How long would you wait to see a film?

How about 46 years? That's how long it has taken me to get round to seeing Becket and believe me it was worth the wait. I was so keen to see this film that I even bought the Sunday Telegraph this week to get the free DVD. A couple of days without satellite meant I had no excuse not to watch it and I have to say it is one of the best films I have seen recently.

For those of you not up on your 12th century English history Thomas Becket was the boyhood friend of Henry II. When Henry was having problems with the Church who rather unreasonably refused to pass his laws, he thought that making his boyhood chum Archbishop of Canterbury might solve things. However once Becket became Archbishop he unexpectedly found himself called to God rather than the King. An exasperated Henry cries out 'Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest' - not what he actually said but you get the gist - four passing knights mistake a rhetorical question for an instruction and before you know where you aee Becket is lying mortally wounded in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral.

For a film that runs for a whisker under two and a half hours there's not a lot of action other than what I've described above. What there is is dialogue, lots and lots of dialogue, and what dialogue it is. Allowing for the fact that some characters spend a lot of time thinking aloud in front of crucifixes, this is one of the best written films I have seen. The dialogue is intelligent, provocative, subtle and an absolute gift for the cast.

The big deal with Becket in 1964 was the pairing of Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton, fresh from their successes in Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra. This was a clash of the giants. It is easy for us to think of these two great actors as they were towards the end of their careers with their powers much diminished, but this is them in their magnificent pomp. The intensity and dynamism of their performances is spellbinding; the power of Burton's rich tones and the mercurial volatility of O'Toole as a king who only wants to be loved make a heady combination.

Both actors were among the films twelve Oscar nominations - they lost out in the Best Actor category to Rex Harrison for My Fair Lady - but in the end the only win was for Edward Anhalt's magnificent screenplay.

Even so the film is stunningly shot, superbly played, and a constant joy.