An Age of Kings (1960)

Just perfect...

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The acting in this movie is really good.

I borrowed this set from the public library. I am one of the few people, it seems, who did not see this series when it first aired on TV over fifty years ago. I can say that it gave me quite a bit of pleasure.The performances are generally fine. Paul Daneman does a great job as Richard III, really funny and menacing. He reminded me of Olivier. Since the discovery of Richard's bones recently, we can see that he was really deformed and that Shakespeare's making him a hunchback is only just. Mary Morris as Henry VI's queen is wonderful; wide-eyed obstinacy and toughness directed at all who don't respect her husband. Sean Connery in one of his very first roles is very funny and moving as Hotspur--love those sarcastic exchanges with Glendower. And Eileen Atkins as Pucelle in Henry VI is great--sexualized, passionate, unforgettable. (Pity the director chose to give a tight close-up on Atkins's eyes at one point to show a dancer reflected in her pupils.) The rest of the cast is occasionally memorable. You're probably not going to remember who is a Yorkist and who a Lancastrian, and does it matter that much anyway? There are so many individual moments that will please you: Jack Cade's aide saying "First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers!" is one, and there are many others.

Possibly the finest moment of TV, at least in my memory, as millions could watch Shakespeare's gripping Kings cycle (Richard II - Richard III) play out on prime time TV (I believe it was on Friday nights). No word was left out, and the plays awoke in me (who was then in elementary school) a thirst for history and a hunger for Shakespeare and drama.Let's see these reissued on DVD. What a set this would be!

I believe it has been over 40 years since I saw this series, yet memory of it hasn't faded a bit. This would be a natural for DVD re-issue, it seems to me. Many of the performers have gone on to greater fame (Robert Hardy, Sean Connery, to name a couple); though it was a smallish role, I still remember Judy Dench, then in her 20's, as Katherine of France (Henry V). She was very lovely then as now.There is a hint on this site that the series was filmed in color - is this so? Who of us would know - virtually no color TV in those days. Mores the pity, no VCR's; if so, some might have recorded it. As a way of teaching English history, this series made it come alive in ways few class room teachers can manage.What a fine re-issue this would be!

Watched this on KQED, with Frank Baxter commenting, as I recall. Have never seen it since, but would like to find out where it is available.It is amazing how good something can be, but be in black and white, and have zero special effects. In fact, amazing how much BETTER something like that is!