Othello (1965)

Desdemona defies her father to marry the Moor of Venice, the mighty warrior, Othello. But Othello's old lieutenant, Iago, doesn't like Othello, and is determined to bring about the downfall... See full summary »

Director:

Stuart Burge

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Olivier	...	Othello
Maggie Smith	...	Desdemona
Joyce Redman	...	Emilia
Frank Finlay	...	Iago
Derek Jacobi	...	Cassio
Robert Lang	...	Roderigo
Kenneth MacKintosh	...	Lodovico
Anthony Nicholls	...	Brabantio
Sheila Reid	...	Bianca
Malcolm Terris	...	Senate Officer
Harry Lomax	...	Duke of Venice
Michael Turner	...	Gratiano
Terence Knapp	...	Duke's Officer
Keith Marsh	...	Senator
Tom Kempinski	...	Sailor

Storyline

Desdemona defies her father to marry the Moor of Venice, the mighty warrior, Othello. But Othello's old lieutenant, Iago, doesn't like Othello, and is determined to bring about the downfall of Othello's new favorite, Cassio, and destroy Othello in the process, by casting aspersions on Othello's new bride.

---

Plot Keywords:

moor | love | cyprus | general | tragedy | 

---

Taglines:

The greatest Othello ever by the greatest actor of our time

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1967 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Otello

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BHE Films, National Theatre of Great Britain Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

165 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because this was a nearly exact filming of a stage production which featured little music, the roadshow release of this film does not make use of an overture, intermission music, or exit music - standard features of the widescreen roadshow releases which were common from the mid-1950's to the early 1970's.

---

Quotes

Iago: I am not what I am.

---

Connections

Featured in Great Acting: Laurence Olivier (1966)

---

Soundtracks

"Fanfares"
(uncredited)
Music by Jack Trombey
De Wolfe Music Ltd

User Reviews

A dark, brooding masterpiece.

Olivier is truly awesome: I invite you to read his biography by Donald Spoto to see what went in to this characterization. Surely this is his best Shakespeare role, but must admit I wish he could have filmed Macbeth. Another especial comment on the direction--it couldn't have been easy to bring this from the stage to a video version, but I feel it came off beautifully. This was film Shakespeare at its best--until Branagh's Hamlet.