Hamlet (TV 1953)

Director:

Albert McCleery

Writers:

Mildred Freed Alberg (adaptation), Thomas Hughes Sand (adaptation),

Stars:

Maurice Evans, Wesley Addy, Norman Barrs

Cast

Credited cast:
Maurice Evans	...	Hamlet
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wesley Addy	...	Horatio
Norman Barrs
Francis Bethencourt
Ruth Chatterton	...	Gertrude
Sarah Churchill	...	Ophelia
Roger Green	...	Captain
Barry Jones	...	Polonius
Malcolm Keen	...	The Ghost
Noel Leslie
Neva Patterson
Ken Raymond
Joseph Schildkraut	...	King Claudius
Alan Shayne
William Smithers	...	Laertes

Storyline

---

Plot Keywords:

reference to william shakespeare | shakespeare's hamlet | tragedy | based on play | character name in title

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 1953 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sometimes erroneously credited (even by Hallmark) as the first Shakespeare play ever presented on television. There had already been a one-hour version of "Macbeth" presented on Philco Television Playhouse in 1949, as well as a three-hour "Hamlet" presented on British television in two installments in 1947 and a one-hour "Julius Caesar" presented on "Studio One".

---

Connections

Edited into Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)

User Reviews

TV Shakespeare

This historically important pioneer effort turns out to be a misguided, ugly production with ranting players. The whole thing is done in a kind of 30s indoors operetta setting Evans fails to substantiate the reputation of his stage Hamlet. He appears to be doubled by a fencer in a dueling mask for the sword fight. Addy and Barry Jones deliver their lines with some plausibility and Sarah Churchill might get by with a more likely Hamlet and better wardrobe.

Don't look for Yorrick and Fortinbras but they give us buckets of Rosencranz & Gilderstern.

There are a few of the live TV goofs everyone scans these for.

The voice over intoning "Shakespeare belongs to the ages" to introduce The Hallmark Hall of Fame is there to impress us with the worth of bringing classics into our lounge rooms - with commercials.