The Lion in Winter

"What family doesn't have its ups and downs?"

In 1183, King Henry II (O'Toole) of England is staging a family reunion for Christmas.  He gathers his three surviving sons and estranged wife, Queen Eleanor (Hepburn), to name his successor.  He and Eleanor do not get along and he had her imprisoned years before.  Their sons are Richard (Hopkins) the oldest son who is a soldier, scheming middle son Geoffrey (Castle), and spoiled youngest son John (Terry).  John is Henry's favorite and his choice as heir to the throne, but Eleanor favors Richard.

They are joined by Alais (Merrow), Henry's mistress.  Alais is the sister of the King Philip (Dalton)of France and is betrothed to Richard.  Henry also invited Philip to join the festivities to argue terms.  Henry is determined to hand the throne to John, while keeping Alais as his mistress.  But his decision is opposed by the rest, who all have deals and double-deals in place to get their way.  Will everyone survive the holiday?


In 1966, James Goldman wrote the play "The Lion in Winter" about King Henry II, Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, and their sons.  The play premiered on Broadway in March 1966, with Robert Preston and Rosemary Harris in the lead roles.  Harris won the Tony Award for Best Actress for the role.  Goldman adapted his play for the screen, with Anthony Harvey serving as the director.

It helps to have at least a passing familiarity with the history of these characters.  Henry and Eleanor had 5 sons: 1 died before reaching adulthood, Henry died shortly before the events of the film, Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey, and John.  They also had daughters, and Eleanor had 2 daughters from her marriage to the King of France (Philip and Alias' father).  It also helps to know the events that happened later: Richard the Lionheart was the King of England during the time of Robin Hood.

Katharine Hepburn won an Oscar for her performance as Eleanor.  The film was nominated for 7 Oscars and won 3 (Hepburn for Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay for Goldman, and Best Music Score for John Barry).  Hepburn commands every scene she is in and deserved her win.  She is evenly matched with Peter O'Toole and their battles are fascinating to watch.  O'Toole played King Henry II four years before in the film Becket and he was nominated for Oscars for both performances.  The was also the film debut of Timothy Dalton and Anthony Hopkins.  John Castle is conniving as Geoffrey, Hopkins is imposing and passionate as Richard, while Nigel Terry is juvenile and cocky as John.  Jane Merrow is annoying as Alais, and I was not impressed by the character or her performance

Despite the stellar performances of the leads, I didn't love the film.  I didn't like some of the choices of the director and thought some places dragged... but it is still a good film.

The film was remade in 2003 as a TV movie starring Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close.

The Lion in Winter (1968) 134 minutes
Director: Anthony Harvey
Starring: Peter O'Toole as King Henry II
Katharine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor
Anthony Hopkins as Richard the Lionheart
John Castle as Geoffrey
Nigel Terry as John
Timothy Dalton as King Philip II of France
Jane Merrow as Alais