Richard Burton's Hamlet

Richard Burton's Hamlet

Infobox_Film
name = Richard Burton’s Hamlet
imdb_id = 0058175
director = Bill Colleran
John Gielgud
writer = William Shakespeare
starring = Richard Burton
Hume Cronyn
Eileen Herlie
Alfred Drake
producer = Alexander Cohen
Alfred W. Crown
John Heyman
cinematography= Nobby Cross
distributor = Theatrofilm
Warner Bros. Pictures
released = 23 September, 1964
runtime = 191 min.
country = USA
language = English
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Richard Burton’s Hamlet " is a 1964 filmed record of the Broadway production of William Shakespeare's tragedy that played from April 9 through August 8 of that year at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. It is a literal filmed record of the stage production in which three performances were recorded by cameras from June 30 through July 1 [John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in Hamlet by Richard L. Sterne, Random House. 1967 pg. 127] using a process called Electronovision [The Warner Bros. Story by Clive Hirschorn, Crown Publishers, Inc. 1979 pg. 363] and then edited into a single film.

Background

The production took place because of a lighthearted agreement between Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole while they were filming "Becket". O’Toole decreed that they should each play Hamlet afterwards under the direction of John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier in either London or New York, with a coin toss deciding who would be assigned which director and which city. O’Toole won London and Olivier in the toss, with Burton being assigned Gielgud and New York. O’Toole kept his part of the agreement, appearing as Hamlet under Olivier's direction in the premiere production of the Royal National Theatre later that year, and Burton approached producer Alexander H. Cohen and Gielgud about mounting a New York production. [Girlgud: A Theatrical Life 1904-2000 by Jonathan Croall, Continuum, 2001] .

Concept

To pacify Burton's dislike of wearing period costumes, Gielgud conceived of a production performed in a “rehearsal” setting with an uncompleted set and the actors wearing what appeared to be street clothes (although the costumes were actually the result of continuous trial-and-error in rehearsals, with the actors bringing in countless variations of attire for Gielgud to consider). [Letters from an Actor by William Redfield, Limelight Editions, 1966] Gielgud also opted to depict the Ghost as a shadow against the back of the stage wall, voicing the character himself on tape (since he was unavailable while the production was actually in performance).

Reception

The production was a financial smash, achieving the longest run for the play in Broadway history at 137 performances, due in no small part to the attention Burton received for his romance with Elizabeth Taylor (whom he married while the production was in tryouts in Toronto). [Letters from an Actor by William Redfield, Limelight Editions, 1966] Burton’s reviews in the title role were largely favorable and he received a Tony Award nomination for his performance, although the most successful aspect of the production was judged to be Hume Cronyn’s performance as Polonius, which won him the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. Eileen Herlie, who played Queen Gertrude, had already played the role in Laurence Olivier's Oscar-winning 1948 film version. Less favorably received were Linda Marsh and Alfred Drake, whom Gielgud had considered replacing with Sarah Miles as Ophelia and either Harry Andrews or himself as Claudius in rehearsals. [ John Gielgud: A life in Letters edited by Richard Mangan, Arcade Publishing, 2004] Interest in the production was so great that it inspired books by cast members William Redfield and Richard L. Sterne (who went the lengths of hiding a tape recorder in a briefcase at rehearsals to get accurate transcriptions of what was said) [John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in Hamlet by Richard L. Sterne, Random House. 1967] .

The film in theatres

The film played for only a single week in theatres to lukewarm reviews. William Redfield wrote that “the film version played four performances in a thousand theatres and has grossed (to date) a total of $4,000,000. The financial details of this venture involved a mass screwing of the acting company so excruciatingly delicious that only a separate letter could do the tale justice.” [Letters from an Actor by William Redfield, Limelight Editions, 1966 page 240] .

DVD release

By contractual agreement, all prints of the film were to have been destroyed after its theatrical run. But by chance, a single print was discovered in Richard Burton’s garage following his death, and his widow allowed it to be distributed on DVD. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058175/trivia Hamlet (1964/I) - Trivia ] ] . The film was originally titled "Hamlet", but the DVD cover reads "Richard Burton's Hamlet".

Cast

Hamlet - Richard Burton
Polonius - Hume Cronyn
Claudius - Alfred Drake
Gertrude - Eileen Herlie
Guildenstern - William Redfield
First Gravedigger - George Rose
Player King - George Voskovec
Voltemand - Philip Coolidge
Laertes - John Cullum
Francisco/ Fortinbras - Michael Ebert
Reynaldo/Osric - Dillon Evans
Rosencrantz - Clement Fowler
Lucianus - Geoff Garland
Marcellus/Priest - Barnard Hughes
Ophelia - Linda Marsh
Horatio - Robert Milli
Cornelius/ Second Gravedigger/ English Ambassador - Hugh Alexander
Bernardo/Ensemble - Robert Burr
Player Queen - Christopher Culkin
Ensemble - Alex Giannini
Ghost - John Gielgud
Ensemble - Claude Harz
Player Prologue/Ensemble- John Hetherington
Ensemble - Gerome Ragni
Ensemble - Linda Seff
Gentleman - Richard L. Sterne
Ensemble - Carol Teitel
Ensemble - Frederick Young

References


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