Wiki: ‘The on-screen title is “The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with his battell fought at Agincourt in France” (derived from the title of the 1600 quarto edition of the play, though changing the spelling from "Agin Court")
*Esmond Knight, who plays the patriotic Welsh soldier Fluellen was a wounded veteran of the war. He had been badly injured in 1941 while on active service on board HMS Prince of Wales when she was attacked by the Bismarck, and remained totally blind for two years. He had only just regained some sight in his right eye
“Hundreds of locals were hired as extras for the Agincourt battle scenes filmed in neutral Ireland in 1943. The production company paid an additional pound to anyone who brought his own horse😆**
**Funny story from the time? One cheeky Irishman ended up in court for rowdy behaviour .. involving his horse. When the judge made it clear he wasn’t charmed or amused, the Irishman made a plea: “An sure ya ‘onour won’t punish a horse who fought so brave in The Battle of Agincourt” .. Apparently the humourless judge gave him the maximum (an Olivier story!)
“The film, which was photographed in three-strip Technicolor, was hailed by critics for its ebulliently colourful sets and costumes, as well as for Olivier’s masterful direction and acting. Pauline Kael called the movie “a triumph of color, music, spectacle and soaring heroic poetry”. James Agee reported, in Time magazine‘s 8 April 1946 issue, that a remarkable 75 percent of the color footage shot was used in the final release.
“In 2007, the film was digitally restored to High Definition format and re-released. As part of the BBC Summer of British Film series in 2007, it was shown at selected cinemas across the UKThe score by William Walton is considered one of the greatest British film scores, and excerpts from it, such as the orchestral Suite from Henry V, have been performed in concert
“William Walton's music for the 1944 film Henry V has been arranged by several musicians for non-cinematic performances. The first suite was arranged in 1945 by the conductor Malcolm Sargent. In 1963 Muir Mathieson, who had conducted the music for the original film soundtrack, arranged a longer suite, and in 1988 the musicologist Christopher Palmer constructed an hour-long "Shakespeare Scenario" using most of the music Walton composed for the film ..’
