Anna Boleyn

Anna Boleyn (U.S. title: Deception) is a 1920 German historical film in six acts, directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It tells the story of the second marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn, and stars Emil Jannings as Henry VIII and Henny Porten as Anne.

The film was produced by Paul Davidson's Union Film, a subsidiary of the giant German company UFA. The film cost an estimated 8 million marks to make, but was able to recoup this from the sale of the American rights alone which brought in $200,000 (14 million marks).

Plot summary

After years away, Anne Boleyn returns by ship from France to her homeland of England. She stays with her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and there she meets her childhood sweetheart, Sir Henry Norris, who is now a knight in the service of King Henry VIII. Henry prefers to spend his days carousing with his men and womanising, rather than with his wife Catherine. On the Queen's name day, Anne is to be introduced to her, as she is to become one of the ladies-in-waiting. When the King does not appear, Catherine refuses to receive guests. When the King announces his arrival at short notice, the Duke of Norfolk escorts his niece from the Queen's chamber. When the door is hastily closed, Anne's dress gets caught, so the King has to free her and is promptly filled with desire for the young woman.