The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (1944)

Director:

Laurence Olivier

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

17 June 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Laurence Olivier's Presentation in Technicolor of Henry V

Plot:

In the inspired Olivier concept, Shakespeare's play begins as a performance in the Globe Theatre, shifting...

Plot Keywords:

Dead Children | Child Murder | Historical | William Shakespeare | England

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins

Cast

Leslie Banks	...	Chorus
Felix Aylmer	...	Archbishop of Canterbury
Robert Helpmann	...	Bishop of Ely
Vernon Greeves	...	The English Herald
Gerald Case	...	Earl of Westmoreland
Griffith Jones	...	Earl of Salisbury
Morland Graham	...	Sir Thomas Erpingham
Nicholas Hannen	...	Duke of Exeter
Michael Warre	...	Duke of Gloucester
Laurence Olivier	...	King Henry V of England
Ralph Truman	...	Mountjoy - The French Herald
Ernest Thesiger	...	Duke of Berri French Ambassador
Frederick Cooper	...	Corporal Nym
Roy Emerton	...	Lieutenant Bardolph
Robert Newton	...	Ancient Pistol

Also Known As:

Henry V (UK) (short title)
Henry the Fift (UK) (short title)
Henry the Fifth (USA) (trailer title)

Runtime:

137 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #10900) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Two Cities Films

Trivia:

The government commissioned Olivier to make a film that would prove inspiring to the beleaguered British people who were then suffering through their 5th year of war with Germany.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Chorus: O! for a Muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention; a kingdom for a stage, princes to act and monarchs to behold the swelling scene. Then should the war-like Harry, like himself, assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, leashed in like hounds...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Bailero

Olivier in His Prime

I have never really considered "Henry V" to be one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. It lacks the philosophical depth and emotional power of the great tragedies or even of some of the other history plays, such as "Richard III". It is a play which mythologises an English king whose main achievement was to start an unnecessary war with France. As Shakespeare knew well, Agincourt was a great victory in the short term but a futile one in the long term. Henry's early death meant that his great ambition of uniting the French and English crowns was never realised; the United Kingdom of England and France remains one of the great might-have-beens of world history. Moreover, modern audiences might have another problem with this play. By modern standards (which were not necessarily the standards of either Shakespeare's day or of Henry's) the English were the aggressors in the Hundred Years War; even by mediaeval standards, Henry's claim to the French throne was by no means as clear-cut as Shakespeare imagined.

Despite these difficulties, "Henry V" has been the subject of two of the greatest cinematic Shakespeare adaptations, this one and Kenneth Branagh's version from 1989. One reason is that it contains some of Shakespeare's most magnificent poetry and some of his greatest set-piece speeches, mostly put into the mouth of Henry himself. It is therefore a very tempting role for Shakespearean actors, especially those who can speak blank verse as naturally as Olivier or Branagh.

The two films are very different in style. Branagh's naturalistic film emphasises the bloodshed and squalor of war; contrary to what is sometimes thought, mediaeval warfare was not necessarily more chivalrous, or even less bloody, than the modern version. (The bloodiest day in British military history, when some 26,000 were killed, was 29th March 1461, the date of the Battle of Towton during the Wars of the Roses). Olivier's film is highly stylised rather than naturalistic. The scenes set in England are presented as a re-enactment of how the play might have been performed at the Globe theatre during Shakespeare's own lifetime. The French scenes were shot against sets based upon paintings from the early fifteenth century, especially the work of the Limbourg brothers. The battle scenes are more realistic, but even these play down the elements of blood and cruelty.

Olivier's film- the first which he directed- was commissioned by the British Government as a patriotic morale-booster during the Second World War. The decision to portray war as something glorious rather than bloody was therefore a quite deliberate one. A sharp contrast is drawn between the heroic Henry and his French counterparts. Those parts of Shakespeare's play which show Henry in a less favourable light, such as his order to kill the French prisoners, are omitted, apparently on the instructions of Churchill, who did not want the film's patriotic message to be clouded by moral ambiguities. The French King, Charles VI, is portrayed as a senile old fool, and his son the Dauphin Louis as not only an arrogant popinjay but also a sadistic brute who slaughters non-combatants such as the young boys in the English baggage train. Stress is placed on those scenes which show the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish captains fighting together against a common enemy. (Shakespeare was probably looking ahead to the unification of the English and Scottish crowns under James I and VI, which was to take place a few years after his play was written; it is perhaps no accident that the Scottish captain is called Jamie).

Of the two films I would- marginally- prefer Branagh's, which seems more relevant to a modern audience. Yet there is much about the earlier film which is of value even today. Some of the supporting performances are very good, especially from Harcourt Williams as the mad old Charles, Max Adrian as the Dauphin and Leslie Banks as the Chorus (who speaks some of the most poetic speeches not given to Henry). This is one of the few British films of the early forties shot in colour, and the colours are particularly vivid and jewel-like, making the film far more visually spectacular than Branagh's. Above all, this film gives the chance to later generations to see one of Britain's finest classical actors, at the peak of his powers, taking the leading role in a Shakespearean drama. 8/10