Hamlet (1948)

Director:

Laurence Olivier

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)
(more)

Release Date:

12 August 1948 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

William Shakespeare's tale of tragedy of murder and revenge in the royal halls of medieval Denmark. Claudius...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Revenge | Poison | Prince | William Shakespeare

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Laurence Olivier	...	Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Jean Simmons	...	Ophelia, Polonius's Daughter
Eileen Herlie	...	Gertrude, The Queen
Basil Sydney	...	Claudius, The King
Norman Wooland	...	Horatio, Hamlet's friend
Felix Aylmer	...	Polonius, Lord Chamberlain
Terence Morgan	...	Laertes, Polonius's Son
Anthony Quayle	...	Marcellus
Esmond Knight	...	Bernardo
John Laurie	...	Francisco
Niall MacGinnis	...	Sea Captain
Harcourt Williams	...	First Player
Patrick Troughton	...	Player King
Tony Tarver	...	Player Queen
Peter Cushing	...	Osric
Stanley Holloway	...	Gravedigger
Russell Thorndike	...	Priest
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anthony Bushell	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Patricia Davidson	...	Lady of the Court (uncredited)
Doreen Lawrence	...	Extra (uncredited)
Christopher Lee	...	Spear carrier (uncredited)
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Extra (uncredited)
Victor Lucas	...	Extra (uncredited)
Patrick Macnee	...	Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
Laurence Olivier

Writing credits
William Shakespeare		(play)
Laurence Olivier		uncredited

Produced by
Reginald Beck	....	associate producer
Anthony Bushell	....	assistant producer
Laurence Olivier	....	presents
Herbert Smith	....	executive producer in charge of production (uncredited)

Original Music by
William Walton

Cinematography by
Desmond Dickinson

Film Editing by
Helga Cranston

Casting by
Maude Spector		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Carmen Dillon

Costume Design by
Elizabeth Hennings		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup artist
Vivienne Walker	....	hairdresser
Michael Morris	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Basil Newall	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Geoffrey Rodway	....	makeup supervisor (uncredited)

Production Management
Filippo Del Giudice	....	production manager
John W. Gossage	....	production manager (as John Gossage)
Phil C. Samuel	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Bolton	....	assistant director
Frank Ernst	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Cecil F. Ford	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Alec Gibb	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Laurie Knight	....	fourth assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Roger K. Furse	....	designer (as Roger Furse)
Roger Ramsdell	....	set dresser
William Bowden	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Clément Hurel	....	poster artist (uncredited)
E. Lindegaard	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
E. Lindegarde	....	scenic artist (uncredited)
Betty Pierce	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harry Miller	....	sound editor
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist
L.E. Overton	....	sound recordist
Peter Davies	....	sound maintenance (uncredited)
Desmond Dew	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Gus Lloyd	....	assistant boom operator (uncredited)
Dudley Messenger	....	boom operator (uncredited)
C.C. Stevens	....	sound supervisor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Henry Harris	....	special effects
Paul Sheriff	....	special effects
Jack Whitehead	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
George Blackwell	....	special processes (uncredited)
Francis Carver	....	special processes (uncredited)
Syd Howell	....	special processes (uncredited)
James Snow	....	special processes (uncredited)
Bill Warrington	....	special processes (uncredited)

Stunts
Jack Keely	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James Hamilton	....	chief electrician
Ray Sturgess	....	camera operator
Maurice Gillett	....	electrician (uncredited)
Wilfrid Newton	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Gillett	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)
Elizabeth Hennings	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
John Pomeroy	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)
Peter Taylor	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Muir Mathieson	....	conductor
E.A. Drake	....	music recordist (uncredited)
John Hollingsworth	....	assistant conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Alan Dent	....	text editor
Elizabeth Everson	....	continuity
Alexander Korda	....	by arrangement with: Eileen Herlie (as Sir Alexander Korda)
Dennis Loraine	....	sword play
David Paltenghi	....	mime play
Anthony Bushell	....	associate director (uncredited)
Gladys Goldsmith	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Ken Green	....	press representative (uncredited)
Laurence Olivier	....	voice: Ghost of Hamlet's Father (uncredited)
Myrtle Rowe	....	stand-in: Eileen Herlie (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Two Cities Films

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1948) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Jacon Film Distributors (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1956) (USA) (TV) (first telecast) (in two parts)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Elephant Films (2005) (France) (all media)
• ITV DVD (2009) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music played by
• Universal International Pictures (UI)  us releasing agent

Runtime:

155 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #12473) | UK:U | South Korea:12 (2002) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Two Cities Films

Trivia:

This is the only major film version of "Hamlet" that entirely omits the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Olivier was severely criticized for leaving them out of the film, as they provide many opportunities for Hamlet to behave in a sarcastically humorous way toward them, and many felt that Olivier probably would have played these moments brilliantly.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: So oft it chances in particular men / That through some vicious mole of nature in them, / By the o'ergrowth of some complexion / Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, / Or by some habit grown too much; that these men - / Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, / Their virtues else - be they as pure as grace, / Shall in the general censure take corruption / From that particular fault... This is the tragedy of a man who could not make up his mind.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

My favourite Hamlet, for sure!

For years I've considered the classical soviet screen-version of Hamlet directed by Kozintsev (1964) as the best adaptation of the play. I still think it's a masterpiece, however now it fills the second place in my preferences and the first one belongs to Lord Laurence Olivier. To begin with, I was astonished to find out that scenery, costumes and make-up in Kozintsev's film clearly resemble those from Olivier's version. No doubts, our producer knew and appreciated earlier English movie and deliberately copied the settings. Well, I don't blame him: he used it successfully, but the lack of originality is somehow disappointing. The scenery is really wonderful: cold, gloomy, dark, gothic, haunting and even more impressive for being black-and-white. And then… LORD LAURENCE OLIVIER IS THE BEST SHAKESPEAREAN ACTOR EVER. No one else can make the 16th century Bard's text sound modern, natural, alive, expressive, exciting, clear and full of hidden before meaning. Indeed, soviet actors pronounce the text fantastically well, but in Russian: I mean in translation by talented Russian poet Pasternak. And recently I've become interested in reading and watching Shakespeare in original. And here Olivier is an unparalleled performer. He portraits his hero wonderfully. His Hamlet is dignified and noble, reserved and mistrustful, emotional and ruthless (when he knows it is justified), and deeply frustrated (for he is disappointed in everyone except the foreigner Horatio). He is willing to act and yet waits to understand what's happening better. However events take an unexpected course and lead to the final tragedy. At the beginning Hamlet is called `a man who couldn't make up his mind'. Well, I would choose other words: `a man who changed his mind too often', but it wasn't his fault – so were circumstances. And Olivier presents these changes very vividly and truthfully. He makes `To be or not to be' an unusually powerful scene showing Hamlet just a man who sees so much evil all around that he nearly commits suicide. He is stopped only by sudden understanding that death is unremediable and too frightening – natural thought for any sensible man, brave as he is. Such simple variant pleases me better than more sophisticated ones. Somebody may disagree with Olivier's conception of the character but everyone has to admit that while Larry acts he creates complete, convincing, living image of his hero (and very sympathetic, by the way). I also would like to mention Jean Simmons. She seems to be severely misjudged by most reviewers. Simmons is an excellent Ophelia – a simple, naive young girl, merely a child, affectionate, light-hearted, playful, flirting and exceptionally sensitive. An absolutely charming scene is that of Laertes' departure. Polonius makes his solemn speech and Ophelia all the time mischievously distracts attention of her brother. I like all Olivier's films for such amusing trifles. Gertrude is well chosen too, quite believable. Eileen Herlie clear shows that at the end Gertrude understands her husband's wicked game and takes the poison consciously. However, Claudius is not impressive enough, to my mind. To see a perfect thrilling Shakespearean villain you have to watch Kozintsev's film.

Of course the play is noticeably cut. I confess I miss Hamlet's passionate soliloquy `Is not this monstrous that this player here…', and also Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (they are important, for Hamlet faces the treachery of friends in their part). On the other hand more complete versions are rather overlong. I am not sure that Branagh's four hours movie gains anything from using the full text. This film is dynamic and worth seeing not only for the sake of Lord Laurence's outstanding performance, but because it is extraordinary interesting version of the familiar play.