#certainly as consolation (Foliot had been widely expected to succeed the previous Archbishop on his death)

[mariocki]

Christopher Rhodes, Percy Herbert, Niall MacGinnis and Peter Jeffrey, as the four barons, opposite Peter O'Toole as the King, in Peter Glenville's 1964 film adaptation of Becket. Peter Jeffrey was the only member of the original RSC production to be cast in the film version of the play, albeit in a reduced role

#100plays #becket #jean anouilh #peter glenville #1964 #becket film #peter jeffrey #christopher rhodes #percy herbert #niall macginnis #peter o'toole #it's a long time since I've seen the film but given his placing in the cast list and relative face recognition compared to the other three #I'm fairly certain Jeffrey was the Fourth Baron #which is probably the most interesting of the barons but with comparatively few lines #certainly the part doesn't compare to Bishop Gilbert Folliot‚ the role he'd had on stage #among the many (and dramatically unimportant) historical inaccuracies in Becket is the fact that Folliot (actually Foliot) is Bishop of #London at the beginning of the play; in fact he only received that appointment after Becket had been made archbishop of Canterbury‚ almost #certainly as consolation (Foliot had been widely expected to succeed the previous Archbishop on his death) #the bishop is also an enemy of Becket's from the beginning of the play‚ where all evidence suggests that‚ until the schism between court #and church and Becket's period in exile‚ the two had been on amicable terms. the real Foliot was probably not as much of a political animal #as Anouilh made him‚ although he appears to have been as self serving‚ if in a different manner: he was known for his nepotistic #appointments and there remains something of a cloud over his financial affairs with the church