The Lion in Winter - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Lion in Winter or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Lion in Winter

[carl]

Katharine Hepburn bested Peter O'Toole as the top dog on the set. Known to be something of a tyrant on most of his shoots, O'Toole meekly obliged, when she told him, "Peter, stop towering over me. Come and sit down and try to look respectable." O'Toole readily admitted in her presence that she reduced him "to a shadow of my former gay-dog self. She is terrifying. It is sheer masochism working with her. She has been sent by some dark fate to nag and torment me." Her reply: "Don't be so silly. We are going to get on very well. You are Irish, and you make me laugh. In any case, I am on to you, and you to me."

[phyllis]

Sir Anthony Hopkins' debut in a full-length theatrical movie (he made his debut in the forty minute long Red, White and Zero (1967)). When young Hopkins expressed anxiety about his performance compared to such established names as Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn, Hepburn allegedly advised him, "Don't act. Leave that to me; I act all over the place. You don't need to act. You've got a good face, you've got a good voice, you've got a big body. Watch Spencer Tracy, watch the real American actors that never act, they just do it. Just show up and speak the lines." Hopkins later regarded this as the best acting advice he had ever been given.

[gerald]

Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) greets King Philip II (Timothy Dalton) by telling him she could have been his mother. Quite true, Eleanor's first husband was Louis VII, who fathered Alais by his second wife and Philip by his third. Their marriage was annulled by the Pope when she was unable to bear him sons. Remarried, she gave Henry II (Peter O'Toole) five boys: William, Count of Poitiers. Henry "the Young King", who ruled England under his father. (Both died before this story opens.) Richard (Anthony Hopkins), later King Richard I, "the Lionhearted". Geoffrey (John Castle), Duke of Brittany, who predeceased Richard. John (Nigel Terry), later King John, villain of the Robin Hood tales. She was, therefore, wife and mother to 5 kings - 1 French & 4 English - 4 of whom are key players in this story. (She also had 5 daughters - 2 countesses by Louis; 1 duchess & 2 queens by Henry. The countesses get a passing mention, the others get none.)

[terry]

For the greatest authenticity, the actors and actresses wore their costumes as long as possible before shooting a scene, so that they looked soiled and frayed. Although costume designer Margaret Furse preferred dark clothes, Katharine Hepburn talked her into brighter colors for Eleanor, who she reasoned had been to the Middle East, and would have owned many vividly colored articles.

[jessica]

The film takes place in December 1183.

[elmer]

Second theatrical movie of Sir Anthony Hopkins (Prince Richard), after Red, White and Zero (1967).

[bernice]

Katharine Hepburn threw herself into the role of the "tough as nails" Eleanor of Aquitaine with great relish and interest. "Both she and Henry were probably big-time operators who played for whole countries," she said. "I like big-time operators."

[chris]

Sir Anthony Hopkins, in the Royal National Theatre at the time, had to get permission from the Royal National Theatre's director Sir Laurence Olivier to join the production.

[maureen]

Katharine Hepburn would occasionally berate Peter O'Toole and Sir Anthony Hopkins for turning up drunk or hungover on the set.

[ray]

To the company's amazement, Katharine Hepburn swam twice a day in the frigid winter sea in Ireland, early in the morning, and during her lunch break. When Peter O'Toole asked her why she did it, she explained, "It's the shock, so horrible, that it makes you feel great afterwards."

[jesse]

According to Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn's reaction to receiving the script for this movie and the offer to play Eleanor of Aquitaine was "Do it before I die."

[melinda]

Production shut down for a while when director Anthony Harvey fell ill with hepatitis and the flu.