Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great (1969)

While Old England is being ransacked by roving Danes in the 9th century, Alfred is planning to join the priesthood. But observing the rape of his land, he puts away his religious vows to take up arms against the invaders, leading the English Christians to fight for their country. Alfred soundly defeats the Danes and becomes a hero. But now, although Alfred still longs for the priesthood, he is torn between his passion for God and his lust for blood.

Date of release
1969-10-08
TMDB
4.8 / 10 (20)
Runtime
2h 2m
Genres
History
Director
Clive Donner

Casting

Interesting facts

Alfred the Great is a 1969 British epic historical drama film directed by Clive Donner and starring David Hemmings, Michael York, Prunella Ransome and Colin Blakely. It was written by James R. Webb and Ken Taylor. The film portrays Alfred the Great's struggle to defend the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex from a Danish Viking invasion in the 9th century. David Hemmings starred in the title role.

Production

Producer Bernie Smith says he became interested in Alfred the Great after reading about him in Winston Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples.

The film was announced in March 1964 as A King Is Born. It was "suggested" by a novel by Eleanor Shipley Duckett from a script by James R. Webb, who had written How the West Was Won for Smith. Filming was to take place in Ireland, with MGM financing. However, it took a number of years for the film to be made. Peter O'Toole was mentioned as a possible lead.

Bernie Smith said he "wanted a director who had never done a historical. That way I knew we could minimise cliches and the possibility of someone simply repeating, imitating what went before." Clive Donner, then best known for What's New Pussycat?, was hired in September 1967, and Michael Killanin became associate producer.

Donner was unhappy with the original script by James R. Webb, who he said was too "old Hollywood". He had it rewritten by Ken Taylor. Donner said he spent several years on the project; "I put my heart and soul into it."

The film was shot in County Galway, Ireland, including locations such as Castle Hackett in Tuam, Kilchreest, Ross Lake, and Cnoc Meadha.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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