Producer Hal Wallis's inventive and flamboyant slice of English history was a surprising hit, reviving a moribund genre and providing marvellous showcases for Richard Burton, as a roistering but soulful Henry VIII, and Genevieve Bujold, touchingly well cast as Anne Boleyn. The period interiors, largely re-created at Shepperton studios, are beautifully designed, though much of the attention to detail is lost on television. Margaret Furse's costumes rightly won an Oscar; a shame, then, that Charles Jarrott's direction is insipid and poorly paced. Nevertheless, this is a respectable example of film-making craftsmanship.

Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.