A Man for All Seasons (1988 film)
| A Man for All Seasons | |
|---|---|
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| Format | Period piece |
| Directed by | Charlton Heston |
| Written by | Robert Bolt |
| Starring |
Charlton Heston Vanessa Redgrave Sir John Gielgud |
| Country |
 United States |
| Language | English |
| Release date | December 21, 1988 |
| Running time | 150 minutes |
A Man for All Seasons is a 1988 television movie about St. Thomas More, directed by and starring Charlton Heston. It is based on the play of the same name by Robert Bolt, which was previously adapted in the Academy Award-winning 1966 film. A Man for All Seasons was the first made-for-TV film produced on behalf of the TNT (Turner Network Television) television network.
The film stars Heston as More, Vanessa Redgrave (who had a small cameo in the 1966 version) as his wife Alice, Sir John Gielgud as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Martin Chamberlain as King Henry VIII, Richard Johnson as the Duke of Norfolk (historically, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk), and Roy Kinnear as the narrator, "The Common Man", who was cut from the previous film. (The "Common Man' functions in the manner of a Greek chorus throughout the play, appearing at crucial moments and seeming to comment on the action.)
The 1988 film follows the original stage play more literally, runs a half-hour longer than the 1966 film, and could be considered more "stagy" than that earlier film, which not only divided the Common Man into several more realistic characters, but omitted small portions of the play itself.