MovieChat Forums > A Man for All Seasons (1966) Discussion > Sir John Hurt RIP - last of the main cas...

Sir John Hurt RIP - last of the main cast

posted 8 years ago by Salieri-3
6 replies | jump to latest

The sad news of the death of Sir John - undoubtedly one of Britain's finest actors - means that, most poignantly, all the principal cast of this great film have now left us.

What a magnificent performance as Richard Rich - gradually shifting from vulnerable desperation to chilling opportunism. The courtroom scene in which Rich gives his perjured testimony must have been very hard for Sir John, but he handled it with consumate professionalism.

One of the greatest casts ever assembled. As a Catholic with a devotion to St Thomas More, I invoke his prayers for them. May they all Rest in Peace.

[–] jackronner (61) 5 years ago

Saw it when it came out. The most perfectly cast and written film ever. Even as a 16 yr old I knew I was witnessing greatness. But above all, the performances and relationship between Scofield and Hurt was astounding. If you see it again, when he rejects Hurt's desperate plea of "Employ me!!", with a totally frozen poker face and a ventriloquist's frozen lips , he punctuates his "No" with a simultaneous flare of his nostrils. The man could use his face like no other. And so rare to have a close-up facial mastery so vital in film when you were a stage actor. "I trust I make myself obscure."

It occurred to me watching it tonight that Orson Welles' performance was perhaps his best. So powerful yet natural.

[–] Betamax66 (588) 5 years ago

Anne of the Thousand Days was better, a richer cinematography (won an award) and great leads (Burton et al) and support

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Not even in my top 5, Beta.
The script in this is profound.
It is consistently voted the favorite movie about this moment in history by university students when polled.

[–] jackronner (61) 3 years ago

Zinnemann was wise to have Robert Bolt, the playwright, write the screenplay.

One of my favorite scenes is when Henry tries to impress Susannah York's scholarly Margaret with his halting, schoolboy Latin, and she eagerly, if unwisely, unleashes a torrent of fluent Latin in response. The look on Henry's face was priceless. His diatribe to Will against the cutting down of the English"Trees of Law" and warning against the "winds that would blow" I found even more powerfully acted than his address to Parliament. Masterful acting.

I've since learned that More, who was such an appealing hero here, as Lord High Chancellor he was also a somewhat prolific burner-at-the stake for Protestant "heretics", and sought to suppress the first English translation of the Bible, voicing his support for the burning of one of its distributors. It tarnished his image in my mind quite a bit!

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

I have heard that the author of the work describing More as a heretic was somewhat narrow in his opinion, and to be fair, this was happening all over Europe. The Inquisition being even more horrible.
As for the translation I wonder if people realize what a danger this was to the Holy Sea as their laws were all written in Latin and would now be under scrutiny. It was a legal as well as dogma matter.

[–] marktayloruk (2502) 2 years ago

You couldn't have people thinking for themselves!