THE LION IN WINTER is not a film; it's a filmed play. So was A Man For All Seasons, but there the adopted medium was at worst unobtrusive, and at best working dextrously for the fine script.

Camp, camp, the boys are marching, from the sun-kissed shores of Fire Island to their citadel at Esquire--and if any of the lads look in on The Lion in Winter, they'll simper themselves silly.

The play The Lion in Winter by James Goldman, which earned him an Academy Award for its screenplay adaptation, portrays the royal family of England on Christmas Eve in 1183. For this medieval ...