Puritan statesman Oliver Cromwell leads England in a civil war against the absolutist and Catholic-sympathetic King Charles I.Puritan statesman Oliver Cromwell leads England in a civil war against the absolutist and Catholic-sympathetic King Charles I.Puritan statesman Oliver Cromwell leads England in a civil war against the absolutist and Catholic-sympathetic King Charles I.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 5 nominations total
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen writer / director Ken Hughes said to Richard Harris that no self-respecting Irishman should ever play Oliver Cromwell, Harris laughed.
- GoofsCromwell was not one of the Members of Parliament named for arrest in the King's warrant. Cromwell was not present in Parliament at the time the King and his troops entered the House of Commons. The scene of he alluding that The King is a traitor actually happened with John Elliott some ten years prior.
- Quotes
King Charles: I do swear that hold this England and its laws dearer to my heart than any here. But gentlemen, if you would reduce me to a figurehead - a puppet king, manipulated by parliament - how then would I serve my country? What manner of king would I be?
Oliver Cromwell: I am persuaded, Your Majesty, that England must move forward to a more enlightened form of government, based upon a true representation of a free people. Such an institution is known as... "democracy", sir.
King Charles: Democracy, Mister...
Oliver Cromwell: Cromwell, sir.
King Charles: Democracy, Mister Cromwell, was a Greek drollery based on the foolish notion that there are extraordinary possibilities in very ordinary people.
Oliver Cromwell: It is the ordinary people, my lord, who would most readily lay down their lives in defense of your realm. It is simply that "being ordinary", they would prefer to be asked - and not told.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 52nd Annual Academy Awards (1980)
However, the film has equally strong bad points. It tends to drag at many points and frequently gives the impression of being an overly drawn-out stage production that fails to be fully convincing. More serious, though, is the problem that, although presenting itself as historical, it plays fast and loose with history. It does not fully explain the causes of the Civil War or the differences of viewpoints within each side, especially the Parliamentarians, not all of whom were fighting for the same reasons. It portrays the Royalist forces as the flashy, well-equipped and stronger element when in reality the Parliament forces were not only much more numerous, but usually much better equipped as well (after all, it was not a war of rag-tag, grass-roots rebels trying to topple the government; each side represented in part one branch of the government and Parliament, not the king, was the body that held the purse strings). In addition, the Royalists often did quite well in battle despite their inferior forces. It clearly makes Cromwell out to be too important from the start: rather than being one of the key leaders in the beginning, he really started out as a military commander and simply rose to prominence over time. Finally, Cromwell, despite some of his autocratic tendency coming through, is still shown to be too much the reluctant, noble hero, and the film only hints at his other face, one which in short order made him none too popular in England, let alone Ireland. Needless to say, nothing is mentioned of his willingness to shed the blood of Royalists and Catholics, or to destroy historic architecture that conflicted with his Puritan views.
- Wulfstan10
- Mar 24, 2005
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Cromwell - Der Unerbittliche
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £3,750,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 19 minutes
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