User Reviews

This historical, melodramatic series of scenes suggested by Shakespeare's "Henry VIII," is this week's big release. It is in one reel (1,000 feet); but it is so magnificently acted, costumed, set and pictured that it leaves a very deep impression. The great cardinal is played with most remarkable success by Mr. Hal Reid. This portrayal, we believe, reaches a very high plane of art and is very worthwhile seeing. Even if he were not Cardinal Wolsey, he was every inch a cardinal. Catherine of Arragon is played by Julia Swayne Gordon, who shows the outraged queen in a dignified, royal way that stirs our sympathy. Anne Boleyn is played by Clara Kimball Young, who makes this pretty young lady-in-waiting a bit frightened at first, yet not very reluctant. She seemed somewhat awed by her honors as she passed in the coronation pageant. This out-of-doors parade is the picture's only weak point. It wasn't very suggestive, hardly could be; because the cast couldn't fill the space and there were no spectators, no citizens crowding for a look at their new queen. It would have "got over" better, if it had passed through the hall-setting used in other scenes. Teft Johnson played King Henry and, at moments, looked very much indeed like this king's portrait. The picture is a big educational feature. - The Moving Picture World, March 16, 1912