Hamlet (1948)

Director:

Laurence Olivier

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

28 September 1948 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

William Shakespeare's tale of tragedy of murder and revenge in the royal halls of medieval Denmark. Claudius...

Plot Keywords:

Men In Tights | William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Hamlet | Castle | Cemetery

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

John Laurie	...	Francisco
Esmond Knight	...	Bernardo
Anthony Quayle	...	Marcellus
Niall MacGinnis	...	Sea Captain
Harcourt Williams	...	First Player
Patrick Troughton	...	Player King
Tony Tarver	...	Player Queen
Peter Cushing	...	Osric, Servant to the Court
Stanley Holloway	...	Gravedigger
Russell Thorndike	...	Priest
Basil Sydney	...	Claudius, The King
Eileen Herlie	...	Gertrude, The Queen
Laurence Olivier	...	Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Norman Wooland	...	Horatio, Hamlet's friend
Felix Aylmer	...	Polonius, Lord Chamberlain

Also Known As:

Hamlet (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Amlet (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Amleto (Italy) [it]
Amletos (Greece) [el]
Hamlet (Sweden) [sv]
Hamlet (Finland) [fi]
Hamlet (Argentina) [es]
Hamlet (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

155 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #12473) | UK:U | South Korea:12 (2002) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Denham Studio, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Two Cities Films

Trivia:

The final scene to be filmed was the famous shot of Olivier jumping off a high tower onto Claudius and killing him, because it was considered to be so dangerous that it was feared that Olivier would injure himself too badly performing the stunt to film any other scenes. Olivier emerged uninjured from the leap, but the stuntman doubling as Claudius was knocked out from the impact and lost two teeth.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: So oft it chances in particular men / That through some vicious mole of nature in them, / By the o'ergrowth of some complexion / Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, / Or by some habit grown too much; that these men - / Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, / Their virtues else - be they as pure as grace, / Shall in the general censure take corruption / From that particular fault... This is the tragedy of a man who could not make up his mind.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man (1963)

Murder Most Foul...

The amount of lines taken from this play and used in our everyday conversation is staggering. Like all of the Bard's works, his endurance is not only the mastery of language, but really in storylines that just never get old. Above, everything else, Hamlet is an interesting tale. Olivier's interpretation however, is very dark. Very deliberate. He shies away from the humor completely, and instead takes a slow, purposeful tack. To that, it might not appeal to some. In such a long play and movie, the humor is sorta needed to jostle you a bit, and break the overall bleakness of the tragedy. You don't catch a break here I'm afraid. Id classify this therefore as for more advanced taste, and not for the average moviegoer. Olivier's other two attempts, Henry V and Richard III, specifically the latter, will garner more mainstream appeal.