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The Private Life of Henry VIII is a British film starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon and Elsa Lanchester. The film focuses on the marriages of King Henry VIII and was a major international success. The film begins with King Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) and Anne of Cleves (Elsa Lanchester) on their wedding night, starting with the 20 years into King Henry VIII's reign. In May of 1536, in the intermediate aftermath of the execution of his second wife Anne Boleyn, Henry marries Jane Seymour, who dies in childbirth 18 months later. King Henry then marries a German princess Anne of Cleves. This marriage ends in divorce after Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so that she may be free to marry her sweetheart. King Henry then marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Katherine Howard. She has rejected love all of her life in favor of ambition, but after her marriage, she falls in love with King Henry's handsome courtier Thomas Culpepper, who had attempted to woo her in the past. Their liaison is discovered by King Henry's court and the two are swiftly executed. The weak and aging King Henry consoles himself with a final marriage to Catherine Parr, who is quite domineering. When Catherine is no longer in the room, King Henry is overheard saying, 'Six wives and the best of them's the worst'. A superb biopic of King Henry with an outstanding performance by the great Charles Laughton! (90 minutes - 1933 - Black & White - 4 3).
