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Walter Ackerman | ... | |
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Charles Chapman | ... | |
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Dolores Costello | ... |
Fairy
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Helene Costello | ... |
Fairy
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Maurice Costello | ... | |
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Julia Swayne Gordon | ... | |
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Gladys Hulette | ... | |
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William Humphrey |
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Elita Proctor Otis | ... | |
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William V. Ranous | ... | |
| William Shea | ... |
Mechanical
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Rose Tapley | ... | |
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Florence Turner | ... | |
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Clara Kimball Young | ... |
Penelope
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James Young |
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The Duke of Athens, on the eve of his wedding to Hippolyta, decrees that Hermia shall marry Demetrius, as per her father's wishes. Demetrius and Hermia's father are the only ones happy about this arrangement. Hermia is in love with Lysander. And a fourth lover, Helena, is in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander elope into the woods; Demetrius follows them. And Helena follows Demetrius. Meanwhile, Titania, the queen of the fairies, quarrels with Penelope, who gets her revenge by enlisting Puck to find a magic herb that, when placed upon the eyes of a sleeper, will cause him to fall in love with the first person he sees upon waking. Puck's mischief soon involves the four young lovers as well as a group of tradesmen rehearsing for a play. The weaver among them finds himself with the head of an ass. Stranger still, Titania falls in love with him. Written by J. Spurlin
I'm becoming convinced that it is extremely difficult to bring Shakespeare to film without doing some major translations, at least using modern notions. There's just too much invested in the spoken language itself from whence all the stuff flows that is normally associated with the cinematic.
I've been looking at several silent treatments. Naturally enough, they fall flat. But this one doesn't because it emphasizes the play of the "mechanicals." The abstraction of that play on film, the jumping and gesticulating is along the same lines as ALL the acting of that day, but double.
If you were going to try a film, the best plot device is the play within the play (of any of his plays that have this). And the best abstraction strategy is to just take his existing exaggeration and exaggerate it.
It is all a matter of what you are tricked into falling in love with.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.