Hamlet [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Although criticized by Shakespeare devotees upon its release because of director, producer, and star Laurence Olivier's decision to excise large portions of the text, his cinematic version of Hamlet is widely considered the best out of several dozens (and counting). Hamlet (Olivier) is a medieval Danish prince who's still melancholy over the sudden death of his father and the quick, subsequent remarriage of his mother, Queen Gertrude (Eileen Herlie) to his uncle, Claudius (Basil Sydney). Informed by the ghost of his father that Claudius murdered him, Hamlet schemes to take revenge. Unsure how best to proceed, his delays and the horrible secret burdening him eventually lead to the violent snuffing out of several lives in both his family and that of courtier Polonius (Felix Aylmer), whose daughter Ophelia (Jean Simmons) is in love with Hamlet. Greatly influenced by the inventive camera work in Citizen Kane (1941) and by modern, psychological reinterpretations of Shakespeare's play, Olivier's masterpiece was the winner of four Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Actor (Olivier), Best Black and White Art Direction/Set Direction and Best Black and White Costume Design. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Black and White
• Subtitle: English

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Actor - 1948 (Laurence Olivier)
•     Won Best Black and White Art Direction - 1948 (Carmen Dillon, Roger Furse)
•     Won Best Black and White Costume Design - 1948 (Roger Furse)
•     Won Best Picture - 1948
•     Nominated Best Director - 1948 (Laurence Olivier)
•     Nominated Best Drama or Comedy Score - 1948 (William Walton)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actress - 1948 (Jean Simmons)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Won Best Film - Any Source - 1948 (Laurence Olivier)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Actor - 1948 (Laurence Olivier)

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1948

• New York Film Critics Circle

•     Won Best Actor - 1948 (Laurence Olivier)

• Venice International Film Festival

•     Won International Grand Prize for Best Film - 1948 (Laurence Olivier)
•     Won International Prize for Best Actress - 1948 (Jean Simmons)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Laurence Olivier

• Producer:

  Laurence Olivier

• Screenwriter:

  Laurence Olivier, Alan Dent

• Play Author:

  William Shakespeare

• Cinematographer:

  Desmond Dickinson

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  John Hollingsworth, Muir Mathieson

• Composer (Music Score):

  William Walton

• Editor:

  Helga Cranston

• Production Designer:

  Roger Furse

• Art Director:

  Carmen Dillon

• Set Designer:

  Roger Ramsdell

• Costume Designer:

  Roger Furse, Elizabeth Hennings

• Makeup:

  Tony Sforzini

• Special Effects:

  Henry Harris, Paul Sheriff, Jack Whitehead

REVIEW:

• Hamlet might have well have been called Laurence Olivier's Hamlet: he produced it, directed it, starred in it, and condensed it down to a trim 153 minutes. Olivier's hatchet is sharp -- by comparison, the Kenneth Branagh version of the full play runs 242 minutes -- but so is his sense of good storytelling. He is perhaps more brooding and less action that many Hamlets. Nonetheless, he was for the generation that followed him the standard for acting to which others aspired. Good acting distinguishes this production, though some of the performers are clearly too old or too young for the part that they play. The film rarely makes a break visually with its stagebound origins, an interesting bit of conservatism in a version that aggressively trims a good hour-and-a-half of running time out of Shakespeare's original. The tech credits for the film are competent, but this is an area of the film that has been overshadowed by later versions, in which directors have taken more distinctive views of the material. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi