A Man for All Seasons - Classic Historical Drama DVD | Perfect for Movie Nights & Gift Giving

As mentioned, this is not the screen play that was adapted for the 1966 film starring Paul Scofield, but rather a filmed version of the original stage play by Robert Bolt. Of course much material overlaps, but it is a distinctly different approach and performance. This is NOT a video of a thetrical performance, but a fully realized 'film' performance, simply using the theatrical script as screen play. The most noticeable difference is, of course, the presence of The Common Man (admirably executed by Roy Kinnear), a character which is cut in the 1966 film adaptation and replaced by individual actors playing the host of characters The Common Man covers in the play. John Gielgud is given an upper billing, and he is of course an excellent--if more slender than one would expect-- Cardinal Wolsey. His Wolsey is not as menacing as Orson Welles' Wolsey in the '66 movie, but none-the-less is clearly a determined, pragmatic, Machiavellian bureaucrat who makes it clear he will brook no resistance from Sir Thomas More, or anyone else. But these are Gielgud's only few moments on the screen (Wolsey's "Fall" is not depicted in the play, as it was in the earlier film, but only mentioned in passing later). Vanessa Redgrave returns to the script, this time as Lady Alice More, Thomas' wife (she appeared briefly in the non-speaking role of Anne Boleyn in the '66 film; Mistress Boleyn is never actually seen in the play) and she is by turns humorous, fierce, tragic and always convincing.For me, the most pleasant surprise was Charleton Heston-- an accomplished actor, whose unfortunate late-in-life attachments to 'campier' film projects and far-right politics caused him to be dismissed as a significant talent by many. However his abilities are fully shown here. The performance is subtle, elegant, and powerful. He takes a different approach than Scofield, as one would expect, and it works to the character's and story line's advantage (I take nothing from Sir Paul; he is the Definitive Man for All Seasons, of course). Scofield plays the noble, determined martyr who won't give in; Heston is more unconvinced of his ability to face what he knows must happen and musters his courage through the certainty that he is right to stand up for what he believes in. Both are convincingly saddened when they realize the lengths that former friends will go to in order to achieve their ends.If you are already a fan of this play and the 1966 movie, this is highly recommended. If you are just getting to know it, stil highly recommended. The theatrical purist may find it more to his or her liking than the 1966 film version.