9 thoughts on “TBT: Becket (1964)

  1. Read the original French play by Anouilh back in the day. Really can’t blame the movie for what he wrote.

  2. Good film, very, very bad costumes. The history is less than accurate too but Peter O’Toole! Richard Burton! The man candy makes it worth it.

  3. It’s a great film, but I’m sure if I rewatched it I’d be raising an eyebrow at some of these things now too. I do appreciate the ecclesial costuming. Outside of, say, Shoes of the Fisherman (which has a reporter character walk through a papal election like a news item), it’s rare for that much care and attention to be paid to such things, even when the main character is, as in this case, a saint. It’s an interesting and compelling story to be sure. I quite like Eliot’s take on it in Murder in the Cathedral as well but I don’t think that would translate particularly well to screen.

    Peter O’Toole is one of I believe only 3 actors* to be Oscar nominated for playing the same character in 2 different films, along with Bing Crosby (Fr. O’Malley from Going My Way and Bells of St. Mary’s) and Paul Newman (Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler and The Color of Money). Neat that he has basically 2 great but totally separate historical plays behind his roles and nominations.

    *This factoid is based on my googling based on a Final Jeopardy! clue from quite a few years ago now.

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