The real Henry was proud of his legs, once bragging about them to the French ambassador. He turns up with an entourage of toffs in pastel cloaks, whose job it seems to be to guffaw at everything he says, then tries to chat up More's daughter, Margaret Roper, by talking to her in Latin and showing her his shapely legs. The chancellor's chain finds its way on to More's shoulders, and Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) comes visiting. Very merry monarch … Robert Shaw as Henry VIII. This is a slight elision of events – Wolsey actually died a year after being stripped of his position. Anyway, the cardinal bungles the divorce, then dies (no splash, just a bit of a gurgle), the Duke of Norfolk turning up to swipe the chain of office from his deathbed. "If Wolsey fell, the splash would swallow a few small boats like ours," murmurs More. His wife, Alice, doesn't agree, commenting that he could be chancellor of England if Wolsey fell. More replies that private conscience is more important than public duty. Contemporary portraits reveal that this was indeed the look Wolsey rocked. "England needs an heir!" bellows the spherical cardinal, resembling, in his bright scarlet robes and pointy hat, The Attack of the Killer Tomato. Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) is summoned to Hampton Court to see the chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles). He blames the queen, and wants to dump her. Luck and Tudor obstetrics have failed to provide Henry with a son. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/AllstarCinetext/Columbia Red alert … Orson Welles as Wolsey and Paul Scofield as More.
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