Rating: PG13
Genre: Historical Film
Theatrical Release: 01/26/2007(USA
Release Date: 11/25/2008
SubTitles: English
Dubbed: French/Espanol/English
Sound: DD2/DD5.1
Run Time: 150 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: MPI Home Video

A high-class costume drama with a substantive historical basis, Becket is the true story of the friendship between King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) and Thomas à Becket (Richard Burton), a royal courtier and confidant whom Henry appoints as Archbishop of Canterbury. As Becket takes his duties with the Church seriously, he finds himself increasingly at odds with the King, who finally orders the death of his once-close companion when he continues to defy the throne. Burton is very good and O'Toole is even better: both men were nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, while Edward Anhalt's screenplay, based on the stageplay by Jean Anouilh, won for Best Adapted Screenplay. The basic theme of separation of church and state still reverberates today, while the top-notch production values ensure Becket's place as one of Britain's better historical epics.

~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

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Cast:
Richard Burton - Thomas Becket
Peter O'Toole - Henry II
John Gielgud - Louis VII
Donald Wolfit - Bishop Folliot
Martita Hunt - Queen Matilda
Pamela Brown - Queen Eleanor
Gino Cervi - Cardinal Zambelli
Paolo Stoppa - Pope Alexander III
David Weston - Brother John
Felix Aylmer - Archbishop of Canterbury
Inigo Jackson - Duke of Leicester
Sian Phillips - Gwendolen
Veronique Vendell - Pretty French Girl
Gerald Lawson - English Peasant
Jennifer Hilary - Peasant's Daughter
Riggs O'Hara - Prince Henry
John Phillips - Bishop of Winchester
Frank Pettingell - Bishop of York
Hamilton Dyce - Bishop of Chichester
Linda Marlowe - Farmer's Daughter
Geoffrey Bayldon - Brother Philip
Graham Stark - Pope's Secretary
Victor Spinetti - French Tailor
Niall MacGinnis - Baron
Percy Herbert - Baron
Christopher Rhodes - Baron
Peter Jeffrey - Baron

Production:
Peter Glenville - Director
Hal B. Wallis - Producer
Laurence Rosenthal - Composer
Anne V. Coates - Editor
Edward Anhalt Jean Anouilh - Screen Writer
Margaret Furse - Costume Designer
Jean Anouilh - Play Author
John Bryan - Production Designer
Maurice Carter - Production Designer
Geoffrey Unsworth - Cinematographer

Cromwell
    Richard Harris / G / 1970
Luther
    PG / 1974
The Lion in Winter
    Peter O'Toole / PG / 1968
Bertolt Brecht's Galileo
    Topol / PG / 1975
A Man for All Seasons
    Paul Scofield / G / 1966
To Kill a King [Blu-ray]
    Tim Roth / NR / 2003
The Cardinal [2 Discs]
    Tom Tryon / NR / 1963

1964 Directors Guild of America

1964 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie

1964 British Academy of Film and Television

1964 Golden Globe

1964 National Board of Review