Beerbohm Tree, the Great English Actor (1899)
"King John" (original title)

This short film recreates King John's death scene at the end of the play.

Directors:

Walter Pfeffer Dando, William K.L. Dickson

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Louis Calvert, S.A. Cookson

Cast

Credited cast:
Herbert Beerbohm Tree	...	King John (as Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louis Calvert	...	Cardinal Pandulph
S.A. Cookson	...	Earl of Salisbury
James Fisher	...	Earl of Pembroke
Gerald Lawrence	...	Louis the Dauphin
Norman McKinnel	...	Lymoges
Franklyn McLeay	...	Hubert de Burgh
William Mollison	...	Philip II of France
Julia Neilson	...	Constance
F.M. Paget	...	Robert Bigot
Arthur Sefton	...	Prince Arthur
Dora Senior	...	Prince Henry
Lewis Waller	...	Phillip

Storyline

Based on Shakespeare's play, Act V, Scene vii: King John is in torment, and his supporters fear that his end is near. As he writhes in agony, he is attended by Prince Henry, the Earl of Pembroke, and Robert Bigot. Prince Henry tries repeatedly to comfort his delirious father, but to no avail - John's pain is too great.

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Plot Keywords:

shakespeare's king john | partially lost film | based on play | character name in title

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Genres:

Short | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Release Date:

September 1899 (UK)

Also Known As:

Beerbohm Tree, the Great English Actor

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Mutoscope & Biograph Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

2 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first known film of a William Shakespeare work. Only one of the four scenes survives, King John's death scene.

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Connections

Version of BBC Sunday-Night Theatre: The Life and Death of King John (1952)

User Reviews

An Interesting Piece of Cinema History

While not especially detailed or action-packed, this short movie is quite an interesting piece of cinema history. It affords a look at the renowned stage actor Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, in what must have been his first screen role, and it is also one of the very earliest screen adaptations of classic literature. In itself, it is not bad at all for material that is not particularly well-suited for a silent movie.

The footage comes from the last scene of Shakespeare's "King John", and depicts the king (Sir Herbert) in agony, both mental and physical. It's the kind of scene that offers a stage actor some fine opportunities for dramatics and the like, but it's something of a curious choice for early movie footage, compared with some of Shakespeare's other, more action packed works. Yet at that, it does not work badly.

While Sir Herbert's style is clearly based on the stage, he nevertheless convincingly portrays King John's torment, and if you read some of John's lines while watching the footage, it fits together. Prince Henry's vain efforts to comfort his father also come across believably. The setting and background likewise are stage-like, and yet they work in adding a little detail and atmosphere.

All in all, this is worth seeing for a number of reasons.