The Lion in Winter (1968 film)

The Lion in Winter (1968 film)

The Lion in Winter is a 1968 British-American historical drama film set around the Christmas of 1183. The film stars Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, John Castle, Anthony Hopkins, Jane Merrow, Timothy Dalton, and Nigel Terry. It won three Academy Awards, including one for Hepburn as Best Actress. There was a television remake in 2003.

About The Lion in Winter (1968 film) in brief

Summary The Lion in Winter (1968 film)The Lion in Winter is a 1968 British-American historical drama film set around the Christmas of 1183. It is based on the 1966 Broadway play of the same name by James Goldman. The film stars Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, John Castle, Anthony Hopkins, Jane Merrow, Timothy Dalton, and Nigel Terry. It won three Academy Awards, including one for Hepburn as Best Actress. There was a television remake in 2003. It was the 14th most popular movie in the U.S. at the box office in 1969. The New York Times wrote that the film was the most plotting, full of fun, and full of the kind of plotting of the most fun kind of movie of the full year of 1968. It earned an estimated 6.6 million rentals in the domestic North American market during its initial release in its initial year of release. The movie was shot at Ardmore Studios in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, and on location in Ireland, Wales, and in France at Abbaye de Montmajne, Arlesâne, Tarascon and Tavasson.

The sculpted stone figures appearing during main title music were a lucky find by the director while shooting in France. They were filmed along the director’s driveway and edited later to create the title sequence where they appear to be on the interior walls of the castle. In October 1967, the actors rehearsed at Haymarket Theatre in London. Production started in November 1967 and continued until May 1968. The original stage production had not been a success, getting a bad review in the New YorkTimes and losing USD 150,000. Producer Martin Poll optioned Goldman’s novel Waldorf for the movies. He hired Goldman to write a screenplay for The Lion In Winter which Poll read and loved. It premiered on 30 October 1968 and was a commercial success.