Commoner became powerful ruler

Press, 6 July 1983, Page 10

Commoner became powerful ruler

Oliver Cromwell, the subject of the movie screening on One on Saturday night, was one of the most arresting, revolutionary and difficult figures in the dazzling sequence of great men that make up English history. Bom a commoner, Cromwell scaled the heights of power up through Parliament to become the only man in the 1000-year history of Great Britain to execute a king. English persecution of Catholics in Ireland, impending war with Scotland and injustices of the King’s Court led Cromwell to rise up against King Charles I — and force the country into a war between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers.

Cromwell’s rough army of citizens, using principles of warfare centuries ahead of their time, defeated the lux-uriously-armed forces of King Charles I, led by the greatest generals of Europe. As Grand Protector, Cromwell was the most powerful ruler of the British Isles — a reign that changed the course of Western Civilisation and ushered in the Modem Age. The clash of these two great figures, Cromwell and the enigmatic and forceful Charles I, is fought in castle corridors, in Parliament and finally, in a sweeping battle between their two armies.

Richard Harris stars as Oliver Cromwell with Alec Guinness (super-spy George Smiley) as King Charles I. Robert Morley, Dorothy Tutin and Frank Finlay also

make appearances. Richard Harris was born in Limerick, Ireland, and educated at Sacred Heart Jesuit College. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art; made his stage debut in 1956 and his first appearance in British films in 1958. He was propelled into international stardom by his robust performance in “This Sporting Life” in 1963, for which he won the Cannes Festival acting award and was nominated for an Oscar. Both on and off screen Harris projects the image of the tough male, an unconventional rebel with earthy appetites. In 1971 he made his directorial debut with “Bloomfield,” which was filmed in Israel.