Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Film

"The best is silence" - The Guardian

By the end of the silent era around 300 Shakespeare adaptations had been produced. This celebration from the BFI National Archive draws together a delightful selection of thrilling, iconic and humorous scenes from 24 titles (many unseen for decades), newly digitised and brought to life by the composers and musicians of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

See King Lear battle a raging storm at Stonehenge, The Merchant of Venice in stencil colour, the fairy magic of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and what was probably John Gielgud’s first appearance on film, in Romeo and Juliet (1924).

The film also includes a short introduction to Shakespeare adaptations in the silent cinema era, featuring interviews with Professor Judith Buchanan and Bryony Dixon (2016, 9 mins).

Synopsis

Featuring film extracts from the BFI National Archive:

King John (1899)
Amleto (1908)
Julius Caesar (1908)
The Tempest (1908)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909)
Giulio Cesare (1909)
Il Mercante di Venezia (1910)
Twelfth Night (1910)
Shakespeare Land (1910)
King Lear (1910)
Cléopâtre (1910)
Re Lear (1910)
Richard III (1911)
Cardinal Wolsey (1912)
Winter's Tale (1913)
Hamlet (1913)
The Merchant of Venice (1916)
Hamlet (1920)
Glastonbury Past and Present (1921)
Othello (1922)
Taming of the Shrew (1923)
Living Paintings (Romeo and Juliet) from Eve's Film Review (1924)
Stratford-upon-Avon (1925)
England's Shakespeare (1939)
Shakespeare Country (1940)

Running time: 72 mins