An Age of Kings (1960)

I borrowed this set from the public library. I am one of the few people, it seems, who did not see this series when it first aired on TV over fifty years ago. I can say that it gave me quite a bit of pleasure.The performances are generally fine. Paul Daneman does a great job as Richard III, really funny and menacing. He reminded me of Olivier. Since the discovery of Richard's bones recently, we can see that he was really deformed and that Shakespeare's making him a hunchback is only just. Mary Morris as Henry VI's queen is wonderful; wide-eyed obstinacy and toughness directed at all who don't respect her husband. Sean Connery in one of his very first roles is very funny and moving as Hotspur--love those sarcastic exchanges with Glendower. And Eileen Atkins as Pucelle in Henry VI is great--sexualized, passionate, unforgettable. (Pity the director chose to give a tight close-up on Atkins's eyes at one point to show a dancer reflected in her pupils.) The rest of the cast is occasionally memorable. You're probably not going to remember who is a Yorkist and who a Lancastrian, and does it matter that much anyway? There are so many individual moments that will please you: Jack Cade's aide saying "First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers!" is one, and there are many others.

When I first learned that this series of Shakespeare's history plays was on DVD I ordered it on the spot. I first saw it at the age of 11 on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) and it sowed the seed for a lifelong interest in British history and Shakespeare. It was great to see Sean Connery, Robert Hardy, Eileen Atkins, and Judi Dench as young actors, but even more pleasurable to enjoy again the late Robert Lang as the villainous Cardinal Beaufort and the late Frank Pettingell as Sir John Falstaff. Also, thanks to IMDb I am pleasantly surprised to learn that Geoffrey Bayldon, the Lord Chief Justice and nemesis of Sir John (and Prince Hal) in Henry IV, is still active over 50 years later. I've no problem with it being in black and white. The introductory music as the camera moves to each of the heraldic devices arranged in a row - the white hart of Richard II, the swan of Henry IV etc. takes me back in an instant to my first viewing of this remarkable series.

Possibly the finest moment of TV, at least in my memory, as millions could watch Shakespeare's gripping Kings cycle (Richard II - Richard III) play out on prime time TV (I believe it was on Friday nights). No word was left out, and the plays awoke in me (who was then in elementary school) a thirst for history and a hunger for Shakespeare and drama.Let's see these reissued on DVD. What a set this would be!

I believe it has been over 40 years since I saw this series, yet memory of it hasn't faded a bit. This would be a natural for DVD re-issue, it seems to me. Many of the performers have gone on to greater fame (Robert Hardy, Sean Connery, to name a couple); though it was a smallish role, I still remember Judy Dench, then in her 20's, as Katherine of France (Henry V). She was very lovely then as now.There is a hint on this site that the series was filmed in color - is this so? Who of us would know - virtually no color TV in those days. Mores the pity, no VCR's; if so, some might have recorded it. As a way of teaching English history, this series made it come alive in ways few class room teachers can manage.What a fine re-issue this would be!