Richard III (1955)

Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed king and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.

Director:

Laurence Olivier

Writers:

William Shakespeare (plays), David Garrick (textual alterations for his production of the play)

Stars:

Laurence Olivier, Cedric Hardwicke, Nicholas Hannen

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cedric Hardwicke	...	King Edward IV of England
Nicholas Hannen	...	Archbishop
Laurence Olivier	...	Richard III
Ralph Richardson	...	Duke of Buckingham
John Gielgud	...	George, Duke of Clarence
Mary Kerridge	...	Queen Elizabeth
Pamela Brown	...	Jane Shore
Paul Huson	...	Edward, Prince of Wales
Stewart Allen	...	Page to Richard
Claire Bloom	...	The Lady Anne
Russell Thorndike	...	First Priest
Wallace Bosco	...	Monk (as Wally Bosco)
Norman Fisher	...	Monk
Andrew Cruickshank	...	Brackenbury
Clive Morton	...	The Lord Rivers

Storyline

Richard's military skills have helped to put his older brother Edward on the throne of England. But jealousy and resentment cause Richard to seek the crown for himself, and he conceives a lengthy and carefully calculated plan using deception, manipulation, and outright murder to achieve his goal. His plotting soon has tumultuous consequences, both for himself and for England.

---

Plot Keywords:

battlefield | murder | wife mourns husband | shakespeare play | reference to william shakespeare | 

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

11 March 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ricardo III

Filming Locations:

La Mancha, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Film Productions, L.O.P.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

161 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The battle scenes turned out to be the most dangerous to film. One scene was delayed a day when, as the light was fading, one of the actor's horses decided to mount Laurence Olivier's. Later, for a scene in which Richard's horse is shot out from under him, Olivier wanted to charge the camera, moving into a close up as the arrow struck his horse. The horse was appropriately padded, but Olivier wasn't. As he drove the horse toward the camera, he shifted his leg, and the master bowman sent his shaft right through Olivier's calf. After completing the shot, the actor asked Anthony Bushell if they had gotten it right. He then discussed ways to incorporate the accident within the scene's final cut. Only then did he call for a doctor. Fortunately, the arrow had struck his left leg, the leg on which Richard limped, so there were no delays waiting for the wound to heal.

---

Goofs

When Richard and Buckingham are standing over Edward IV's deathbed, and Buckingham says 'To part the Queen's proud kindred from the princes', Ralph Richardson's lips are out of sync.

---

Quotes

George, Duke of Clarence: Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower, /And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy; /And, in my company, my brother Gloucester; /Who from my cabin tempted me to walk /Upon the hatches: thence we looked toward England, /And cited up a thousand fearful times, /During the wars of York and Lancaster /That had befall'n us. As we paced along Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,/ Methought that Gloucester stumbled; and, in falling, /Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard, /Into the tumbling...

---

Crazy Credits

Most of the film's credits are shown at the end. The opening credits show only the title of the film, Shakespeare's name, and the names of the main actors.

---

Connections

Version of Ricardo III (1984)

User Reviews

The Summit of Acting Nobility

It's quite a gap that Laurence Olivier covers between his portrayal of heroic Henry V and the evil Richard III. But he certainly does cover it well.

In fact this production boasts the talents of five knighted thespians in its cast, Olivier as Richard, John Gielgud as Clarence, Ralph Richardson as Buckingham, Cedric Hardwicke as Edward IV and Stanley Baker as the Earl of Richmond. That is probably some kind of record.

Once seen you will not forget the heavily made up Olivier with a shylock type nose and hunchbacked form. Unlike in Henry V and in Hamlet the title character's soliliquys are delivered straight to the audience rather than in voice-over. I think Olivier like Shakespeare wanted to emphasize the evilness of Richard as opposed to the tormenting doubts that Henry and Hamlet suffer. No doubts here, he's got his evil course well planned and he's very matter of factly telling his audience what's in store.

Of course when Shakespeare wrote this he was gearing up the Tudor dynasty propaganda machine. Stanley Baker's Earl of Richmond becomes Henry VII grandfather of the Queen whose patronage Shakespeare enjoyed. It was in Tudor family interest to blacken Richard's name to support their own dynastic claims. There have been several plausible theories put forth to claim the murders of Edward V and his brother were done by others.

One guy who in all the stories about Richard III who gets a whitewash is the Duke of Clarence. As portrayed by John Gielgud, Clarence is an innocent sacrificed in Richard's march for the throne. Actually Clarence was quite the schemer himself. He was in communication with Louis XI of France looking for aid in some plotting he was doing. Edward IV overlooked an incredible amount of treachery with him.

One very big flaw is that the film opens with Edward IV being restored to the throne again in 1471 and he has his son with him. Edward IV died in 1483 and the sons have not aged a mite. I believe they were 12 and 9 when they were put to death in the Tower of London in 1483. I'm surprised Olivier had that in his film.

Still and all it's a fabulous production and one should never miss a chance of seeing all that acting nobility in one film.