The Lion in Winter
UK (1968): Drama
In this 12th-century version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), meet on Christmas Eve to discuss the future of the throne. These two are having slight marital problems, as she is kept in captivity most of the year for raising a rebellion against him, and he flaunts his young mistress. Then there are the problems raised by their three treacherous and traitorous sons: Richard (Anthony Hopkins), Geoffrey (John Castle) and John (Nigel Terry).
James Goldman won an Oscar for the brilliant screenplay, based on his Broadway play. It is a tad wordy, as the action is kept to a minimum, but those words are sharp as daggers. The humor is wicked and black and delivered with very dry, dead-on precision. Sparks fly and the screen sizzles whenever Hepburn and O'Toole tango, which is often. Both were nominated for Academy Awards for their vigorous performances. (She won; he didn't.) There's also an infamous homo-erotic exchange between Philip of France (Timothy Dalton) and Richard the Lionhearted (Hopkins). Both actors were making their feature-film debuts. Tickets to the film were sold on a reserved seat basis. (Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com)
7 nominations, 3 Awards
· Actress 1968: Katharine Hepburn (Tied with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl)
· Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1968: James Goldman
· Music Scoring Awards (Best Original Score for a motion picture not a musical) 1968: John Barry
· Best Picture 1968: Martin Poll - Producer (Haworth, Avco Embassy)
· Actor 1968: Peter O'Toole
· Directing 1968: Anthony Harvey
· Costume Design 1968: Margaret Furse