine Howard as
this dumb, naïve, foolish, stupid girl who had it all, especially becoming
Queen, and messed everything up by committing adultery and therefore, was executed.
Yes, Catherine Howard did wrong but she was not
stupid, naive, or any of the above. She
was a beautiful 17 year old girl who was used as a pawn so her family could
gain power [doesn’t this seem the case with half of Henry’s wives]. First, her Uncle, the Duke of Norfolk was
power hungry so his niece becoming Queen grants him and his family name that
very wish. Secondly, Catherine Howard is
only 17 and as a 17 year old female, she wants to experience love. Before she married Henry, she did have
intercourse with another man, but did not share this information with her
Uncle. Can you blame her for not telling
her Uncle? Catherine knew her Uncle
wanted this marriage so she decided to keep her past sex life a secret. Third, when Catherine Howard married Henry; he
was ill, getting old, was fat, and could not perform sexually. The Duke of Norfolk instructs his niece, the
Queen, to have an affair with one of Henry’s personal aides so she can produce a
Son and by having a Son, Catherine Howard would have extreme power. Like any other story, plans unfold and the
affair rumors start, as well as her having intercourse before marrying Henry. Of course, the Duke, her Uncle, has to protect
his and the family name, so he advises Henry of the situation before anyone
else does. Basically, he saves himself and
willingly knows his niece will be put to death.
As most know, the Queen is executed.
I learned a lot from this series, especially 2
things: 1) Catherine was only 17 and was not ready for this sort of arrangement. She was a pawn so her Uncle and the Howard
family could obtain extreme power. 2) I
did not know that her Uncle, the Duke was first, that power hungry, and second,
instructed his niece to have an affair to produce a Son.
Bottom line, each of his wives did not have it
easy. Henry abandoned Catherine of
Aragon, who he was married to for about 24 years because she could not produce
a Son. Therefore, he gets rid of her
(not by execution), abandons the Catholic Church, putting England in an awkward
situation, all so he can marry Anne.
After a few years, Anne does not produce a son; therefore false accusations
are arranged so the marriage can be annulled and Anne can be executed. While with Anne, Henry falls for Jane Seymour
and 12 days after Anne is executed, he marries Jane. Jane has his son but dies soon after
birth. Anne of Cleves, his 4th
wife for a short period of time, is not to his liking so he wants the marriage
annulled. Catherine Howard has been
discussed. Catherine Parr was forced
into the marriage with Henry and was almost condemned for political religious reasons
but Henry spares her life. Wow, all this
in a paragraph.
Most importantly, Keith Mitchell was fabulous as
Henry VIII. As far as acting, he is the
closest replication to Henry VIII that I have seen in ALL of the Tudor films or
series.
This wraps up my opinion of the film. I highly recommend the film. If you do not have it on tape or dvd, the
whole series is on my youtube site, which is:
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