Hamlet DVD 1948 / Directed by Laurence Olivier / Starring: Laurence Olivier, Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney, Jean Simmons / Classic Collection

UPC 5037115049735

MADE IN EU

REGION 2 PAL DVD (Black & White)

Audio: English 2.0

Subtitles: English HOH

Total Runtime: 155 minutes

English Summary:

Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted and directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director and the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed (the 1936 As You Like It had starred Olivier, but had been directed by Paul Czinner). Hamlet was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the first sound film of the play in English. Khoon Ka Khoon, a 1935 sound film adaptation, had been made in India and filmed in the Urdu language.

The film follows the overall story of the play, but cuts nearly half the dialogue and leaves out two major characters.

 The action begins on the battlements of Elsinore where a sentry, Francisco (John Laurie), is relieved of his watch (and questioned if he has seen anything) by another sentry, Bernardo (Esmond Knight), who, with yet another sentry, Marcellus (Anthony Quayle), has twice previously seen the Ghost of King Hamlet. Marcellus then arrives with the skeptical Horatio (Norman Wooland), Prince Hamlet's friend. Suddenly, all three see the Ghost, and Horatio demands that the ghost speak. The ghost vanishes then, without a word.

Inside the Great Hall of the castle, the court is celebrating the marriage of Gertrude (Eileen Herlie) and King Claudius (Basil Sydney); old King Hamlet has died apparently of an accidental snakebite, and his wife, Gertrude, has, within a month of the tragedy, married the late King's brother. Prince Hamlet (Laurence Olivier) sits alone, refusing to join in the celebration, despite the protests of the new King. When the court has left the Great Hall, Hamlet fumes over the hasty marriage, muttering to himself the words "and yet, within a month!"

Soon, Horatio and the sentries enter telling Hamlet of the ghostly apparition of his father. Hamlet proceeds to investigate, and upon arriving on the battlements, sees the ghost. Noting that the ghost beckons him forward, Hamlet follows it up onto a tower, wherein it reveals its identity as the Ghost of Hamlet's father. He tells Hamlet that he was murdered, who did it, and how it was done. The audience then sees the murder re-enacted in a flashback as the ghost describes the deed – Claudius is seen pouring poison into the late King Hamlet's ear, thereby killing him. Hamlet does not at first accept this as the truth, and then prepares to feign madness, so as to test Claudius' conscience, without jumping to conclusions.

Cast

 The Royal Court of Denmark

• Basil Sydney as Claudius, the King. Claudius is the brother, and murderer, of the late King Hamlet, and he marries his brother's widow only two months after the King's death. An English actor, Sydney had a long and prolific career on both stage and screen. In 1923, at the age of 29, he played Hamlet in a modern-dress stage production. He subsequently appeared with Olivier in The Devil's Disciple.
• Eileen Herlie as Gertrude, the Queen. Gertrude, now married to Claudius, does not suspect foul play, and she fears for the sanity of her son. A Scottish-American actress, Herlie was born in Scotland and worked in the U.K. on film and stage productions until the mid-1950s, when she moved permanently to the U.S., where she worked mainly on stage and TV. (Her role as Gertrude was secured by arrangement with Sir Alexander Korda, to whom she was under contract.) She had previously played Gertrude on stage in 1945 to the Hamlet of Peter Glenville. She would repeat the part in the 1964 Broadway production starring Richard Burton as Hamlet.
• Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Hamlet is the conflicted son of the late King, who is now suspicious of his father's death. Olivier, considered by many to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, had played this role twice on stage in 1937, at the Old Vic Theatre and later at Elsinore Castle, the actual setting of the play. His 1948 film performance of the role was the only one of his to win him an Academy Award for Best Actor, despite three prior nominations, and five subsequent ones. Olivier, however, did receive several Honorary Oscars, the first in 1947 for Henry V.
• Norman Wooland as Horatio, his friend. Horatio is Hamlet's level-headed fellow student from the University of Wittenberg. Wooland was an English actor, born in Germany, who subsequently had a long career in British and international films. He later played another companion to Olivier's character in Richard III.
• Felix Aylmer as Polonius, Lord Chamberlain. Polonius is suspicious of Hamlet, and he is convinced that Hamlet's supposed insanity stems from the young prince's love for his daughter, Ophelia. Aylmer was an actor and author who had a long career on stage and screen. He was a long-serving President of the actors' union Equity and a champion of screen acting, which he felt was undervalued. He had previously worked with Olivier on his Henry V as well as on As You Like It, which starred Olivier.
• Terence Morgan as Laertes, his Son. Laertes arrives in Denmark to discover his father killed by Hamlet, and Ophelia, his sister, first driven mad and then to her own death. He vows vengeance against Hamlet. Morgan was an English actor, who was discovered by Olivier in 1945 at the age of 23 and joined the Old Vic company in 1948. He had a prolific career as one of the most highly-paid stars of British films throughout the 1950s.
• Jean Simmons as Ophelia, and Daughter. Ophelia is driven mad by her father Polonius' death, as well as by Hamlet's rejection. Simmons' performance in this film won her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 1949 Oscars. An English actress, she had a subsequent career as a major Hollywood star. She appeared with Olivier again in Spartacus.
• King Hamlet. Hamlet's father, Claudius' older brother, and Gertrude's first husband, who appears in Shakespeare's play as the Ghost of Hamlet's Father. This character has no screen credit. The part was played^[7]- and voiced^[8] - by Laurence Olivier himself. Olivier is recognizable as the king in the flashback sequence showing the sleeping King Hamlet being poisoned by his brother Claudius. (Where Hamlet and the Ghost appear together in the same shot an unidentified stand-in plays the Ghost.)

Men at Arms

• John Laurie as Francisco. Francisco is a weary sentry, who is relieved by Bernardo at the beginning of the film. A Scottish actor, Laurie appeared in all three Olivier-directed Shakespeare films, as well as the 1936 film As You Like It, which starred Olivier.
• Esmond Knight as Bernardo [sometimes spelled Barnardo]. Bernardo is a sentry who is sent to relieve Francisco and sees the apparition of King Hamlet. He and Marcellus have seen it twice before, but they've found it difficult to convince Horatio until he sees it himself. A Welsh actor, Knight appeared in all three of Olivier's Shakespeare films, as well as Olivier's The Prince and the Showgirl.
• Anthony Quayle as Marcellus. Marcellus is another sentry. He and Bernardo have already seen the ghost twice before and see it again. (Quayle is replaced in certain shots by another, uncredited, performer.) An English actor and stage director, Quayle spent several years as Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. He became a star of British cinema from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s.

 [All of the above characters reappear at the end of the film, where they are three of the 'four captains' who 'bear Hamlet's body, like a soldier, to the stage'. They are accompanied by a fourth, unidentified, soldier and by Horatio.]

• Niall MacGinnis as Sea Captain. The 'Sea Captain' (a character invented for the film) is the captain of the pirate ship on which Hamlet is stranded after he sets out for England. The captain's lines, though, are from the original play, where they are spoken by a sailor. An Irish actor with a long career in British and international films, MacGinnis had previously appeared in Olivier's Henry V.
• Christopher Lee, an English actor who later became famous as a star of Hammer horror films, has an uncredited role as a guard with no spoken lines.

The Play within the Play

 Harcourt Williams as First Player. The First Player is enlisted by Hamlet to alter the company's play to mirror Hamlet's suspicions about Claudius. An English actor and stage director, Williams had previously appeared in Olivier's Henry V.

• Patrick Troughton as Player King. The Player King enacts a mimed role that echoes Claudius' treachery. An English actor, probably best known as the second Dr Who on TV, he subsequently appeared in Olivier's Richard III.
• Tony Tarver as Player Queen. The Player Queen is the Player King's wife. In Olivier's film she is a satire of Gertrude, intended to catch the conscience of Claudius. Tarver seems to have made no other film appearances.

Servants to the Court

• Peter Cushing as Osric. Osric is a foppish courtier who referees the duel between Hamlet and Laertes. (In later film versions of the play, such as the 1969 one with Nicol Williamson, Osric would be made more openly 'swishy'.) An English actor, Cushing joined the Old Vic company in 1948, and he later became famous as a star of Hammer horror films.
• Stanley Holloway as Gravedigger. (The Second Gravedigger of the play is omitted.) The Gravedigger is digging Ophelia's grave when Hamlet and Horatio come across him. An English actor, Holloway replaced Irish actor F. J. McCormick, who died prematurely before he could film his scenes.
• Russell Thorndike as Priest. The Priest leads the funeral service for Ophelia. An English actor and novelist (the Doctor Syn series) and younger brother of Sybil Thorndike, he appeared in all three of Olivier's Shakespeare films.