The Private Life of Henry VIII

The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 United Kingdom film directed and coproduced by Alexander Korda and starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon and Elsa Lanchester. The film focuses on the marriages of King Henry VIII of England. It was written by Lajos Br and Arthur Wimperis for London Film Productions, Kordas production company. The film was a major international success, establishing Korda as a leading filmmaker and Laughton as a box office star.

Alexander Korda was looking for a film project suitable for Charles Laughton and his wife, Elsa Lanchester. Several stories of the films genesis exist the resemblance between a statue of Henry VIII and Laughton, a cabby singing the music hall song Im Henery the Eighth, I Am, and a discussion on a set of one of his previous films. Originally, the story was to focus solely on the marriage of King Henry VIII and his fourth wife Anne of Cleves, but as the project grew, the story was remodified to focus on five of Henrys six wives. Only the first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was omitted because those involved had no particular interest, describing her as a respectable lady in the films first intertitles.The film was a commercial success. It made Alexander Korda a premier figure in the film industry at the time United Artists signed Korda forfilms. It also advanced the careers of Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, and Merle Oberon. It was also Oberons first major film role. Laughton would later reprise the same role in 1953 in the film Young Bess, opposite Jean Simmons as his daughter, Elizabeth. ........

Source: Wikipedia