Henry VIII and His Six Wives Howard, Duke of Norfolk. Henry and Catherine marry, with Henry lavishing her with many gifts and jewels. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer then discovers that Catherine has had liaisons before her marriage, and presents this knowledge to Henry, who at first refuses to believe the charges. Cranmer secures a confession from Catherine, who also admits of an affair with Thomas Culpeper during her marriage to Henry. Catherine is beheaded. Henry, now elderly, approaches Catherine Parr, a widow from two previous marriages. Catherine is at first reluctant, citing her religious views which differ from Henry's, but Henry admits his need for companionship in
Husbands and Wives of "Variety" similarly praised the film as "a full meal, as it deals with the things of life with intelligence, truthful drama and rueful humor." Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" called it a "a very fine, sometimes brutal comedy about a small group of contemporary New Yorkers, each an edgy, self-analyzing achiever who goes through life without much joy, but who finds a certain number of cracked satisfactions along the way." He added, "'Husbands and Wives' -- the entire Allen canon, for that matter -- represents a kind of personal cinema for which there is no precedent in