Information
- BFI identifier22749
- Date1964 (Copyright)
1965-03-08 (Release) - Production countryUnited Kingdom, USA
- Production company
- SynopsisThomas Becket and the king, Henry II, are firm friends and comrades in their enjoyment of life. Their estrangement begins after Henry has impetuously given Becket the Chancellorship. The Saxon clergy and Norman nobility are outraged but Becket takes his appointment seriously. To limit the authority of the Church, Henry also makes Becket Primate whereupon he champions the rights of the church in opposition to the Crown. Following a false charge of embezzlement he finds asylum in France but eventually returns to Canterbury. He is murdered by four barons in the Cathedral on the unwitting injunction of the king. Henry repents and atones, proclaiming Becket to be a saint. The following statement regarding the story appears after the opening credits: 'in the year 1066 William the Conqueror crossed from France with his Norman army and conquered the Saxons of Britain at the Battle of Hastings. Henry II, his great grandson, continued to rule over the oppressed Saxon peasants, backed by the swords of his Barons and by the power of his imported Norman clergy.' (Synopsis)
- Genre
- CreditsDirected by: Peter Glenville
©: Paramount Film Service Limited
Production Company: Paramount Film Service
view all - Cast
Title
Becket (Original)
EIDR identifier
10.5240/5210-4E4F-60AB-81D8-E6A8-RCategory
FictionThis work is included in the BFI Filmography.
- Collections
- Film / Video
VHS cassette - Video - Status pending
view all - Scripts / DocumentsEphemera: publicity - PBS-22749
Ephemera: publicity - PBM-22749
Medium and small pressbooks held. For example of souvenir brochure see FILM AND TELEVISION EPHEMERA List.
view all - Posters / DesignsDesign: costume - PD-17355
Design: costume - PD-17356
Design: costume - PD-17357
Design: costume - PD-17358
Design: costume - PD-17359
view all - StillsPhotograph: print - Landscape - Black and White - bfi-00o-68x
Photograph: transparency - Portrait - Black and White - bfi-00o-668
Photograph: transparency - Landscape - Colour - bfi-00o-667
Photograph: transparency - Landscape - Colour - bfi-00o-3q8
Photograph: transparency - Landscape - Colour - bfi-00o-1n6
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