Charles Laughton makes the larger-than-life King Henry VIII seem even bigger in a stunning performance that centers on the ruler's romantic life. Acclaimed director Alexander Korda shows a mercurial king who is governed by love, lust and politics. The classic film traces Henry's six marriages, including the tragic story of Catherine Howard, and his disastrous fourth union with Anne of Cleves, played by Laughton's real-life wife, Elsa Lancaster.