Hamlet (1964/I)

Directors:

Bill Colleran
John Gielgud

Drehbuchautor:

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:

William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Hamlet | Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Nutzerkommentare:

An Epiphany

Besetzung

Richard Burton	...	Hamlet
Hume Cronyn	...	Polonius
Alfred Drake	...	Claudius
Eileen Herlie	...	Gertrude
William Redfield	...	Guildenstern
George Rose	...	First Gravedigger
George Voskovec	...	Player King
übrige Besetzung in alphabetischer Reihenfolge:
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
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

Alternativ:

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

Länge:

191 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Drehorte:

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

Firma:

Theatrofilm

Dies und das:

The film was scheduled to be shown in cinemas for a week and then all copies were to be destroyed. A single print was found in Richard Burton's garage after his death, which his widow allowed to be distributed as a DVD.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in "Saturday Night Live: Richard Dreyfuss/Jimmy Buffett, Gary Tigerman (#3.19)" (1978)

An Epiphany

I saw Burton do this on Broadway in June, 1964. The experience was a religious one. Certainly, this is not a particularly brilliant PRODUCTION of Hamlet, but Burton's performance - indeed his very presence - transformed me completely. I don't know that film or videotape can translate the effect of the live person of so dynamic an individual, but it can give a hint of what the experience must have been like.

When he died in 1984 (too soon!), the NY Times reviewer said that Burton didn't just belong on the stage, but that the stage was his by divine right. I know what this means. It was a divine epiphany.

By the way, there are a few other gems in this production (Hume Cronin, for example) - and a few clinkers (Alfred Drake). It's well worth the effort if you can find it.