| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Ian Hunter | ... | ||
| Verree Teasdale | ... | ||
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Hobart Cavanaugh | ... | |
| Dick Powell | ... | ||
| Ross Alexander | ... | ||
| Olivia de Havilland | ... |
Hermia - In Love with Lysander
(as Olivia de Haviland)
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| Jean Muir | ... |
Helena - In Love with Demetrius
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| Grant Mitchell | ... | ||
| Frank McHugh | ... | ||
| Dewey Robinson | ... | ||
| James Cagney | ... | ||
| Joe E. Brown | ... | ||
| Hugh Herbert | ... | ||
| Otis Harlan | ... | ||
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Arthur Treacher | ... |
Epilogue
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Theseus, Duke of Athens, is going to marry Hyppolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Demetrius is engaged with Hermia, but Hermia loves Lysander. Helena loves Demetrius. Oberon and Titania, of the kingdom of fairies have a slight quarrel about whether or not the boy Titania is raising will join Titania's band or Oberon's, so Oberon tries to get him from her by using some magic. But they're not alone in that forest.Lysander and Hermina have there a rendezvous, Helena and Demetrius are there, too as well as some actors, who are practicing a play for the ongoing wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Due to some misunderstandings by Puck, the whole thing becomes a little bit confused... Written by Stephan Eichenberg <eichenbe@fak-cbg.tu-muenchen.de>
I came across this movie one rainy afternoon on TV. Jimmy Cagney doing Shakespeare? Surely not! My expectations were, frankly, low. We English are a bit funny about Shakespeare, as you can imagine, and the thought of the dirty rat as one of the bard's greatest comic creations was worrying, to say the least. The whole film is, however, magical. I laughed out loud at the wall joke, even though I knew what was coming, and Roony's Puck was, as another contributor says, probably his best performance. Bottom's realisation that he is now the proud possessor of an ass's head is quite affecting. It's Titania's fairies, though, that make this such a wonderful experience. I have seen this a couple of times since that rainy afternoon, and am always convinced that it will not live up to my expectations. It always does, though. The sheer beauty of the scene where the fairies awake is, as we say over here, gob-smacking. I am sure that this could never be done with such picturesque quality in colour. I had this on tape for a long time, and then I lent it to some eejit who erased it. I scan the listings every week to see if it's on TV, and when it is I shall make sure that it never leaves my possession.