Anna Boleyn (1920)

King Henry VIII (Emil Jannings) of England breaks with the Roman Catholic church when he annuls his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (Hedwig Pauly Winterstein) in order to marry Anne Boleyn (Henny Porten). Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, the film is a lavish recreation of the 16th century court of England. No expenses were spared and it all shows up on the screen. Alas, the film itself is a slog to get through. It's turgid and heavy handed. Clearly, historical drama was not Lubitsch's forte. As Anne Boleyn, Henny Porten overacts shamelessly with lots of hand wringing and fainting. Jannings is okay but not a patch on Charles Laughton's Henry VIII. I suspect I might have enjoyed it a bit more (but not much) if the movie didn't have one of those awful and inappropriate Mickey Mouse piano scores accompanying it. After one character (Ferdinand Von Alten) is horribly tortured for being one of Boleyn's alleged lovers, the trite piano tinklings would be more suitable for a Keystone Cops comedy. Every great director has a dog or two on his resume, this laborious effort is easily a contender for Lubitsch's worst. With Paul Hartmann and Aud Egede Nissen.