Since I first saw this film, it has remained one of my favourites of all time (and I am a connoisseur of film along with their scores). It is one of the finest depictions of the nobility of a man's soul and the fineness of his intellect in the face of certain death.
Had read Lives of the Saints as a child and now just ordered a copy from Amazon while I search to see if I have another copy around here somewhere. Btw following you is like the quickest way to great reading. Thank-you, Gwyneth!
Fred Zinnerman’s film, A Man for All Seasons that won the award for Best Picture of the Year, is a great film. I would also like to recommend the 1988 Charlton Heston film adaptation of the play.
The Heston film is a very good quality, relatively low budget production made for TV. That aside, it is faithful adaptation of the stage version and has in its own right a cast of characters of at least of equal standing with those in the 1966 film that includes John Gielgund and Vanessa Redgrave. While it is true that Mr. Heston may not compare with Paul Scofield as an actor or Mr. Zinnerman as a director he nevertheless does a very good job in both these areas. After all, few actors can play larger than life characters like Moses and Ben Hur like Heston. St. Thomas More, in the end, is a character larger than life. Several other of the supporting actors, in the opinion of many, are actually superior to the 1966 cast as well as the costumes, the staging, and the music.
But what makes the Heston film a richer experience than the 1966 “Best Picture of the Year” winner is the actor Roy Kinear, who plays the role of the narrator and the character called the “Common Man”, and is faithful to the artistry of the original stage production by Mr. Robert Bolt. The character of the Common Man is after St. Thomas, the principal character of the play and once that is known and experienced, the 1966 film remains forever “missing something” that should be there.
It is the Common Man that made the Reformation in England successful and it is the Common Man who has failed the Catholic Church today. He is the small, petty, shallow, self centered little man who lives with a blunted conscience habituated to daily little injustices. Few of us will ever have the opportunity in our lives to play the role of St. Thomas More, Richard Rich, or Thomas Cromwell but we all must deal with our own temptations to resist the “common man” in our every thought, word, deed of our every day. It is, by the grace of God, in overcoming the Common Man that we can become saints. It is the opposition of the Common Man to St. Thomas that in a very practical sense creates the moral force of the play and in Heston's film.
I would not only recommend the Heston version be seen, but think it should be seen first. Once the viewer knows about the character of the Common Man, he can mentally supply the character and make him “visible” in the 1966 Zinnerman production.
Thank you very much for both this substantial comment and the recommendation of Charlton Heston's "A Man for All Seasons." Definitively, I will review it. The Common Man seems to be similar to the so-called "parvenu" (i.e., "arriviste" or even "philistine")—one who lives exclusively for his own self-gratification through any means. It is like a shadow that endangers any of us—isn't it?
Thank you for a great post. I saw this film when I was 12 and even at that age, it affected me deeply. It still does. You have just reminded me again how great it is.
Please give us more articles like this one, sir!
Definitively, this is truly a challenge that I enjoy. Thank you!
Since I first saw this film, it has remained one of my favourites of all time (and I am a connoisseur of film along with their scores). It is one of the finest depictions of the nobility of a man's soul and the fineness of his intellect in the face of certain death.
I absolutely agree! The script is great, but the performances are also extraordinary.
Had read Lives of the Saints as a child and now just ordered a copy from Amazon while I search to see if I have another copy around here somewhere. Btw following you is like the quickest way to great reading. Thank-you, Gwyneth!
Thank God for Western Civilization literature and for Substack writers with the talent and generosity to bring it to the masses.
Fred Zinnerman’s film, A Man for All Seasons that won the award for Best Picture of the Year, is a great film. I would also like to recommend the 1988 Charlton Heston film adaptation of the play.
The Heston film is a very good quality, relatively low budget production made for TV. That aside, it is faithful adaptation of the stage version and has in its own right a cast of characters of at least of equal standing with those in the 1966 film that includes John Gielgund and Vanessa Redgrave. While it is true that Mr. Heston may not compare with Paul Scofield as an actor or Mr. Zinnerman as a director he nevertheless does a very good job in both these areas. After all, few actors can play larger than life characters like Moses and Ben Hur like Heston. St. Thomas More, in the end, is a character larger than life. Several other of the supporting actors, in the opinion of many, are actually superior to the 1966 cast as well as the costumes, the staging, and the music.
But what makes the Heston film a richer experience than the 1966 “Best Picture of the Year” winner is the actor Roy Kinear, who plays the role of the narrator and the character called the “Common Man”, and is faithful to the artistry of the original stage production by Mr. Robert Bolt. The character of the Common Man is after St. Thomas, the principal character of the play and once that is known and experienced, the 1966 film remains forever “missing something” that should be there.
It is the Common Man that made the Reformation in England successful and it is the Common Man who has failed the Catholic Church today. He is the small, petty, shallow, self centered little man who lives with a blunted conscience habituated to daily little injustices. Few of us will ever have the opportunity in our lives to play the role of St. Thomas More, Richard Rich, or Thomas Cromwell but we all must deal with our own temptations to resist the “common man” in our every thought, word, deed of our every day. It is, by the grace of God, in overcoming the Common Man that we can become saints. It is the opposition of the Common Man to St. Thomas that in a very practical sense creates the moral force of the play and in Heston's film.
I would not only recommend the Heston version be seen, but think it should be seen first. Once the viewer knows about the character of the Common Man, he can mentally supply the character and make him “visible” in the 1966 Zinnerman production.
David Drew
Thank you very much for both this substantial comment and the recommendation of Charlton Heston's "A Man for All Seasons." Definitively, I will review it. The Common Man seems to be similar to the so-called "parvenu" (i.e., "arriviste" or even "philistine")—one who lives exclusively for his own self-gratification through any means. It is like a shadow that endangers any of us—isn't it?
The Heston movie is available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrqAPkLdy4
David Drew
Thank you!
This is a link to a better copy of the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEa6XRZa9Vg
Thank you!
Thank you for a great post. I saw this film when I was 12 and even at that age, it affected me deeply. It still does. You have just reminded me again how great it is.
Wonderful essay - perhaps my favorite of all your wonderful essays. God’s first.
My favorite film of all time!
Brilliant, a great synopsis. We’ll watch the movie again with more intention and better understanding. Thank you.