The Private Life of Henry VIII

"Six wives - and the best one is the worst!"

Our final entry in the Tudor sweepstakes is The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), a comic take on England's most infamous monarch. It catapulted the Korda Brothers to the top of the British film industry, and established the popular image of Henry as an obese, slobbery creature of appetites. Not a complete success, it remains watchable for Charles Laughton's outsized performance.

Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) has already failed twice at marriage, divorcing Catherine of Aragon and executing Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon). His third wife Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie) dies in childbirth, and fourth wife Anne of Cleves (Elsa Lanchester) escapes the match by acting like a ninny. Henry's roving eye then turns towards lady-in-waiting Katherine Howard (Binnie Barnes), who's infatuated with nobleman Thomas Culpepper (Robert Donat). Will Henry ever find true happiness?

The Private Life of Henry VIII approaches Henry's reign as a bawdy comedy of manners. The Kordas eschew messy political/religious turmoil, focusing on the King's bedroom antics and romantic frustration. The funniest scene has Henry sneaking off to a liaison with Katharine, only to be repeatedly announced by his guards! Backgrounding ministers like Cromwell (Franklin Dyall), we're treated instead to amusing bit characters: a French swordsman (Gibb McLaughlin) obsessed with "elegance," Henry's gabby barber (Hay Petrie), crowds watching executions like football fans. The weak leg is the Katharine-Culpepper romance, pitched at a level of high tragedy that doesn't mesh with the farcical tone.

Charles Laughton played many iconic characters (Captain Bligh, Quasimodo) but Henry is arguably the best. Henry scarfing a chicken leg, spilling wine on his frock and laughing uproariously presaged a century of screen depictions, at least until hunky Eric Bana and Jonathan Rhys-Myers. One spectacular scene has Henry's laughter spilling out into the servant's quarters and the streets, perfectly capturing his boisterous personality. Laughton gets big laughs throughout the film, yet achieves pathos in later scenes realizing he'll never achieve true love. It's a masterful turn.

The best of Henry's wives is Elsa Lanchester, the real-life Mrs. Laughton. Lanchester is hysterically funny both playing a Teutonic hick and cheating Henry at cards. Binnie Barnes is appropriately tragic but stiff Robert Donat (The 39 Steps) lets down his end of the triangle. Merle Oberon is strikingly beautiful in her brief scenes as Anne Boleyn; she'd soon become a star in her own right.

The Private Life of Henry VIII isn't a masterpiece but it's certainly a fun, unique take on Tudor England.