Cromwell is a 1970 British historical drama based on the life of Oliver Cromwell, who rose to lead the Parliamentary forces during the later years of the English Civil War and, as Lord Protector, ruled Great Britain and Ireland in the 1650s.
The film was one of the biggest box office hits in Britain of 1970, though generally panned by critics due to it's numerous historical inaccuracies. Conversely, the performances of the film's two lead actors, Richard Harris (Cromwell) and Alec Guinness (King Charles), were praised.
The film was nominated for two Oscars in 1971, winning one for Best Costume Design by Vittorio Nino Novarese.
Plot Summary[]
England, 1640. The policies of King Charles, including the introduction of "Romish" rituals into the Church of England, have become increasingly grating to many. Charles regards himself as a devout Anglican, while permitting his French Queen to practice Roman Catholicism in private, but forbidding her to bring up their son, the young Prince of Wales, in her faith.
Parliamentarians John Pym and Henry Ireton visit former MP (Member of Parliament) Oliver Cromwell, a country squire, magistrate, and devout Puritan, who is preparing to leave England for America for want of a better life for his family away from the corruption of England's leadership. He espouses the king's heavy taxations and his retaliatory dissolution of Parliament itself when it voiced objection. Pym informs Cromwell that Charles has recalled Parliament because he needs money to raise an army to fight against Scotland. But when the young Ireton reveals his prediction that it will degenerate into an English civil war- the people against the king, Cromwell rebukes his idealism. Later, Lord Manchester, by the king's authority, appropriates common land for his own use, and Cromwell is incensed when he and his family arrive at church and find the pulpit adorned with liturgical items used in Roman Catholic services. Then, when John Carter, one of his men, enters the sanctuary bloodied and beaten after his arrest for resisting Manchester's land grab, Cromwell, after cursing the king, changes his mind and decides to stay in England.
Days later in Parliament House, the discussion is raised that Thomas, Earl of Strafford, has a warrant to arrest certain MPs for treason. Ireton suspects that the king himself is behind the warrant, but Cromwell begs the house to not be so quick to judge the king and submits that Thomas be impeached for high treason. To appease Parliament, Charles orders Thomas' execution, but Parliament still declines his request for money until he agrees to major reforms that would lead to a system of government in which Parliament will have equal say as the king in running the nation- a constitutional monarchy. Still committed to belief in the divine right of kings, and under pressure from his queen to stand firm, Charles refuses.
When Charles enters Parliament with armed soldiers attempting to arrest five members of Parliament- including Cromwell, for treason, Cromwell motivates Parliament to assert that taking action against any MP is treasonous in itself and a breach of privilege; Charles backs down, but then orders that Parliament again be dissolved, ignoring Cromwell's warning that his actions have brought England to the brink of civil war.
Both sides, each equally convinced that they have God's favor, gather their troops. Initially, the Parliamentary forces in which Cromwell is a mere cavalry officer prove ineffective against the king's armies at the Battle of Edgehill. and so Cromwell and Sir Thomas Fairfax set up a New Model Army, with its discipline and training eventually turning the tide of the war against the king's superior numbers beginning with the battle of Naseby, though Cromwell's oldest son, Captain Oliver II, is killed in the fighting. Despite their victory at Naseby, Cromwell is incensed that the armies of Lord Manchester and the Earl of Essex never arrived. Back in the House of Commons, Cromwell angrily reprimands Manchester and Essex for their dereliction of duty and asks the House to force their resignation from the armies; the House votes in Cromwell's favor and then appoints him commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary forces.
Charles is eventually encircled in Oxford by Cromwell's forces, and later orders his nephew and fervent supporter Prince Rupert of the Rhine banished after he fails to hold the port of Bristol. Charles' army is decisively beaten in a second conflict after attempting to negotiate for help from Catholic nations with the help of the queen and his eldest son, who were sent abroad for this purpose.
Cromwell later meets with Charles and gives him Parliament's updated plans for a constitutional monarchy; Charles says he needs time to look them over. Returning to camp, three of his officers, including John Carter, after hearing of Cromwell's parlay with Charles, are attempting to label him a traitor and rally the army to march on Parliament. Citing military law, Cromwell orders the three to draw straws to see who is to be hanged for mutiny. As they draw the straws, Cromwell is visited by Sir Edward Hyde who informs him that Charles is not only refusing to even consider Parliament's plans, but has secretly drawn up another set of plans with Manchester and Essex to raise a Scottish army, and to recruit a Catholic army from Ireland to fight Parliament. Hearing this, Cromwell goes back to stop the hanging, but it is too late; Carter drew the short straw and was summarily put to the rope.
Cromwell therefore uses Parliament to arrest Charles and have him tried for treason. At the ensuing trial, Charles, as king, continuously refuses to recognize any authority other than his own, but with incriminating testimony from Sir Edward on the record, Charles is convicted and sentenced to death. After a farewell to his younger children, he courageously faces his execution by beheading, and there is no celebration or satisfaction over his death.
Cromwell has moodily retired to his estate and reacts with anger to a request from Ireton and other MPs to become king himself. When he finds that Parliament, mainly through Manchester's influence, has become self-serving in governance, Cromwell orders his troops to remove the MPs from the building, leaving Cromwell sitting alone in the chamber as virtual dictator, where he outlines his vision for the Protectorate (breaking the fourth wall). The film ends with a narrator stating that Cromwell served very successfully for five years as Lord Protector until his death, at which point Charles II returned home to become king of an England "never to be the same again".
Cast[]
- Richard Harris as Oliver Cromwell
- Alec Guinness as King Charles
- Robert Morley as the Earl of Manchester
- Dorothy Tutin as Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles
- Frank Finlay as John Carter
- Timothy Dalton as Prince Rupert
- Patrick Wymark as the Earl of Strafford
- Patrick Magee as Hugh Peters
- Nigel Stock as Sir Edward Hyde
- Charles Gray as the Earl of Essex
- Michael Jayston as Henry Ireton
- Douglas Wilmer as Thomas Fairfax
- Geoffrey Keen as John Pym
- Stratford Johns as Judge John Bradshaw
- Ian McCulloch as John Hampden
- Patrick O'Connell as John Lilburne
- Anna Cropper as John Carter's wife
- Jack Gwillim as John Byron, 1st Baron Byron
- Anthony May as Richard Cromwell
- Stacy Dorning as Mary Cromwell
- Zena Walker as Elizabeth Cromwell
- John Welsh as Bishop Juxon
- Robin Stewart as Charles, Prince of Wales