"Hamlet" (1948)
"Hamlet" (1948)
J. Arthur Rank Organization, A Two Cities Film
Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king. - "Hamlet" is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. The film was Olivier's second as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed. "Hamlet" was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is also the first sound film of the play in English.
Olivier's "Hamlet" is the Shakespeare film that has received the most prestigious accolades, winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. However, it proved controversial among Shakespearean purists, who felt that Olivier had made too many alterations and excisions to the four-hour play by cutting nearly two hours' worth of content."
Genre': Drama
Release date: 4 May 1948
Director: Laurence Olivier
Screenplay by: Laurence Olivier
Based on: The play "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare
Music: William Walton
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Edited by: Helga Cranston
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight
Distributed by: General Film Distributors (UK), Universal Pictures (US)
Awards
- Best Picture
- Best Actor in a Leading Role
- Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White
- Best Costume Design, Black-and-White
- Best Foreign Film
- Best Actor
* © Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Thanks to John Kilpatrick for his contribution to this article
