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keelan
IMDb member since January 2002
Reviews
The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of Henry Surnamed Hotspur (1979)
Great, if stagy
2 December 2004 - 11 out of 17 users found this review helpful.
You need to remember that these were all filmed for the BBC/Time-Life Shakespeare plays; the budget did not allow high production values. Still, (disagreeing with the other comment) Jon Finch's Henry IV is a highlight. Twisted up, obsessive, but still with something regal, the performance seems better every time I watch. Finch was Polanski's Macbeth. It is Tim Piggott-Smith who does Hotspur (not Purchase, who does Old Percy) in a fine performance. Quayle's Falstaff is spitty and reptilian, and Gwillim's Hal nuanced. One of the gems of the series. The histories are some of the gems of Shakespeare, too often ignored in the US. You must know Falstaff, and this is as good an intro as any. Review the characters in advance, and you'll be fine.
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