The Merchant of Venice (1908)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

J. Stuart Blackton

Writers:

Theodore A. Liebler Jr. (scenario)
William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

22 December 1908 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Short

Plot Keywords:

Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice | William Shakespeare | Based On Play

Cast

Julia Swayne Gordon	...	Portia
William V. Ranous	...	Shylock
Florence Turner	...	Jessica
Maurice Costello	...	Undetermined Role
Paul Panzer	...	Undetermined Role

Runtime:

9 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Vitagraph Company of America

Movie Connections:

Version of Der Kaufmann von Venedig (1923)

By modern standards, it's really poor,...but for 1908 (or so) it's pretty good

First off, the video from Milestone Video says this film was made in 1910 but IMDb says 1908. I am not a real stickler, but they are actually talking about the same film, so try not to be confused. Now considering that all of this Shakespeare play was boiled down to only ten minutes (about the length of MOST films of that era), the film does a respectable job of conveying the story--though of course all the subtlety is missing as well as the subplots. But, compared to other contemporary movies based on Shakespeare, this is among the best because of its relatively high production values and because the entire film was hand painted to make it a color picture! Considering most silent films were shown at about 16 to 24 frames per second, that means that about 10,000 cels had to be painstakingly painted!! And while this certainly doesn't compare well to Technicolor, for 1908 or 1910, it's truly an amazing job. Overall, it's not a film most today would enjoy (especially many Shakespeare lovers), but for film buffs like me, it's worth the time.