Hamlet (1964/I)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Directors:

Bill Colleran
John Gielgud

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The highly successful 1964 Richard Burton Broadway production of "Hamlet", deliberately staged in the style of a "dress rehearsal", but performed in front of a live audience.

Plot Keywords:

Theater | Family Relationships | Brother Sister Relationship | Duel | Pressure From Son

Cast

Richard Burton	...	Hamlet
Hume Cronyn	...	Polonius
Alfred Drake	...	Claudius
Eileen Herlie	...	Gertrude
William Redfield	...	Guildenstern
George Rose	...	First Gravedigger
George Voskovec	...	Player King
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hugh Alexander	...	Cornelius / Second Gravedigger / English Ambassador
Philip Coolidge	...	Voltimand
Christopher Culkin	...	Player Queen
John Cullum	...	Laertes
Michael Ebert	...	Francisco / Fortinbras
Dillon Evans	...	Reynaldo / Osric / Fortinbras's Captain
Clement Fowler	...	Rosencrantz
Geoff Garland	...	Lucianus
John Gielgud	...	Ghost (voice)
John Hetherington	...	Player Prologue
Barnard Hughes	...	Marcellus / Priest
Linda Marsh	...	Ophelia
Robert Milli	...	Horatio
Frederick Young	...	Bernardo

Also Known As:

Richard Burton's Hamlet (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

191 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Lunt-Fontanne Theatre - 205 West 46th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Theatrofilm

Trivia:

Richard Burton's adoptive father, Philip Burton, had to intervene and help his son with his interpretation of the melancholy Dane, as well as help other cast members who were confused by director John Gielgud's direction (or lack of it). Philip had been estranged from Richard since the younger Burton left his wife and two daughters to hook up with Elizabeth Taylor on the set of 'Cleopatra (1963)_. Though the two hadn't spoken since the breakup of Richard's marriage, Taylor called Philip and told him that Richard was struggling under Gielgud's direction. Four years earlier, Philip had stepped in to help director Moss Hart with the direction of the 1960 Broadway musical "Camelot" after Hart had had a heart-attack. Father and son were reconciled, and under Philip's tutelage, Richard Burton ultimately presented a Hamlet that was more of the old Jacobian "Revenger" type (known colloquially as "Belleforest" after an adulterated version of the play dating from the 18th Century) that was the antithesis of the Gielgud-Laurence Olivier German Romantic conception of Hamlet that had dominated the English-speaking stage in the 20th century. (In addition to fusing Freud with the Bard, Olivier did add Revenger flourishes to his Hamlet, though, by making the character somewhat of a swashbuckler. However, Belleforest-style Hamlets, such as the one presented by Albert Finney at the National Theatre in 1975, were considered "old-fashioned" as they underplayed the psychology so dear to 20th Century audiences and were typically panned by critics.) Prior to his step-father's help, Richard Burton had found himself unable to convincingly play a Romantic Hamlet under Gielgud's direction. Ironically, as the long run of his Broadway Hamlet went on, a bored Burton would vary his Hamlet night by night according to how he felt. According to his own memoirs, Richard Burton might one night present the prince as a homosexual, while another night add German words to the text in order to see if anyone noticed. Some theatrical mavens who had returned to the theater to see the fiery Hamlet of the opening days of the production criticized Burton for his lack of discipline.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Hamlet" (1995)

Gielgud adds soul to "Hamlet Production.

For many years I have tried to find a copy of this film. Having been familiar with the audio recording made with the Broadway cast I always wanted to see them in action. Along comes DVD and my prayers are answered. This stage version of "Hamlet' directed by the legendary Sir John Gielgud is well worth the wait. He sets the play as if we were watching a final run through before costumes and final props are added which really brings the play's themes to the front and center. Richard Burton manages well as Hamlet,however there are times (as this is a live performace that he does not quite seem "in the moment". his vocal inflections and movements ar all technically perfect,but what seems to be lacking is what is strong in the rest of the production...soul. The finest performance in the production is Hume Cronyn as Polonius.he fleshes out a role that could easily be played as(and has been) a stock character. Cronyn's Polonius is a shrewd politician whose age sometimes gets in the way of his reasoning. Also sharpe is Alfred Drake as Claudius. A fine stage actor,This is a rare opportunity to see him in his full glory. Other fine performances are turned in by George Rose as The Grave Digger, Eileen Herlie as Gertrude and a young John Cullum as a passionate Laertes. on the down side is Linda Marsh's Ophelia.Although she seems in character she does not have a strong command of the language. The sets and rehearsal clothes costumes add to the feel of the piece.

Overall this is a piece of theatre history to be cherished.