The Merchant of Venice (TV 1980)

A rich merchant, Antonio is depressed for no good reason, until his good friend Bassanio comes to tell him how he's in love with Portia. Portia's father has died and left a very strange ... See full summary »

Director:

Jack Gold

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

John Franklyn-Robbins, John Rhys-Davies, Alan David

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Antonio
John Rhys-Davies	...	Salerio
Alan David	...	Solanio
John Nettles	...	Bassanio
Richard Morant	...	Lorenzo
Kenneth Cranham	...	Gratiano
Gemma Jones	...	Portia
Susan Jameson	...	Nerissa
Daniel Mitchell	...	Balthasar
Warren Mitchell	...	Shylock
Marc Zuber	...	Prince of Morocco
Enn Reitel	...	Launcelot Gobbo
Joe Gladwin	...	Old Gobbo
Roger Martin	...	Leonardo
Leslee Udwin	...	Jessica

Storyline

A rich merchant, Antonio is depressed for no good reason, until his good friend Bassanio comes to tell him how he's in love with Portia. Portia's father has died and left a very strange will: only the man that picks the correct casket out of three (silver, gold, and lead) can marry her. Bassanio, unfortunately, is strapped for cash with which to go wooing, and Antonio wants to help, so Antonio borrows the money from Shylock, the money-lender. But Shylock has been nursing a grudge against Antonio's insults, and makes unusual terms to the loan. And when Antonio's business fails, those terms threaten his life, and it's up to Bassanio and Portia to save him.

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Plot Keywords:

shakespeare's the merchant of venice | based on play

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1980 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Time-Life Television Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

156 min 156 min (DVD edition)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Le marchand de Venise (1953)

User Reviews

Magnificent

One is compelled to give three very rousing cheers to any performance of this, my favourite Shakespeare play, that does not cut out words and phrases offensive to that curse of the modern age, political correctness.

As another reviewer has said, The Merchant was written in another age when sentiments that would now land one in trouble were commonplace.

Shylock is definitely not the hero of this play but it is impossible to think of him as an out and out villain either. Warren Mitchell brings out this ambiguity well.

The Olivier performance, although unmissable, omits too much to the Jew's discredit.

The recent Al Pacino production, which I bought the minute it became available, was also a great letdown with potentially racist/anti-Semitic words left out and with the text, what was left of it, horribly modernised. It was visually stunning, though.

It may have been wrong of Portia to say what she did of the Prince of Morocco when he bade her a sad farewell, but those were the words that the Bard put in her mouth and they should be left there.

The whole 37 plays, that the BBC produced in the 1970s/1980s, are now available on DVD. An excellent investment!