A Man for All Seasons (1988 film)

A Man for All Seasons is a 1988 American made-for-television drama film about St. Thomas More, directed by and starring Charlton Heston. It is based on the play of the same name by Robert Bolt, which was previously adapted in the Academy Award winning 1966 film A Man for All Seasons. It was the first made-for-television film produced on behalf of the TNT (Turner Network Television) television network.

A Man for All Seasons
VHS cover
Genre	Drama
Based on	A Man for All Seasons 1960 play by Robert Bolt
Written by	Robert Bolt
Directed by	Charlton Heston
Starring	Charlton Heston Vanessa Redgrave Sir John Gielgud
Music by	Julia Downes
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Peter Snell
Producer	Fraser C. Heston
Cinematography	Dennis Lewiston
Editor	Eric Boyd-Perkins
Running time	150 minutes
Production companies	Agamemnon Films British Lion
Original release
Network	TNT
Release	December 21, 1988 (1988-12-21)

The film stars Heston as More, Vanessa Redgrave (who had a small cameo in the version from 1966) as his wife Alice More, Sir John Gielgud as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Martin Chamberlain as King Henry VIII, Richard Johnson as the Duke of Norfolk (historically, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk), and Roy Kinnear as the narrator, "The Common Man", who was cut from the previous film. (The "Common Man' functions in the manner of a Greek chorus throughout the play, appearing at crucial moments and seeming to comment on the action.)

The film follows the original stage play more literally and runs half an hour longer than the 1966 film, and could be considered "stagier" than that film, which divided the Common Man into several more realistic characters and omitted portions of the play.

Plot

King Henry VIII, denied permission by the Pope to divorce his wife, orders the aristocracy of England to recognize him as head of the English church and renounce their Catholic faith. Sir Thomas More, a devout Catholic and Henry's chief minister, is a man of principle and reason, and is thus placed in a difficult position: should he stand up for his principles, risking the wrath of a King fond of executing those who displease him? Or should he bow to the seemingly unstoppable corruption of Henry VIII, who has no qualms about bending the law to suit his own needs?

Cast

• Charlton Heston as Sir Thomas More
• Vanessa Redgrave as Alice More
• Richard Johnson as the Duke of Norfolk
• John Gielgud as Thomas Wolsey
• Roy Kinnear as The Common Man
• Benjamin Whitrow as Thomas Cromwell
• Adrienne Thomas as Margaret Roper
• Martin Chamberlain as Henry VIII
• John Hudson as William Roper
• Jonathan Hackett as Richard Rich
• Milton Cadman as Thomas Cranmer
• Nicholas Amer as Eustace Chapuys

Reception

The film received generally positive critic reviews.^[1]

Home media

Warner Bros. released a DVD in 2011.