The Private Life Of Henry VIII - 1933

While he was on a tour of Europe, huge American professional wrestler Man Mountain Dean was hired to be Charles Laughton's uncredited stunt double. This would be the first of Dean's appearances in motion pictures.

First non-US film to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination.

Elsa Lanchester, playing Anne of Cleves, refers to Henry VIII, as a "Bluebeard" however the 1st historical mention of Bluebeard dates to 1697, 150 years after the rule of Henry VIII ended.

Historically, the film is wildly inaccurate - with the possible exception of the Anne Boleyn storyline at the beginning. It does not portray Henry's first (and longest) marriage to the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon.

It was hugely successful as a commercial film and it advanced Alexander Korda and Charles Laughton's careers. It was Merle Oberon's first major film role and it began her rise to Hollywood stardom. Laughton would later reprise his role in 1953 in the film Young Bess, opposite Jean Simmons as his young daughter, Elizabeth I. No other feature-length film would deal with all of Henry's wives until Henry VIII and his Six Wives in 1973.

It is famous for creating the public image of a jolly Henry VIII gorging himself at public banquets and chasing pretty women all day.

The film is referenced on an episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Gum."

Cast of The Private Life Of Henry VIII

Charles Laughton as Henry VIII
Merle Oberon as Anne Boleyn
Wendy Barrie as Jane Seymour
Elsa Lanchester as Anne of Cleves
Binnie Barnes as Katherine Howard
Robert Donat as Thomas Culpepper
Franklin Dyall as Thomas Cromwell
Miles Mander as Wriothesley
Laurence Hanray as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
William Austin as Duke of Cleves
John Loder as Thomas Peynell
Everley Gregg as Catherine Parr