When the power-hungry Henry VIII (Martin Chamberlain) seeks to annul his marriage and take a new bride, principled Sir Thomas More (Charlton Heston), the Lord Chancellor of England, will not support the king on the matter. Though More’s wife, Lady Alice (Vanessa Redgrave), understands his rift with Henry, his associate, Cardinal Wolsey (John Gielgud), is willing to go along with the king’s wishes, creating a conflict between More and the two powerful leaders. It is based on the play of the same name by Robert Bolt, which was previously adapted in the Academy Award-winning 1966 film.
Charlton Heston makes his film directorial debut herein, and also plays the central role of Sir Thomas More, 16th century lord chancellor of England. Heston’s version restores much of the text that had been removed from the earlier film–as well as the ubiquitous expository character “The Common Man”, here played by Roy Kinnear. More’s harsh but loving wife Alice is played in the remake by Vanessa Redgrave, who’d appeared unbilled as Anne Boleyn in the 1966 version (Arch-conservative Heston and ultra-liberal Redgrave in the same film? Fear not: each respected the other’s acting skills, and they got along famously). – Hal Erickson, Rovi
Starring Charlton Heston, Vanessa Redgrave, John Gielgud.
Note: The 1988 film follows the original stage play more literally, runs a half-hour longer than the 1966 film, and could be considered more “stagy” than that earlier film, which not only divided the Common Man into several more realistic characters, but omitted small portions of the play itself.