This is a scene from the film Becket, starring Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton.
I do not own the rights to this movie. I am posting it for educational purposes, and am not making a profit off it. No copyright infringement intended.
This is a scene from the film Becket, starring Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton.
I do not own the rights to this movie. I am posting it for educational purposes, and am not making a profit off it. No copyright infringement intended.
"That's the Great Seal of England. Don't lose it, because without the seal there's no more England and we'll all have to pack up and go back to Normandy."
"He's read books, you know. Drunk and wenched his way across England but he's always thinking. HE'LL CHECKMATE THE LOT OF YOU!"
RIP Richard Burton (November 10, 1925 - August 5, 1984), aged 58 And RIP Peter O'Toole (August 2, 1932 - December 14, 2013), aged 81 You both will be remembered as legends.
Merely actors, and certainly in trouble in hell.
@@2malachihell doesn't exist so I think they are just fine
Two wonderful and talented ❤ actors !!
find it difficult to look at anyone else but Peter 0 Toole ,he is so charismatic and the mischief in those eyes
"But this has never been spoken of before!" "I've never been this POOR before!" Classic.
"I've sent for three-thousand Swiss to help me fight the French. And no one has ever paid the Swiss with principles!"
If I'm not mistaken, Peter O'Toole did this scene with a hangover, so he could more accurately portray a hungover Henry II arguing with his councillors.
@@sakkra93actually wrong
"I had forgot you were an arch deacon". "So had I, my Prince". Awesome.
O'Toole plays Henry II again in "Lion in Winter". Outstanding both times.
No argument from me.
Not as good as beckett
O'toole really chose this part well after Lawrence of Arabia. He dyed his hair dark to contrast from Lawrence. And he also chose a much more extroverted, boisterous, and domineering type of character. He really fulfilled that outline technically and imaginatively, therefore showing his versatility. He then went back to the quiet introverted character in Goodbye Mr. Chips.
His hair was really dark. He was “black Irish,” blue eyes, fair skin, black hair. Lawrence was blond so they bleached his hair for the role.
I agree
The way the king cracks up when becket insults the bishop by reminding him he's the son of a sailor makes me laugh.
The Plantagenet temper on full display.
Yes, and it's so hard to get beyond. Far as I can tell Burton's parents came from copper mining country, not that far away from Lawrence's.
King Henri II Plantagenet had Attention Deficit Disorder, according to the description given (bragged!) by his personal secretary Stephen Of Blois. I like how O'Toole portrays Henri so well, here and in the sequel "Lion In Winter."
Burton and O‘Toole at their handsome, eloquent and charismatic best!
They were absolutely gorgeous.
"But this has never been spoken of before." "And I've never been this poor before!" lmao.
excuse me it's "Poah before"
today's hollywood lightweights can't even come close to this...
So sad yet so true.
Absolutely!! Both are brilliant. I think I have watched the video 25-50 times. Anthony Fernandes
@@anthonyfernandes2638 I've been hunting high and low for this film classic for something like ten years. Only my death will keep me from success.
Our children and grandchildren will say the same about current Hollywood lightweights
@@catchmeifyoucan8684 Sadly the Hollywood studio system is overloaded with "lightweights."
Peter o Toole and Richard Burton were two of the most influential actors of cinema. Great acting and great movie.
Were they ever. Their acting, their delivery of the English language is something to behold.
They were usually gifted with excellent dialog. Try O'Toole in "The Lion in Winter" (not to mention Hepburn).
Ham aplenty !! ( ok.they had great voices! )
I agree Emily well said.
@@frereM one of my favoritte movies: Lion in Winter with two masters in the acting world👏👏👏
The writing in this movie is phenomenal.
I never tire of this movie. Mesmerising brilliant acting and script.
Same here. So little and so few of such quality today.
Two absolutely brilliant performances by two brilliant actors. I never get tired of watching this film.
Beckett and Lion in Winter feels like a two parter.
Never got the lion in winter
This movie fills my soul. O'Toole and Burton are glorious. First saw this when I was ten or eleven and it's been a favorite of mine since.
TWO CHARISMATIC ACTORS WITH REAL STAGE PRESENCE.
"No one has ever paid the Swiss with principles."
Secular Scot why else do you think they are a tax haven?
Only muh snack!!
+ Secular ...nor the Iron Bank.
Secular Scot there was a time when the swiss were noteworthy soldiers ;)
Kristijan Ahčin They we the praised mercenaries of the middle ages.
I think Sir Donald Wolfit turned in a flawless performance as Bishop of London.
* archbishop
@@Perririri Bishop, not Archbishop. He was Bishop Gilbert Foliot of London.
May he rest in peace, where he is now he doesn't need money, I'm still on earth and I do! 😂😂😂😂😂
If only movies were like Becket, a man for all seasons, and Cromwell. Brilliant writing, respectful to gods authority, and not filled with cursing, drugs, and sex. I can't even watch today's movies they're so filled with smut
I too miss the days when they made movies for grown-ups.
"Where he is now he doesn't need money...but i'm on earth and I do" lolol
O Toole is on fire here.
O'Toole giving of master class on how to dominate a scene. All actors, watch and learn.
John Bertrand Absolutely. The magnetism of this man is unquestionable. You can’t take your eyes off him and wish he would speak forever. How does he know exactly how to act like a King? You believe he is Henry. And the script is superb. You listen to every word.
It doesn't hurt that he's SHOUTING ALMOST ALL THE TIME. Not to take away from his performance, but DAMN he's loud in this scene.
I saw an interview with O'Toole and he said orginally Burton was chose for the king...He thought either way the film would have been good. I agree!!
Moving towards the end of the great days of Hollywood...who today would write such a script? and, if they did, who would accept it?
"I've never been this poor before." LOL
For those who may be interested, this scene takes place in 1155, that was when Becket was made Lord Chancellor. The film stretches from 1155 to 1174, though the timeline is a bit fuzzy.
Phenomenal acting and great screenplay!! I’m so happy my dad met PO and told him I adored him, and this was my favorite film! One of his too!! ❤️
The movie in which Peter O'Toole first emerges into the character of Peter O'Toole. It's a character he would hone through the years until so completely becoming Peter O'Toole that it would be impossible to imagine anybody else in the part.
Peter & Richard in their element.
I remember first watching this film when I was a child back in the early 90s. I used to stay up late when my parents were asleep and just watch these classics on TCM until the sun came up. IDK why now, but back then it meant the world to me. Goddamn I miss being a child.
Nocturnal Recluse yup. I caught A Man for All Seasons till the morn and i fell in love with it on TCM.
You had great taste as a child.
When I was about the same age in the late 90's I was sick and in pain from kidney troubles. Often all night. I would watch TCM too because nothing else was on that late. As soon as I saw Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon i was hooked. I've been watching TCM for 21 years and it still means so much to me.
I remember the first time I saw this movie was in my high school English class, sophomore year, 1982. We were studying the Canterbury Tales and my teacher thought it'd be a good idea to show this movie in class. I remember it took 3 days to show it all (class being an hour long) and I was mesmerized by the performance of Peter O'Toole. It was one of the best movies I had ever seen and still is one of my favorites. And Peter O'Toole is still my favorite actor.
Sorry about that, the acting between Burton and O'Toole is out of this world😍😍😍
Those voices! Although Burton was undeniably one of the most distinctive and recognisable voices in the history of English theatre in the TV era, here he meets his match in O'Toole, who, when shouts, somehow manages to conjure exactly the same degree of roaring crescendo from his vocal chords with his spoken word as Tom Jones does when he's singing.
Agreed. He has the loudness and the uniqueness in his voice, Burton and Peter were both very well spoken and had that vocal impact.
Oddly, Burton was famous as the only known Welshman who couldn't sing. :-)
Cymru in the 'English' theatre, how delightfully British c;
@@vicsaul5459 That was in Shakespeare's Henry IV (Part 2), where Henry Hotspur had married a Welsh woman who did not speak English, and he no Welsh.
Interesting, I was just going to comment - these old movies are cool sometimes but I can't stand this stupid habit many of the actors had fo shouting all the freakin time as if it made their performances inherently better somehow, or their characters more charismatic. Angry shouts again and again and again........jeebus christ........
"It's only my snack" I do enjoy that.
Two great great brillant actors.English school soooo wonderful.Love Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton the history of cinema.Wonderful movie thank yuo for sharing.
O’Toole probably had the best first decade in the history of film. An absolute madness.
Just brilliant.King's English.I admire Richard Burton & Peter O Toole
I wish they showed a little more respect to actual history. Henry II spoke French. Would’ve been wonderful to see this in French
Yes there are historical distortion of facts.No doubt..Beckett I read was not the character he was made out to be. Returning to the Screen presentation The script of the English version is just brilliant .Few examples The council with the Archibishop ,Becket and the king. The scene of excommunication of Lord Gilbert" The converstion between the the king his queen and his mother The exchange between the Bishop of London and the king at the church. The exchange between the emisorries of king Henry Andrew king Louis. The meeting between the king and Beckett on the French shores The king and his nobles "Tell me do you ever think? "No sire a gentleman has better things to do. The climax scene Yes the lovely Gregorian chants. Grand old cathedrals I had written down the entire dialogues long ago to enable my school children to appreciate the felicity of the English language. The voice modulations of the Richard Burton and Peter O Toole I lost count of how many times I saw this movie. Just like "The King's Speech"
O'Toole and Burton: they are why the Big Screen was invented.
I think that it was O'Toole and Burton who MADE the screen big!
"I've never been this poor before." LOL!
One of the top 50 best movies.
A stellar cast in a stellar film. The best of British cinema.
Honestly, I prefer A Lion In Winter.
Absolutely right.
for petes sake
What a movie! 😘There was a saying that said When it came to the perfection of English elecution first came God and then Came Richard Burton. 🙏However though I loved all his movies I felt ( as like a lot more many)l that Peter O Toole stole the thunder here with his magnificent performance! A real gem of a movie! 😘😍
The transition of Shakespearian to the screen has a sort of magic to it, a love for the work that is lost in contemporary movies. Every word has weight behind it, you get the feeling that if there was a single flaw in the process of writing, rehearsing, or acting, the movie itself would be a waste. Peter O'Toole is the sort of actor that is lost to time.
Burton and O'Toole have such powerful voices. Charismatic and dominant in a scene. The acting from all the actors was excellent.
I agree 100%. Let's see today's "A-List" of talent equal such work.
One of my all-time favorite films. Brilliant performances by O'Toole and Burton. Burton with his very fine voice praying the Latin prayers later in the films. I love this particular scene both actors, O'Toole and Burton are brilliant but I also love the two older actors Felix Aylmer (Archbishop) and Donald Wolfit (Bishop).
We had and have the best actors in the world🇬🇧👏👏
I understand that Albert Finney based his performance of the senescent Shakespearian actor "Sir" in The Dresser on Wolfit (the original playwright/screenwriter Ronald Harwood was, in fact, Sir Donald Wolfit's dresser for several years.) Finney was nominated for the Academy Award & the BAFTA for Best Actor (along with Tom Courtenay, who played the dresser, Norman.)
@@wbcjr17106 Yes, I believe I heard about that too. Thank you for the info.
His voice and diction...no one... and i mean NO one... I dont care if it's Olivier or anyone else...can match OTooles' magnetism.
It's like a bloody whip!
Except Richard burton
Except burton both were brilliant orators
Amen!!!
Well said!
O'Toole owns this film.
One of the crushing ironies about the real-life story of Henry II and Becket is that it was Henry who stood for the progressive "modern" idea of government. He believed that everyone, without exception, was subject to the state, both for purposes of taxation and for the administration of justice. Becket's view -- that the Church was an empire-within-the-empire, and that the clergy were not subject to civil law -- was a system rife with abuse that, four centuries later, helped to produce the Reformation. Becket took such an extreme, intransigent position on these issues that even the Pope was ultimately reluctant to support him. Unfortunately for his own reputation, Henry's overreaction in ordering Becket's murder appalled all Europe; he never recovered from it politically.
Hard to view Henry Ii as a progressive. He wanted money and power as did the church. Some historians say that the church served as a check on the absolute power of kings as imposed by the Normans. (Not a problem with previous. Saxon governance. ). This buffer of the kings power explained Beckets popularity with the masses. It is also why Henry VIII ended the pilgrimages to Canterbury But that’s another tale. The nobility were at this time subject to the Kings absolute power. The Magna Carta was decades away. Interesting, the real issue was who got to try a priest for rape and murder. Neither Henry nor Becket were progressives. A minor liberty of the movie is that Becket was not a Saxon.
@John Wallace Yes, I did over state. Henry lived from1133 to 1189. Magna Carta signed 1215. I will edit. But my point was that calling John a progressive is a stretch.
True, see the Constitutions of Clarendon, which were attempts to rein in the priviledges of the church and their ecclesiatical courts, since he didn't like the idea of the church trying their own without input from the crown. Henry VIII clearly sided with Henry II when he called on Becket to appear and answer for his accusation of Becket being a traitor to Henry II, before Henry VIII had Becket's shrine removed after Becket didn't show up.
Michael Vasquez O’Toole had said he and Burton had been drinking ,but the film was finished ,they were called back because of a problem with the ring going on the finger part ,they were so hung over, OToole couldn’t see what he was doing .Burton couldn’t keep his finger from shaking ,
Peter played Henry II perfectly.
He will checkmate the lot of you! What a bar.
Wonderful cropping dude, I can't even see their faces half the time.
Goddamn the dialogue is so damn good in this scene. And I’m neither English nor Catholic.
Peter and Richard must've had awful tummy aches from all their scenery chewing but it's the only way "Becket" would've worked. Like Peter with Kate Hepburn in "The Lion in Winter", friendly rivalry, one-upmanship and warily watching that the other didn't steal too many scenes allowed them to collide on screen like the Atlantic and Pacific meeting head-on at Cape Horn. Two other fine actors would've ignited the screen, O'Toole and Burton explode. Oh, and both were so professional and invested that they swore off their legendary benders (sort of) to insure their total presence to the project (although Peter did say in future interviews he was a bit hungover during this scene but for authenticity for his post-debauch headache).
Que maravilla de actores eran Richard Burton y Peter O’Toole
“May he Rest In Peace. Where he is now, he doesn’t need money. I’m still on earth and I DO!”
Great film, great actors!
Such Brilliant acting. I know outakes were not really part of production back then, but would love to have seen some from this, since RB and PO were good friends. I was thinking the other day that I can't think of an actor in the last 2 decades, that is even close to the quality of these 2, Harris, Tracy, Poitier, Hudson, Heston, Redford, Duval, Olivier and so many more. Thank you for the brilliance.
All the council meetings I've been to have been about bins and late licensing, kerb repairs etc etc. This must be one of those fancy shmancy posh councils like the one up the road.
LOL
“I’ve never been this poor before” Great line.
Peter O'Toole absolutely nailed the acting as King Henry II, the first Plantegenet, Angevin King of England and some parts of France. He was energetic as a king, always on the move, always on the initiative and the attack, with a zest for governance and tackling matters head on. A highly extroverted character and the father to one of the most capable warrior kings of England, Richard the Lionheart
He was as equally dynamic playing Henry four years later in "Lion In Winter."
Lionhearted unfortunately hated England, preferring to go off and fight in the crusades. In the Ten yrs he was King he only spend a few months in this country.
@@Diamondmine212 He was a by product of his own father Henry II. Henry had boundless energy and Eleanor definitely chose a virile and ambitious leader in him, being some 10 years younger than her, she being 30 and him being 20. Richard also was always on campaign and always in the field. Being in England doesn't matter to him as England is largely stable politically with little to no competition. Where the early Plantegenets had in strength is in mustering resources and being out in the thick of matters. And for Richard, he literally took his fathers' legacy to a whole new level, even literally. Many a times at the battle of Jaffa, Richard dressed in resplendent regal combat armor with the crown atop his helm was surrounded by Saladin's warriors in the thick of action, at times separated from his bodyguard of retainers. How he came out alive and unscathed remains a mystery even to this day. Even the Muslims atest to this same viage of Richard and it's really a story that will be told far into the future
O toole remarked he and Burton were hungover from a night of drinking the night before they did this scene
Doubt there was a day when they WEREN'T hungover.
@@LazlosPlane Adds to the grumpy mood. :)
😂 Something to add here, The real story goes that they were hungover EVERYDAY! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Well, Peter, himself, says that he and Burton made a pact not to drink on a night before shooting. AND, they kept to that pact.
The Bishop was the general who authorized Lawrence to go on his mission to the Arabs!
Yes, Donald Wolfit was in both films, playing opposite Peter O'Toole.
"A nation of sheepstealers!"
The last of the great acting performances.
I just realized this man is Priam in Troy. Wow
My God! Both were equally good.🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 There can never be a voice like Burtons Or O Tools ever again. Just Wow. Their elocution was unmatchable.
O toole was genius
Burton wasn't bad either.
Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton.
Peter o'toole. #LEGEND. king priam in troy didn't do him justice
Great movie and probably a bit better than Braveheart for accuracy. Nevertheless somewhere King Henry says the classic line "Like all good Englishman I love France" classic because he was as English as someone with one half English grandparent could be and while it's believed he understood English he could not speak it and he was buried in his homeland - France.
I love this
Henry was really quite brilliant. He is primarily responsible for “English law” upon which a great deal of American law is based. The author of this play was French. No love lost between the French and the English. They get along when necessary but have a long long history of sniping at each other. 😂
It was Henry who instituted trial by jury, one of the most important legal reforms ever carried out; one of the bedrock principles upon which English and American law stands.
Becket was Chancellor for seven years and eight years as Archbishop before his death.
Thats neat! I like that!
my favourite film
Richard Burton was a great Actor!
"it's only my snack"
They were more smashed than the printer in Office Space
"This isn't a matter of money, it's a matter of principle!" Me: Then why not just give the money as a donation, rather than a "Tax" :)
"I need troops, Bishop! I've sent for three thousand Swiss to help me fight the King of France, and no one has ever paid the Swiss with principles!"
The best portrayals of English Kings are played by Irishmen (O’Toole, McGoohan, Brannagh)
Little-known fact: Patrick McGoohan was born in Astoria, New York.
Was O'Toole Irish ?
@@ewantaylor5626 Yes. Fully, I believe. Another Irishman with an outstanding voice is singer Peter Murphy, solo and with Bauhaus.
@@samisatlacc7736 Peter O"Toole was born and raised in Yorkshire.
@@ggarlick46 Fair enough that you're refering to his nationality; i just meant his ethnic identity.
O'Toole glancing up as he crosses himself...
So much alcohol and talent
A most potent combination in English cinema.
It’s the feast day of St Thomas Becket. Pray for us St Thomas !
"I want to be King!" "I want to be Pope!" "I want to be King of the Popes!"
Only St Peter can truly be called King of the Popes!
kzhead.info/sun/f5axh7Wqa4iXiHk/bejne.html
Imagine the inflation adjusted bar tabs for these two while they made this picture lol. Better yet, being with them as they traded stories while emptying the bats.
Ahh the movie's take on history. It's accepted that Thomas Becket was of French parentage - Never Saxon and somewhere in the movie Henry says."Like all good Englishman I love France". He was about as English as a man born and raised in France with one English grandparent could be. That was why he chose to be buried there, along with his wife and sons, where they remain to this day.
... at the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, near Chinon in Anjou, France. Mind you, one has to accept that the Normans descended from the Franks and Gallo-Romans, and Norse Viking settlers.
As director I would have reminded O'Toole that we weren't doing the play, he needn't shout every single line.
O'Toole is boisterous in his performance to at once mark a sharp contrast from the quiet man he was in Lawrence Of Arabia. This was only his second starring role. He also effortlessly dominates the scene here. That's why the director went with it.
1.15 "Yes, my little Saxon?" detail - Beckett was Norman
Exactly!
Just ride with it. Historically accurate or no.
@@leftcoaster67 you are of course right. But while it's not relevant in this case after watching Braveheart Scots actually came out of the cinemas in tears screaming for English blood. If movies can do that to a people as pragmatic as the Scots what they do to more volatile people!
It's because this film is an adaptation of a French play called "Becket, or the Honour of God", the author of whom based his play on a 19th century account that described Becket as a Saxon, he was informed that Becket wasn't a Saxon, to which he replied with "history might eventually rediscover that Becket was a Saxon, after all."
My only complaint as a history nerd is that the three lions was adopted by Richard. To my knowledge Henry never used that symbology. This movie is phenomenal though! Peter O Toole was so gifted.
The acting in this film between Bu4t
This is why I don’t watch the Oscars. Incredible how neither O’Toole nor Burton ever got one.
Irishmen and Welshmen do say the cleverest things when they speak English.
O'Toole is chewing the scenery here. Loud, commanding, a bit petulant. Burton, quiet, understated, no less front and center
Oh, Patrick Henry. Your abomination by me has proven notes where grounds have validity with each node of England.
o Toole,.Barton , una copia meravigliosa , inegualiabile. Alida.
Brought up on shakespeare Stage productions