William Shakespeare Movies

This video profiles the historical city of Ashland as well as a backstage glimpse. ~ All Movie Guide

In 1912, Frederick Warde, a respected actor on the legitimate stage, who, over the course of a long career, had worked opposite the likes of Edwin Booth, this time lends his talents to the still creatively fledgling medium of the motion pictures. Drawing upon his triumphant stage performance in the title role of William Shakespeare's Richard III, Warde and his fellow players gave the story a new interpretation, performing the classic tragedy of the deformed and unscrupulous king in pantomime for the then-silent cameras. Within a decade of its release, this early screen version of Richard III was believed to have been lost, with no prints surviving, but in 1996 a private film collector discovered a copy, which was then donated to the American Film Institute. The AFI archivally restored Richard III and commissioned a new orchestral score, written by Ennio Morricone. The film now has the distinction of being the oldest feature-length motion picture to survive intact and is historically invaluable both as an example of early cinema and as a look at acting and theatrical production techniques of the turn of the century. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Metro's eight-reel adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was released during same October week in 1916 that Fox's version of the same play hit the screen. While Fox's version boasted the star power of Theda Bara, the Metro version had the advantage of two "big names" in the cast: Francis X. Bushman as Romeo, and Beverly Bayne as Juliet. Kept secret from the public was the fact that Bushman and Bayne were married in real life; the studio did not want to destroy Bushman's image as an "attainable" romantic star. The pantomimic performances of the two stars were so persuasive and convincing that the dialogue subtitles, drawn from the original Shakespearean text, were regarded as intrusions! Still, some few critics preferred the Fox version of Romeo and Juliet, if only because J. Gordon Edwards was more talented than Metro's John W. Noble. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Even without the benefit of sound, the 1922 German adaptation of Othello seems more operatic than Shakespearean. This may be due to the casting of Emil Jannings, to whom restraint and subtlety were strangers. Werner Krauss, of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari fame, is on hand as the duplicitous Iago. Appearing as the unfortunate Desdemona is Lea Von Lenkeffy, better known as Lya de Putti. Produced on an elaborate scale, Othello may not be true to the letter of Shakespeare, but is undeniably a smorgasbord of visual delights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As the silent era drew to a close (along with their marriage), Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks made this early talkie, appearing in their first film together as William Shakespeare's rambunctious couple Katherine and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. In this pared down, slapstick version of Shakespeare's comedy, Petruchio rides into town facing backwards on a jackass, strumming a lyre, looking for his fair-haired, soon-to-be-wife Katherine. The two engage in a battle of the sexes, complete with verbal sparring and pratfalls, until Katherine is brought down to size and made to be subservient to her loutish husband. Although disputed in John C. Tibbetts' book His Majesty, the American, legend has it that Samuel Taylor, the film's director who also adapted the screenplay, had the writer's credit read "By William Shakespeare, with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor." The film was re-scored and re-edited (drastically shortening the film) in 1966. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Max Reinhardt's legendary Hollywood Bowl production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream was transferred to the screen by Warner Bros. in 1935. Like most of Shakespeare's comedies, the story contains several seemingly unrelated plotlines, all tied together by a single unifying event, in this instance the impending wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. One story thread concerns the mistaken-identity romances of four young Athenians; another involves a group of "rude mechanicals" who plan to stage a production of "Pyramus and Thisbe" in honor of the wedding; and third plot strand is motivated by the mischievous misbehavior of invisible fairies Oberon, Titania, and Puck. While one of the members of Reinhardt's original stage cast, Olivia De Havilland (Hermia) was retained for the film version, the remainder of the roles went to Warners' ever-reliable stock company. Some of the casting is inspired: James Cagney is brilliant as vainglorious amateur thespian Bottom, while Joe E. Brown is ideal as the reluctant female impersonator Flute. As the four lovers, De Havilland and Jean Muir far outshine the smirking and simpering Dick Powell and Ross Alexander. In the dominion of the fairies, Mickey Rooney is a bit too precious as Puck, but Anita Louise is a lovely Titania and Victor Jory a suitably menacing Oberon (his opening line "Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania!" still sends shivers down our spines). Cagney and Brown's fellow "mechanicals" are an odd mixture of the sublime (Frank McHugh) and the just plain silly (Hugh Herbert). While the performances and direction (by Reinhardt and William Dieterle) are uneven, the art direction and special effects (especially the nocturnal dance of the fairies) are breathtakingly beautiful. Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream" incidental music is masterfully orchestrated by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, while the cinematography by Hal Mohr earned the first write-in Academy Award in Hollywood history (Mohr had not been nominated due to hostilities arising from a recent industry strike). Considered a brave failure at the time of its first release, on a purely visual level A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the more satisfying Shakespearean cinemadaptations of Hollywood's golden age. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director George Cukor and producer Irving G. Thalberg's adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, a lavish production of Shakespeare's tale about two star-crossed lovers, is extremely well-produced and acted. In fact, it is so well-done, that it is easy to forget that Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer are too old to be playing the title characters. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide