YMMV / A Man for All Seasons

• Fandom Rivalry: This work has a bitter rivalry with Wolf Hall, among people who have heard of the latter.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Robert Bolt was arrested for his involvement with the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament a year after the play debuted. Like Sir Thomas, Bolt refused to be bound over and was sentenced to several weeks in jail. Unfortunately for Bolt, he was working on Lawrence of Arabia at the time, and producer Sam Spiegel browbeat him into recanting.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In the 1966 film, the role of villianous Amoral Attorney Cromwell is played by Leo McKern, who a few years later would become famous for his role of Rumpole of the Bailey, a dedicated defense barrister.
    • Plus Leo McKern played a Number 2 in The Prisoner (1967) and like in that show, in More's trial he is effectively asking More why he resigned.
  • Averil Machin is played by Yootha Joyce, who would later be best known for playing Mildred Roper in Man About the House and George & Mildred.
  • In the 2006 radio drama Charles Dance plays Sir Thomas More. He'd played another lawyer a year before — the Amoral Attorney Tulkinghorn in Bleak House.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • In the 1966 film, Orson Welles as Cardinal Wolsey, the former Trope Namer.
  • And Vanessa Redgrave as Anne Bolyn.
  • Robert Shaw, as King Henry, is also roughly this, though admittedly his one scene is fairly long, followed by another cameo at his wedding to Anne Bolyn.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Richard Rich was one of John Hurt's first feature film roles.
  • An innkeeper is played by Arnold Ridley, who would later be best known for playing Private Godfrey in Dad's Army.

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