A celebrated military leader and Mommy’s dearest, Richard (Anthony Hopkins, in one of his first film appearances) is itching for the keys to the kingdom he also loathes both his parents. The monarch is aging – although this lion still has a fearsome roar, not to mention exuberant sex with his much younger mistress Alais (Jane Merrow), who rather awkwardly has been bartered in a land deal with the king of France (Timothy Dalton) to marry one of Henry and Eleanor’s princely sons. The purpose of her visit? Definitely not conjugal, nor a happy occasion to exchange gifts, reminisce over eggnog. The Lion in Winter, a 1968 adaptation of James Goldman’s play (both taking considerable liberties with the historical record), opens with Eleanor’s arrival in Anjou in 1183, called to Christmas court by the king ( Peter O’Toole), who’s rather unromantically been imprisoning her for years of their long union. Quite the opposite for Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), enjoying time off for good behavior. For some, closed quarters with the family at Christmas can feel like a prison sentence.
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