Support St. Thomas Aquinas Academy

A portion of every Amazon purchase made after clicking the “View on Amazon” button goes to support St. Thomas Aquinas Academy's work. This resource may also be available from other suppliers. For complete ordering details, see your Academic Packet or STAA Study Guide.

Thank you for thinking of STAA when placing your book and general Amazon orders!

Skip to product information
1 of 1

View on Amazon

A Man for All Seasons

A Man for All Seasons

View on Amazon

Written by: Robert Bolt

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (1966, 2007)



Distributor Description: Robert Bolt's successful play was not considered a hot commercial property by Columbia Pictures--a period piece about a moral issue without a star, without even a love story. Perhaps that's why Columbia left director Fred Zinnemann alone to make A Man for All Seasons, as long as he stuck to a relatively small budget. The results took everyone by surprise, as the talky morality play became a box-office hit and collected the top Oscars for 1966. At the play's heart is the standoff between King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw, in young lion form) and Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield, in an Oscar-winning performance). Henry wants More's official approval of divorce, but More's strict ethical and religious code will not let him waffle. More's rectitude is a source of exasperation to Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles in a cameo), who chides, "If you could just see facts flat on without that horrible moral squint." Zinnemann's approach is all simplicity, and indeed the somewhat prosaic staging doesn't create a great deal of cinematic excitement. But the language is worth savoring, and the ethical politics are debated with all the calm and majesty of an absorbing chess game. --Robert Horton

View full details