A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

William Dieterle
Max Reinhardt

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play)
Charles Kenyon (arranged for the screen by) ...

Release Date:

30 October 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

A New Triumph In Movie History !

Plot:

Theseus, Duke of Athens, is going to marry Hyppolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Demetrius is engaged with Hermia...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Fairy | Actor | Wedding | Magic

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Ian Hunter	...	Theseus, Duke of Athens
Verree Teasdale	...	Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Philostrate, Master of Revels to Theseus
Dick Powell	...	Lysander, In love with Hermia
Ross Alexander	...	Demetrius, In love with Hermia
Olivia de Havilland	...	Hermia, In love with Lysander (as Olivia de Haviland)
Jean Muir	...	Helena, In love with Demetrius
Grant Mitchell	...	Egeus, Father to Hermia
Frank McHugh	...	Quince, the Carpenter
Dewey Robinson	...	Snug, the Joiner
James Cagney	...	Bottom, the Weaver
Joe E. Brown	...	Flute, the Bellows-mender
Hugh Herbert	...	Snout, the Tinker
Otis Harlan	...	Starveling, the Tailor
Arthur Treacher	...	Epilogue

Runtime:

133 min | USA:117 min (edited version) | USA:142 min (with overture and exit music)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Vitaphone

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #752)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The first stage production of this play was in London, about in 1595.

Quotes:

Bottom: I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream; past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Methought I was - -man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was - -and methought I had - -man is but a patched fool if he will offer to say
[chuckling]
Bottom: what methought I was and what methought I had.
[breaks into uncontrollable laughter and suddenly brays like a jackass]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Between Two Worlds: Erich Wolfgang Korngold (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Spinning Song

Astounding Shakespeare adaptation

Since "Shakespeare in Love" made that particular playwright happening and new, check out this, Warner Bros.' wild, expensive, free-wheeling adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

For me, James Cagney makes the movie. He's Nick Bottom, the leader (or so he believes) of a traveling troupe of actors. He gives an invigorating performance--the screen is his. At one point, he gets to wear a donkey's head (if you know the play, you know what I'm talking about), but it doesn't faze him in the least. Cagney, the most energetic screen actor, doesn't let his over-the-top approach mar his skill or care with The Bard's great words. It's the test of anyone wishing to act out a part in a Shakespeare play, which Cagney passes, to "speak" the dialogue, and by doing so, make what might be confusing on the page understandable to audiences on the screen or stage.

Warner really spared no expense with this production, which I think might have been the costliest of that year. The whole affair is like a dream in every way--it seems to sway in the wind, fragile to the touch. It features Mendolssohn music, soft-white photography (the great Hal Mohr), and some of the most incredible sets and costumes you're likely to see in a 1930s film.

Nominated for three Academy Awards: Picture, Cinematography and Editing. Bested by "Mutiny on the Bounty" for the first, it won the other two.