Cromwell (film)

Cromwell is a British 1970 historical drama film written and directed by Ken Hughes. It is based on the life of Oliver Cromwell, who led the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War and, as Lord Protector, ruled Great Britain and Ireland in the 1650s. It features an ensemble cast, led by Richard Harris as Cromwell and Alec Guinness as King Charles I, with Robert Morley as Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester and Timothy Dalton as Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

Oliver Cromwell is a devout Puritan, a country squire, magistrate and former member of Parliament. King Charles Is policies, including the enclosing of common land for the use of wealthy landowners and the introduction of Popish and Romish rituals into the Church of England have become increasingly grating to many, including Cromwell. In fact Charles regards himself as a devout Anglican, permitting his French Queen to practise Roman Catholicism in private but forbidding her to bring up the young Prince of Wales in that faith. Cromwell plans to take his family to the New World, but, on the eve of their departure, he is persuaded by his friends to stay and resume a role in politics.Charles has unenthusiastically summoned Parliament for the first time in eleven years, as he needs money to fight wars against both the Scots and the Irish. Although to appease the Commons he reluctantly agrees to execute his hated adviser the Earl of Strafford, the Parliament of England will still not grant him his requests unless he agrees to reforms that could lead to a constitutional monarchy. Committed to the divine right of kings, and under pressure from his queen to stand firm, Charles refuses. When he attempts to arrest five members of Parliament in reality Cromwell was not one of them, war breaks out in England itself, Parliament against the king, both sides convinced that God is on their side. ........

Source: Wikipedia