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Becket
1964 · Film · 148 min
Directed by Peter Glenville
Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding when he is unwillingly appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to gain absolute loyalty from the Church.
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4 comments on Hacker News
For me, this is a memorable line from the 60s movie Becket with Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton, which is a character study about state power, belief and love based on history of King Henry and his Archbishop, done with strong production values that with a thespian ornament distinctive of British film production houses of the decade it made.
According to the Gemeniz (reddit sourced) the line from history is "Will none of these lazy insignificant persons... deliver me from this turbulent priest?" although this was recorded hundreds of years after the fact of its utterance. The essence being that Henry being used to throwing his weight around was truly surprised that his complaint was regarded as an order.
The screenplay of Becket treats this gingerly, O'Toole gives King Henry both grief at the loss of his friend, and elation that his figurehead enjoys new status as Becket is sainted.
Or the Richard Burton/Peter O'Toole movie "Becket" (1964) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057877/
I was suprised for this to pop up - Becket was such a great film.
If you're interested in more examples of worldly clergymen check out Thomas Wolsey in the novel "Wolf Hall", Thomas a Becket in the movie "Becket" (1964), and of course Cardinal Richelieu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu