This, for me, is one of the best screenplays I have ever had the good fortune of watching. This caliber of writing has long since vanished. I have yet to hear better dialouge in any other film. It won an Oscar in 1969 for best writing, but lost Best Picture. But it did win a Golden Globe for Best Picture.

You could not asking for a more stellar cast: Kathrine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Timothy Dalton, Anthony Hopkins, and Jane Merrow. What more do you need? Katharine Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Leading Actress.

Plot summary:

In this 12th-century version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), meet on Christmas Eve to discuss the future of the throne. These two are having slight marital problems, as she is kept in captivity most of the year for raising a rebellion against him, and he flaunts his young mistress. Then there are the problems raised by their three treacherous and traitorous sons.

James Goldman won an Oscar® for the brilliant screenplay, based on his Broadway play. It is a tad wordy, but those words are sharp as daggers. The humor is wicked and black and delivered with very dry, dead-on precision. Sparks fly and the screen sizzles whenever Hepburn and O'Toole tango, which is often. Both were nominated for Academy Awards® for their vigorous performances. (She won; he didn't.) There's also an infamous homo-erotic exchange between Philip of France (Timothy Dalton) and Richard the Lionhearted (Anthony Hopkins). Both actors were making their feature-film debuts


This was a tough question for me as I love old movies. I could have also answered, Topper, and mostly all Cary Grant movies. And I am the biggest fan of Audrey Hepburn.

But I must say that the very first movie I saw in the theater was Grease, so I can't complain! It's still one of my top 10 favorites of all time.