Hamlet (1948) William Shakespeare's tale of tragedy of murder and revenge in the royal halls of medieval Denmark.

Claudius, brother to the King, conniving with the ueen, poisons the monarch and sei!es the throne, taking the widowed "ertrude for his bride. #amlet, son of the murdered King, mournful of his father's death and mother's hasty marriage, is confronted by the ghost of the late King who reveals the manner of his murder. Seeking revenge, #amlet recreates the monstrous deed in a play with the help of some traveling actors to torment the conscience of the evil Claudius. $n a visit with his mother, #amlet e%presses his anger and disappointment concerning her swiftly untimed marriage. &hinking a concealed spy in his mother's chamber to be the lurking Claudius, he mistakenly kills the meddling counselor, 'olonius, father of (phelia and )aertes. Claudius, on the prete%t that #amlet will be endangered by his sub*ects for the murder of 'olonius, sends the prince to +ngland. ,ohn )aurie ... +smond Knight ... /nthony uayle... 1iall 0ac"innis ... #arcourt Williams 'atrick &roughton &ony &arver ... 'eter Cushing ... Stanley #olloway 2ussell &horndike .asil Sydney ... +ileen #erlie ... )aurence (livier 1orman Wooland -eli% /ylmer ... Director3 )aurence (livier Won 4 (scars http355www.imdb.com5title5tt66464785 Codecs3 Div9 : 5 0': With this film, Sir )aurence (livier set the standard as to how Shakespeare should be done on screen. #is direction of his handpicked cast was flawless and his own straightforward interpretation of #amlet is the one everyone else's is measured by. $t was a straightforward interpretation because Shakespeare himself in the introduction says that #amlet's tragedy is one in which his problem is that he couldn't make up his mind. (livier opts for that and doesn't try to give any deeper meaning to #amlet's indecision. -or those who've never read the play or have seen it or studied in school, #amlet is the 'rince of Denmark. #e's #amlet ,unior. #is father #amlet Senior was the king and the king has died. .ut at the beginning of the play, #amlet is visited by the ghost of his father and the father tells him he was murdered by his brother Claudius. Claudius took the title and married #amlet's mother "ertrude. /ll this was done while #amlet was away at school in Wittemberg. -rancisco .ernardo 0arcellus Sea Captain ... -irst 'layer ... 'layer King 'layer ueen (sric, Servant to the Court ... "ravedigger ... 'riest Claudius, &he King "ertrude, &he ueen ... #amlet, 'rince of Denmark ... #oratio, #amlet's friend 'olonius, )ord Chamberlain

&he ghost wants his son to revenge him, understandable enough. .ut the story is #amlet deciding one thing and then another, moderating his course. #is actions have everyone believing he's lost his mind. $n the end it's tragedy all around. $'ve always thought that the key thing to remember is that #amlet is the only one who heard the ghost. Some other palace personnel told him about some apparition making an appearance on one of the battlements of +lsinore Castle, but #amlet's the only one who's been told the tale. &herefore he's the only one who heard the story and he can't prove anything. &he device of spirits visiting Shakespearean protagonists is one the .ard used with great effect. #ere, in 0ac.eth, in ,ulius Caesar, all of those visits meant someone was meeting their doom. .ut in #amlet the ghost makes his appearance at the beginning of the play. 0aybe if the ghost had revealed himself to #oratio, to 'olonius, the ueen even, #amlet's duty would have been clear. $n the supporting cast $ liked +ileen #erlie as the ueen, ,ean Simmons as (phelia, -eli% /ylmer as 'olonius, and most of all &errence 0organ as )aertes. )aertes is an important character here. #e's the son of the chief counselor in the court, 'olonius and brother of (phelia who has a yen for #amlet. $n the beginning of the play )aertes takes off for -rance. )ater towards the end he finds out the tragedy #amlet has wrought upon both his father and his sister and )aertes has no trouble making up his mind what he's going to do. uite a contrast to #amlet's behavior. &he film is moodily photographed in black and white. (livier wanted to use color, but ,. /rthur 2ank wouldn't spring for it. So he made due with black and white and the lights and shadows of +lsinore castle as shown almost make this version a kind of Shakespeare noir. $ don't think subse;uent versions with 1icol Williamson and 0el "ibson hold a candle to this one. ....................................................................................................... #amlet <)aurence (livier=, son of the murdered king of Denmark, contemplates whether or not to take vengeance on the murderer and now king, Claudius <.asil Sydney=, #amlet's uncle. #amlet must also decide what to do about his mother, "ertrude <+ileen #erlie=, who is now married <;uite happily, it seems= to Claudius, and Claudius' chief adviser, 'olonius <-eli% /ymer=. $n the middle of all this is #amlet's love (phelia <,ean Simmons=, who is completely confused >>> and hurt >>> by #amlet's increasingly bi!arre behavior. )ike the ?effrilli5"ibson and .ranaugh versions of Shakespeare's classic that followed, (livier's adaptation is a mostly e%cellent film with several annoying flaws keeping it *ust out of reach of greatness. (livier is superb as #amlet >>> especially when delivering the solilo;uies, several of which are genuinely powerful. &he rest of the cast, however, is a mi%ed bag. #erlie is very good, managing to completely overcome that fact that she is really 7: years younger than (livier. Sydney has his moments and does a decent *ob, but never really gets across who Claudius really is. /ymer is amusing but nothing more. Simmons makes a good (phelia, albeit not a great one. 1orman Wooland is e%cellent as #oratio <which is a tough role to actually be memorable in=. Stanley #olloway is good as the "ravedigger, but somehow he doesn't nail the part the way .illy Crystal did in the 7@@8 version. -inally, 'eter Cushing isA odd as (sric. &he rest of the cast is either stiff or completely uninteresting.

#owever, other than some weak performances, (livier does a superb *ob directing everything. &he atmosphere during the ghost scenes is absolutely suffocating and starts the film off well. /nd right from that scene, it's obvious that the camera work is going to be awesome. &he camera moves and sweeps everywhere >>> but not *ust for the sake of moving and sweeping like many movies <cough0ichael.aycoughcough=. $t creates e%traordinary images and energy that make many scenes unforgettable >>> without calling too much attention to itself. William Walton's creepy music adds a lot. -inally, the climactic fencing scenes are genuinely great B easily the best fencing scenes in a version of #amlet and possibly among the best in film history. #owever, despite many great scenes, the movie never creates the emotions it needs to really make the blows come. Ces, some scenes are truly compelling, but on the whole, it misses the mark in that department. #owever, the scenes that work are brilliant, and despite the lack of emotional power, it is an entertaining and superbly made film that's *ust as worthwhile as its @6's successors <although it is marginally inferior to them, which is odd >>> the 46's version inferior to the @6's remakesD=. ....................................................................................................... &his adaptation of E#amletE by )aurence (livier <he both starred and directed= is a brooding, somewhat slow>moving, but also memorable version of Shakespeare's great play. (livier's personal performance as the Danish prince is by far the strongest aspect of the picture. #amlet is one of the most comple% and fascinating characters ever created, and no two great actors ever play him ;uite the same way. (livier portrays him primarily as Ea man who could not make up his mindE, and his fine and often subtle acting brings to his role a deep understanding of his character's inner struggles and dilemmas, both moral and practical. #e renders #amlet's most famous lines in a distinctive way that reveal the many possible paths in #amlet's future. $t is a performance not to be forgotten. $f (livier the actor is masterful, (livier the director is good but not perfect. / great deal of Shakespeare's te%t was eliminated, getting the running time down to F 75F hours, but even so there are times when the movie seems rather slow>moving, especially in the first hour or so. 0ost of the cuts involve interactions with the minor characters, and some of the original play's minor roles are cut completely out of the film. &he result is to concentrate the emphasis even further on #amlet himself and on his pessimistic meditations. While this enables (livier's fine acting to become even more prominent, it does eliminate some very interesting portions of the story whose absence will be regretted by those viewers who love the play. (livier does add some good touches, though. #e emphasi!es the somber tone with numerous tracking shots of the castle's gloomy corridors and staircases. &he filming of the famous se;uence of events at the end is very good, and is much livelier than the rest. While this is probably not the very best interpretation of the play E#amletE, it is as good an interpretation of the character #amlet as you will ever see. -or that reason alone it is must viewing for any fan of Shakespeare or of (livier. G )aurence (livier was 47 when #amlet was released. +ileen #erlie, who played #amlet's mother "ertrude, was FH.

G With this film, )aurence (livier became the first person ever to direct themselves to a best actor or actress (scar. G &he first film to win both the /cademy /ward for best picture and the Ienice -ilm -estival "olden )ion /ward for best picture. G &he first film to win both the /cademy /ward for best picture and the Ienice -ilm -estival G &he final scene to be filmed was the famous shot of (livier *umping off a high tower onto Claudius and killing him, because it was considered to be so dangerous that it was feared that (livier would in*ure himself too badly performing the stunt to film any other scenes. (livier emerged unin*ured from the leap, but the stuntman doubling as Claudius was knocked out from the impact and lost two teeth. G &he first non>/merican film to win the (scar for .est 'icture. G (ne of the Shakespearean purists who critici!ed this shorn>down version of the play was +thel .arrymore, who complained that it wasn't as faithful as the stage version produced on .roadway in 7@FF, in which her brother ,ohn .arrymore played #amlet. +thel .arrymore was the presenter of the .est 'icture (scar at the /cademy /wards that year and was visibly shaken when she read out (livier's name as the winner. G Stanley #olloway was an 77th>hour choiceJ the actor who was supposed to play the grave digger, -.,. 0cCormick, died shortly before filming. G /t KF million, this was a very e%pensive production in its day. G $nitially, (livier was not keen on producing E#amletE. /lthough he wanted to repeat the success of &he Chronicle #istory of King #enry the -ift with #is .attell -ought at /gincourt in -rance <7@44=, he found that the Danish play was the only really viable choice, as (rson Welles had *ust done 0acbeth <7@4H= and was prepping &he &ragedy of (thello3 &he 0oor of Ienice <7@LF=. .y casting himself in the lead, however, he was able to secure the necessary financing. G &his is the first of many films that 'eter Cushing and Christopher )ee would do together, including once where Cushing played Dr. -rankenstein and )ee was the 0onster, and three times where )ee played Dracula and Cushing played Ian #elsing. G &his is the only ma*or film version of E#amletE that entirely omits the characters 2osencrant! and "uildenstern. (livier was severely critici!ed for leaving them out of the film, as they provide many opportunities for #amlet to behave in a sarcastically humorous way toward them, and many felt that (livier probably would have played these moments brilliantly. G (livier played the voice of #amlet's father's ghost himself by recording the dialog and playing it back at a reduced speed, giving it a macabre ;uality. 0any references ine%plicably credit the voice of the ghost as being performed by ,ohn "ielgud, but (livier actually disliked working with "ielgud and turned down his re;uest to play the Chorus in his film of #enry I. G "reatly influenced by the inventive camera effects that (rson Welles and "regg &oland pioneered in Citi!en Kane <7@47=, and by the psychological reinterpretations of the play that were being floated at the time. G (livier didn't attend the /cademy /wards ceremony in which he won two (scars as he was

performing in a play in )ondon at the time with his wife, Iivien )eigh. G Some of -ortinbras' lines from the play were given to #oratio. -ortinbras does not appear in this film version of E#amletE. G &his was the first sound film version in +nglish of the play. G .ecause they wanted to aim at a wider public in their film adaptation of E#amletE than they had in their 7@44 film version of E#enry IE, (livier and te%t adaptor /lan Dent moderni!ed and5or clarified several obscure phrases in the play3 E&he cock, that is the trumpet to the mornE became E&he cock, that is the herald to the mornE, Erecks not his own redeE became Eminds not his own creedE, E$n the same figure, like the King that's deadE became Ein the same figure, like the dead King #amletE, and E$t may be, very likeE became E$t may be, very likelyE, among others. G 'Claire .loom' auditioned for the role of (phelia. G When the movie was released )aurence (livier said it had been filmed in black and white for artistic reasons. &he true reason, as he later admitted, was that E$ was in the middle of a furious row with &echnicolorE. G Desmond Dickenson had a very maneuverable Camera Dolly specially made for this film with 'neumatic tires <the first of its kind in +ngland=.