King John. Tempest. Midsummer night's dream. King Lear. Twelfth night. Merchant of Venice. Richard III. King Richard III.
Notes:
Seven silent films with musical accompaniment. Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Dora Senior (1st film). "Cast unknown" (2nd film). William V. Ranous, Maurice Costello (3rd film). Ermete Novelli, Francesca Bertini (4th film). Florence Turner, Charles Kent, Julia Swayne Gordon, Francesca Bertini (5th film). Ermete Novelli, Francesca Bertini (6th film). James Berry, Alfred Brydone, Sir Francis Benson (7th film). Originally produced as silent motion pictures from 1899 to 1911, from the British Film Institute's National Film and Television Archive Collection. Foreign films (Great Britain, Italy).
Contents:
King John (Britain, 1899, 3 min.) / British Mutoscope and Biograph Company ; directed by William Kennedy, Laurie Dickson, and Walter Pfeffer Dando -- The tempest (Britain, 1908, 12 min.) / Clarendon Film Company ; director, Percy Snow -- A midsummer night's dream (USA, 1909, 11 min.) / Vitagraph Company of America ; directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Charles Kent -- King Lear (Italy, 1910, 16 min.) / Film d'Arte Italiana ; director, Gerolamo Lo Savio -- Twelfth night (USA, 1910, 13 min) / Vitagraph Company of America ; director, Charles Kent, producer, J. Stuart Blackton -- The merchant of Venice (Italy, 1910, 10 min.) / Film d'Arte Italiana ; director, Gerolamo Lo Savio -- Richard III (Britain, 1911, 22 min.) / Co-operative Cinematograph Company ; photography, Will Barker.
Summary:
In the early days of the cinema, pioneer filmmakers created these seven films, some hand colored or tinted, based on the plays of William Shakespeare. Considered a "lowbrow" medium, the fledgling movie industry sought to elevate its status by immortalizing the classics and hiring the actors of the day. Most of these early photoplays were only one or two reels long but whatever they gave up in language and length, they made up for in exuberance, cinematic artistry, visual wit and bravura acting.
OCLC:
(OCoLC)148110609
Locations:
OVUX522 -- University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City)
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.