IMDb RATING
7.4/10
4.9K
YOUR RATING
Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 9 wins & 3 nominations total
Wallace Bosco
- Monk
- (as Wally Bascoe)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Laurence Olivier used long takes throughout this movie to allow the actors and actresses to build their scenes more theatrically. His opening soliloquy was shot in one nine-minute take. When he almost dropped the King's crown in the first scene, rather than re-shoot, he used the accident to create a motif for the movie.
- GoofsIn the scene when Richard tells King Edward of Clarence's supposed treason, two monks are singing hymns from a large book: their lips are not only out of sync with their singing, but with each other.
- Quotes
Richard III: I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall,/ I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,/ Deceive more slyly than Ulysses could,/ And, like a Sinon, take another Troy./ I can add colours to the chameleon, /Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, /And set the murderous Machiavel to school./ Can I do this,and cannot get a crown?/Tut, were it farther off,/ I'll pluck it down.
- Crazy creditsMost of the film's credits are shown at the end. The opening credits show only the title of the film, William Shakespeare's name, and the names of the main actors.
- Alternate versionsReleased in Great Britain at 155 minutes; some of the prints released in the USA are 139 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Great Acting: Laurence Olivier (1966)
Featured review
The best Shakespearean performance on film
It may not be the best film of a Shakespeare play but surely there is no better Shakespearean performance on film than Laurence Olivier's "Richard III". He had already done "Henry V" and "Hamlet" on screen, winning Oscars for both, (an Honorary one for his "Henry V"), but 'Richard ...' was always considered the lesser, more fanciful play with an Elizabethan Godfather in charge yet Olivier made it his own, creating a Richard by which all others would be judged.
It's less 'cinematic' than either "Henry V" or "Hamlet", (the sets look like sets), but here 'the play's the thing' and Olivier cast it perfectly. Knights Gielgud and Hardwicke are quickly dispatched as Clarence and Edward but Ralph Richardson is a magnificently malevolent Buckingham, Mary Kerridge, a magnificent Queen Elizabeth and Claire Bloom, a sublime Lady Anne. It is also one of the most accessible of all Shakespeare adaptations; Shakespeare for those who don't like Shakespeare and a 'thriller' that genuinely thrills.
It's less 'cinematic' than either "Henry V" or "Hamlet", (the sets look like sets), but here 'the play's the thing' and Olivier cast it perfectly. Knights Gielgud and Hardwicke are quickly dispatched as Clarence and Edward but Ralph Richardson is a magnificently malevolent Buckingham, Mary Kerridge, a magnificent Queen Elizabeth and Claire Bloom, a sublime Lady Anne. It is also one of the most accessible of all Shakespeare adaptations; Shakespeare for those who don't like Shakespeare and a 'thriller' that genuinely thrills.
helpful•71
- MOscarbradley
- Apr 29, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- 3. Richard
- Filming locations
- La Mancha, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain(Bosworth Field scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime2 hours 41 minutes
- Color
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