Book review – “Private Life of Henry VIII” by Greg Walker

Solid entry in the excellent British Film Guide series on classic British movies. It covers the background to production of Korda’s classic, it’s place in the canon, various readings of the film. I found particularly interesting the analysis of the movie in the context of British foreign policy of the 30s (Korda was highly conservative for the time encouraging England to arm through this film) and the impact of Holbein’s portrait. I would have liked more stuff on the actual making of the film and the book is, perhaps unavoidably, heavily reliant on secondary sources and academic-y. But Walker writes insightfully and well, even if you can tell his background is literature, culture and history rather than cinema.