'Shakespeare On Film' Festival at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

English poet and playwright William Shakespeare is believed born 23 April 1564 (based on a baptismal record of 26 April) in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. His father John was a successful local tradesman; his mother Mary Arden was of the gentry. Will married Anne Hathaway on 28 November 1582 – he was 18, she was 26 and 3 months pregnant. His first child, Susanna, was baptised at Stratford on 26 May 1583; twin children – son Hamnet & daughter Judith – were baptised on 2 February 1585; Hamnet died in 1596.
Will's early writing career is undocumented, but his first authenticated plays are dated to 1590. Scholars argue over the details, but Will wrote about thirty-eight plays, about 154 sonnets, and a variety of other poems. Will was a popular actor and playwright (then often a collaborative job) in London, known to have moved to Bishopsgate area of London in 1598. He was member and part-owner of the theater company The Lord Chamberlain's Men (named for its patron), which evolved after the death of Elizabeth I into The King's Men (named for patron King James I). (The theater company owned the Globe Theater: built in 1599, destroyed by fire in 1613 (ignited from a cannon-blast during a play), rebuilt in 1614, closed by edict in 1642, torn down in 1644.)

Success in the theater provided funds enough for Will to own a house in Blackfriars, London and the second-largest house in Stratford. He seems to have retired to Stratford in 1613, where he died on 23 April 1616. He was buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon; his widow died in 1623.

William Shakespeare was popular and successful in his lifetime, but the closing of all theaters in Britain in 1642 left playwrights & actors of the time in obscurity. Will's reputation was restored in the XIXth Century, largely by touring acting companies & actors such as Thomas Keene, so that Will is now generally considered the greatest writer in the English language. He is also considered the English national poet, often referred to as the 'Bard of Avon'.
While a few of Shakespeare's plays were published earlier, the basis for most texts is the posthumous First Folio of 1623. (The precise wording and spelling and punctuation of works of the time are often uncertain.) All but two of his sonnets were published in 1609.

In modern times, Shakespeare's plays remain the most-often produced stage works around the world. Projects exist to re-publish complete [perhaps definitive] texts – Arden, Oxford, Folger Library editions, and the Arkangel audio recordings – and to film all the plays – a joint effort of A.B.C. & the B.B.C. Most of Shakespeare's works are available as online etexts, of varying quality.

cropped version of the 'Cobbe portrait' presented in 2009 as a painting from life of Wm. Shakespeare at about age 40

In March 2009, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust made public an oil portrait dated to around 1605, claiming that it is a portrait given by Shakespeare's then-patron the Earl of Southampton to the Cobbe family in Ireland; the existence of the painting was unknown until recently. Experts assert, and other experts deny, and the scientific evidence is strong but proves nothing in particular.
{Click on the detail graphic at left
to see the full painting in a new window.}
Cobbe portrait entry at Wikipedia

The Tragedy of Macbeth [1606]
An 11th-century Scottish nobleman, under pressure by his ruthless wife, murders his soveriegn,
is proclaimed king in his stead, then is undone by his own character flaws.
'Macbeth' entry at Wikipedia

"Macbeth" [2007] by Aussie director Geoffrey Wright
http://www.trulyindie.com/ti/macbethcs.html

"All Night Long" [1962]
'Othello' is translated to the world of sixties London jazz clubs; "smoky and sensational";
directed by Basil Dearden; starring Patrick McGoohan, Keith Michell, Betsy Blair

"Othello" [B.H.E./Warner Bros. Dec 1965]

National Theatre of Great Britain's 1965 production starring Laurence Olivier recorded on film. Directed by Stuart Burge; co-starring Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, Joyce Redman, Derek Jacobi & Robert Lang; nominated for 4 acting Oscars
Warner color VHS [9/98] out of stock/used
full credits at IMDb

"Othello" [B.B.C.-TimeLife tv movie Oct 1981]

Directed by Jonathan Miller; starring Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Pedley, Bob Hoskins, Penelope Wilton & Rosemary Leach
available only as part of B.B.C. Complete Tragedies Gift Box Set
full credits at IMDb

King Lear [1605]
The king decides to abdicate the throne and divide the kingdom between his three daughters,
which sets off bickering and madness and murder.
'King Lear' entry at Wikipedia

"King Lear" aka 'Korol Lir'
[Russia Feb 1971, USA Aug 1975]

Superb Russian-language film, based on the 1941 translation by Boris Pasternak
Written & directed by Grigori Kozintsev [1905-73], co-directed by Iosif Shapiro; starring Jüri Järvet {as Lear}, Galina Volchek, Elza Radzina, Valentina Shendrikova, Regimantas Adomaitis, Donatas Banionis, Karl Sebris, Juozas Budraitis, Oleg Dal, Roman Gromadsky & Nikolai Kuzmin
Facets subtitled widescreen b&w DVD [1/2007] for $26.99
full credits at IMDb

"King Lear" [1984]
Directed by Michael Elliott, with Laurence Olivier as Lear

"The Merchant of Venice"
[A.B.C/I.T.V. tv movie 1973]

Set in Victorian England. Adapted & directed by John Sichel; starring Laurence Olivier, Anthony Nicholls, Jeremy Brett, Joan Plowright, Louise Purnell & Michael Jayston
Live-Artisan color VHS [5/96] out of stock/used
full credits at IMDb
"The Merchant of Venice" [Royal National Theater filmed play 2001]
Set in England before World War II. Directed by Trevor Nunn; starring David Bamber, Henry Goodman, Raymond Coulthard, Derbhle Crotty, Peter De Jersey, Andrew French, Gabrielle Jourdan & Alexander Hanson
Image Ent. widescreen color DVD [5/2004] for $22.99
full credits at IMDb

"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
[Warner Bros. Oct 1935]
Co-directed by William Dieterle & Max Reinhardt; starring James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, Dick Powell,
Mickey Rooney, Victor Jory, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Olivia de Havilland, Frank McHugh,
Arthur Treacher, Billy Barty & Anita Louise; Oscar nominations for Best Picture & Best Assistant Director,
won Oscars for Best Cinematography & Best Editing
full credits at IMDb

"The Life and Death of King John" [BBC-TV Nov 1984]

A performance of the 1598 stageplay by Wm. Shakespeare; directed by David Giles; starring Leonard Rossiter, Mary Morris, George Costigan, Charles Kay, Jonathan Coy, Luc Owen, Gorden Kaye & Claire Bloom
not available on DVD; full credits at IMDb

“The Tempest” [Touchstone Pictures Dec 2010]

Co-produced, written & directed by Julie Taymor; based on the play by Wm. Shakespeare; starring Helen Mirren
{as Prospera}, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Djimon Hounsou, Alan Cumming, Chris Cooper, Ben Whishaw,
David Strathairn, Felicity Jones & Tom Conti
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits at IMDb • official movie site

"Romeo and Juliet" [M.G.M. Sept 1936]
Directed by George Cukor; starring Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, John Barrymore, Edna May Oliver,
Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith, Andy Devine, Henry Kolker, Robert Warwick & Reginald Denny;
Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (NS), Best Supporting Actor (BR), Best Art Direction
full credits at IMDb

"Romeo and Juliet In Yiddish" [indep July 2011]

A witty and bittersweet film about the Chabads and the Satmars, two rival sects of ultra-Orthodox Jews who face off over their children producing a Yiddish-language version of Shakespeare's play.
Co-produced, written & directed by Eve Annenberg; starring Lazer Weiss, Melissa Weisz, Mendy Zafir, Bubbles Yoeli Weiss, Josef Yossi Friedman, Eve Annenberg, Isaac Schoenfeld. Yelena Shmulenson, Solman Wiser & Luzer Twersky
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available
full credits at IMDb • watch official trailer on YouTube

"Romeo & Juliet" [2012?]

Announced 6/2011: Adaptation of Shakespeare's play by Julian Fellowes, to be directed by Carlo Carlei; starring
Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth, Holly Hunter, Ed Westwick &and Kodi Smit-McPhee • latest info at IMDb

"Rosaline" [Fox 2000 2013?]

Announced 7/2011: Adaptation of Shakespeare's play adapted from a yet-to-be-published novel [Simon Pulse Spring 2012]
by newcomer Rebecca Serle, to be directed by Michael Sucsy. The story centers on 17-year-old Rosaline Caplet,
who is in love with her best friend, Rob Monteg, who is stolen away by Rosaline’s beautiful cousin, Juliet; Rob
eventually wants to win Rosie back, but she already has her eye on somebody else.
not yet listed on IMDb

Hamlet: Prince of Denmark [circa 1600-02]
The brother of the king of Denmark murders him, succeeds him, and then marries the queen.
The son of the dead king seeks revenge, triggering murder by mistake, poisonings, madness & suicide.
'Hamlet' entry at Wikipedia

"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" [1874 stageplay]

Marion Terry and W.S. Gilbert in the 1908 revival of Gilbert's 1874 stageplay "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern"

British playwright W.S. Gilbert [1836-1911] of the comic operetta team of Gilbert & Sullivan, wrote this comic play as a parody of Shakespeare's "Hamlet"; it was first published in 1874 (after many rejections for production). The first performance was in 1891 in London; first performed on Broadway in 1900; performed on live television in U.K. in 1938; stageplay entry at Wikipedia
Kessinger Publng 9x7¼ pb playscript [6/2004] for $12.44
1938 television performance
starring Erik Chitty, Leonard Sachs, Peter Ridgeway, Alexis France, Grahame Clifford & Madge Brindley; kinescope/DVD not available; full credits from IMDb

"Hamlet" [1921 silent] /tt0012249/
starring Danish actress Asta Nielsen [1881-1972]

"Olivier's Hamlet"
[Rank/Universal May/Sept 1948]

Co-produced, adapted & directed by and starring {Sir} Laurence Olivier; also starring Anthony Quayle, Peter Cushing, Stanley Holloway, Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Norman Wooland, Felix Aylmer, Terence Morgan & Jean Simmons; won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Olivier), Best B&W Set Decoration, Best B&W Costume Design, nominations for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (JS) & Best Music Score; won BAFTA for Best Film
Criterion b&w DVD [9/2000] for $26.99
3-disk set: Criterion DVD [8/2006] for $71.99, includes "Henry V" & "Richard III"
Paramount b&w VHS [undated] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb

"Hamlet" [Russia June 1964, USA March 1966]

Superb Russian-language film, based on the 1941 translation by Boris Pasternak
Written & directed by Grigori Kozintsev [1905-73]; starring Innokenti Smoktunovsky {as Hamlet}, Anastasiya Vertinskaya, Yuri Tolubeyev, Vladimir Erenberg, Stepan Oleksenko, Mikhail Nazvanov, Elza Radzina, Vadim Medvedev & Igor Dmitriyev
Facets subtitled widescreen b&w DVD [10/2006] for $26.99
full credits at IMDb

"Coriolanus" [Weinstein Company Nov 2011]

poster for 2011 Coriolanus movie by Ralph Fiennes

Shakespeare's play in modern military dress, with modern weapons.
Directed by {debut} & starring Ralph Fiennes; adapted by John Logan;
also starring Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave & Eddie Marsan
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits at IMDb

"Antony and Cleopatra" [160 mins.; 1972]
Directed by & starring Charlton Heston, with Hildegard Neil & Eric Porter

	"Shakespeare On Film" [1977] by Jack J. Jorgens Univ Press of America 8¾x6 pb [4/91] for $47.00 IN Univ Press pb [11/79] out of print/used
	"Filming Shakespeare's Plays: The Adaptations of Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, Peter Brook & Akira Kurosawa" [1988] by Anthony Davies Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 pb [6/90] out of print/used Cambridge Univ Press hardcover [9/88] out of print/used Magic Lantern's Orson Welles [1915-85] Page Magic Lantern's Akira Kurosawa [1910-88] Page
	"Shakespeare On Screen: An International Filmography & Videography, 1899-1989" [1991] by Kenneth S. Rothwell & Annabelle Henkin Melzer Neal-Schuman Publrs 11¼x8¾ hardcover [2/91] out of print/used
	"Shakespeare and The Moving Image: The Plays On Film & Television" [1994] Edited by Anthony Davies & Stanley Wells Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 pb [10/94] for $27.99 Cambridge Univ Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [10/94] out of print/used
	"Shakespeare, The Movie: Popularizing The Plays on Film, TV, and Video" [1997] Edited by Lynda E. Boose & Richard Burt Routledge 9x6¼ pb [11/97] for $39.95 Routledge library hardcover [11/97] out of print/used
	"Shakespeare On Film: Contemporary Critical Essays" [1998] Edited by Robert Shaughnessy Palgrave Macmillan 8½x5½ pb [11/98] for $35.00 Palgrave Macmillan 8¾x5¾ hardcover [11/98] for $96.99
	"Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture" [1999] by Michael Anderegg Columbia Univ Press 9x6 pb [1/99] for $25.00 Columbia Univ Press 9½x6½ hardcover [1/99] for $77.50 Magic Lantern's Orson Welles [1915-85] Page
	"A History of Shakespeare On Screen: A Century of Film & Television" [1999] by Kenneth S. Rothwell Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 2nd edition pb [10/2004] for $29.99 Cambridge Univ Press 9¼x6¼ hardcover [10/2004] for $75.00
	"Shakespeare In Ihe Movies: From Ihe Silent Era To Shakespeare In Love" [2000] by Douglas Brode Berkley Trade 9x5¾ pb [11/2001] for $19.00 Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [4/2000] for $44.00
	"Interpreting Shakespeare On Screen" [2000] by Deborah Cartmell Palgrave Macmillan 8½x6¼ pb [9/2000] for $35.00 Palgrave Macmillan 8¾x5½ hardcover [9/2000] for $99.25
	"The Cambridge Companion To Shakespeare On Film" [2000] Edited by Russell Jackson Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 pb [10/2000] for $24.99 Cambridge Univ Press 9x5¾ hardcover [10/2000] for $75.00
	"Shakespeare In The Cinema" [2001] by Stephen M. Buhler S.U.N.Y. Press 9x6 pb [2/2007] for $21.95 S.U.N.Y. Press 9x6¼ hardcover [12/2001] for $59.50
	"Shakespeare On Film" [2005] by Judith Buchanan Longman 9¼x6½ pb [9/2005] for $14.00
	"A Concise Companion To Shakespeare On Screen" [2006] by Diana E. Henderson Blackwell Publng 9x5¾ pb [1/2006] for $30.95 Blackwell Publng 9x6 hardcover [1/2006] out of print/used

	"Shakespeare Collection DVD Box Set" [2007 compilation] Warner Home Video b&w/color DVD set [8/2007] 5 disks for $53.99 includes "A Midsummer Night's Dream" [1935] with James Cagney; 2-disk "Romeo and Juliet" [1936] starring Norma Shearer; "Othello" [1965] starring Laurence Olivier; and "Hamlet" [1996] by Kenneth Branagh
	"Olivier's Shakespeare" [2006 compilation] Criterion DVD [8/2006] 3 disks for $71.99 includes "Henry V" [1944], "Hamlet" [1948] & "Richard III" [1955]
	"In Search of Shakespeare" [P.B.S. miniseries Feb 2004] Written by Michael Wood; directed by David Wallace P.B.S. color DVD [2/2004] for $35.99 P.B.S. color VHS [2/2004] 2 tapes out of stock/used full credits at IMDb • P.B.S. official website
	"William Shakespeare: A Life of Drama" [A&E Biography 2004] A&E color DVD [8/2004] for $21.99 not listed at IMDb
	"The Reduced Shakespeare Company: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" [P.B.S. 2000] The Reduced Shakespeare Company is comprised of three actors – Adam Long, Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor – who perform 37 of Shakespeare's works in under two hours. Produced & directed by Paul Kafno Acorn Media color DVD [5/2003] for $19.99 Acorn Media color VHS [7/2001] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • official website
	"Silent Shakespeare" [2000 compilation] Image Ent. silent tinted & b&w DVD [6/2000] for $26.99 Image Ent. silent tinted & b&w VHS [1/2002] out of stock/rare includes digital restorations by the British Film Institute of "King John" [Britain 1899 fragment] starring Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree; "The Tempest" [Britain 1908 short]; "A Midsummer Night's Dream" [USA 1909]; "King Lear" [Italy 1910], "Twelfth Night" [USA 1910 short]; "The Merchant of Venice" [Italy 1910 short]; & "Richard III" [Britain 1911] starring Sir Frank Benson
	"Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" [BBC2-TV 1992-94] Twelve half-hour episodes, in many styles: "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "As You Like It", "Hamlet", "Julius Caesar", "Macbeth", "Othello", "Richard III", "Romeo & Juliet", "Taming of The Shrew", "The Tempest", "Twelfth Night" & "The Winter's Tale" Ambrose color DVD [7/2004] 4 discs for $71.99 full credits at IMDb

	"Wm. Shakespeare's Othello" [South Africa Dec 1989] 1988 performance in post-apartheid Johannesburg, South Africa. Directed by Janet Suzman; starring John Kani, Richard Haddon Haines, Joanna Weinberg & Dorothy Gould ArtHaus color DVD [9/2005] for $29.99 full credits at IMDb
	"Othello" [Royal National Theater filmed play June 1990] Set during the American Civil War. Directed by Trevor Nunn; starring Willard White, Ian McKellen (as Iago), Imogen Stubbs & Zoë Wanamaker Image Ent. color DVD [11/2004] for $22.99 color VHS [yr=?] out of stock/rare full credits at IMDb
	"Othello" [Castle Rock/Columbia Dec 1995] Truncated version, not recommended. Adapted & directed by Oliver Parker; starring Laurence Fishburne, Irène Jacob, Kenneth Branagh, Nathaniel Parker, Michael Maloney & Anna Patrick Turner widescreen DVD [1/2000] for $14.99 Sony color VHS [2/94] out of stock/used full credits at IMDb
	"Omkara" [Shemaroo/Eros India July 2006] An updated, uniquely Indian musical version of Shakespeare's Othello, set in modern rural Uttar Pradesh. Co-written, directed & original music by Vishal Bharadwaj; starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Vivek Oberoi, Naseeruddin Shah & Konkona Sen Sharma Eros Ent. color DVD [4/2007] 2 disks for $17.99 full credits at IMDb • movie entry at Wikipedia

	"Shakespeare's Hamlet: A New Version" [1965] by Rouben Mamoulian aka "Hamlet Revised & Interpreted: A Drama Textbook" Bobbs-Merrill Co. pb [1965] out of print/used Bobbs-Merrill Co. hardcover [1965] out of print/used
	"Sweet Prince: The Passion of Hamlet - A Novel" [2004] by Douglas Brode Florida Academic Press 8¼x5½ pb [5/2004] for $34.95

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'Shakespeare On Film' Festival
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