Hamlet (1969 film) - Misplaced Pages

1969 film by Tony Richardson

Hamlet
Film poster
Directed by	Tony Richardson
Written by	Tony Richardson
Based on	the play by William Shakespeare
Produced by	Hans Gottschalk Neil Hartley Leslie Linder Martin Ransohoff
Starring	Nicol Williamson Marianne Faithfull Anthony Hopkins Judy Parfitt
Cinematography	Gerry Fisher
Edited by	Charles Rees
Music by	Patrick Gowers
Color process	Technicolor
Production companies	Filmways Pictures Woodfall Film Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	21 December 1969 (1969-12-21) (New York City) 9 April 1970 (1970-04-09) (United Kingdom)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$350,000

Hamlet is a 1969 British tragedy period drama film. It is a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Hamlet, starring Nicol Williamson as Prince Hamlet. It was directed by Tony Richardson and based on his own stage production at the Roundhouse theatre in London. The film also stars Anthony Hopkins as King Claudius, Judy Parfitt as Queen Gertrude, Marianne Faithfull as Ophelia, Mark Dignam as Polonius, Gordon Jackson as Horatio, and Michael Pennington as Laertes.

Cast

Nicol Williamson as Hamlet
Judy Parfitt as Gertrude
Anthony Hopkins as Claudius
Marianne Faithfull as Ophelia
Mark Dignam as Polonius
Michael Pennington as Laertes
Gordon Jackson as Horatio
Ben Aris as Rosencrantz
Clive Graham as Guildenstern
Peter Gale as Osric
Roger Livesey as First Player / Gravedigger
John J. Carney as Player King (as John Carney)
Richard Everett as Player Queen
Robin Chadwick as Francisco
Ian Collier as Priest
Michael Elphick as Captain
David Griffith as Messenger (as Mark Griffith)
Anjelica Huston as Court Lady
Bill Jarvis as Courtier
Roger Lloyd Pack as Reynaldo (as Roger Lloyd-Pack)
John Railton as 1st Sailor
John Trenaman as Barnardo
Jennifer Tudor as Court lady

Production

The film, a departure from big-budget Hollywood renditions of classics, was made with a small budget and a very minimalist set, consisting of Renaissance fixtures and costumes in a dark, shadowed space. A brick tunnel is used for the scenes on the battlements. The Ghost of Hamlet's father is represented only by a light shining on the observers. The film places much emphasis on the sexual aspects of the play, to the point of strongly implying an incestuous relationship between Laertes and Ophelia. Williamson was only one year younger than Parfitt, who played his mother, and was one year older than Hopkins, who played his uncle.

Home media

Hamlet was released to DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on 3 July 2012 via the Choice Collection DVD-on-demand setup from Amazon.

References

Alexander Walker, Hollywood, England, Stein and Day, 1974 p452
"Hamlet (1969)". BFI. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019.
"Production of Hamlet | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
"Hamlet (1969) - Tony Richardson | Cast and Crew | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.

External links

Hamlet at IMDb
Hamlet at Rotten Tomatoes

v t e Films directed by Tony Richardson
The Apollo of Bellac (1955) Momma Don't Allow (1955) Look Back in Anger (1959) The Entertainer (1960) Sanctuary (1961) A Taste of Honey (1961) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) Tom Jones (1963) The Loved One (1965) Mademoiselle (1966) The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967) The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) Laughter in the Dark (1969) Hamlet (1969) Ned Kelly (1970) A Delicate Balance (1973) Dead Cert (1974) Joseph Andrews (1977) A Death in Canaan (1978) The Border (1982) The Hotel New Hampshire (1984) Penalty Phase (1986) The Phantom of the Opera (1990) Women & Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) Blue Sky (1994)

Films directed by Tony Richardson

The Apollo of Bellac (1955)
Momma Don't Allow (1955)
Look Back in Anger (1959)
The Entertainer (1960)
Sanctuary (1961)
A Taste of Honey (1961)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Tom Jones (1963)
The Loved One (1965)
Mademoiselle (1966)
The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967)
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
Laughter in the Dark (1969)
Hamlet (1969)
Ned Kelly (1970)
A Delicate Balance (1973)
Dead Cert (1974)
Joseph Andrews (1977)
A Death in Canaan (1978)
The Border (1982)
The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)
Penalty Phase (1986)
The Phantom of the Opera (1990)
Women & Men: Stories of Seduction (1990)
Blue Sky (1994)

William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Characters

Soliloquies

Words and phrases

Terminology

Influence

Performances

Moscow Art Theatre (1911–1912)
Richard Burton (1964)

On screen

Adaptations

Films	The Rest Is Silence (1959) The Bad Sleep Well (1960) Ophelia (1963) Johnny Hamlet (1968) One Hamlet Less (1973) The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet (1977) Strange Brew (1983) Hamlet Goes Business (1987) The Lion King (1994) Let the Devil Wear Black (1999) The Banquet (2006) Doubt (2009) Karmayogi (2012) Haider (2014) Hamlet A.D.D. (2014) Hemanta (2016) Ophelia (2018) The Lion King (2019)
Novels	Hamlet Had an Uncle (1940) Too, Too Solid Flesh (1989) Gertrude and Claudius (2000) Dating Hamlet (2002) The Dead Fathers Club (2006) Something Rotten (2007) Hamlet's Father (2008) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (2008)
Plays	Hamletmachine (1977) Dogg's Hamlet (1979) Fortinbras (1991)
Musicals	Rockabye Hamlet (1973)
Television	Hamlet (Australian TV, 1959) Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC, 1964) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (BBC, 1980) Hamlet (BBC 2, animated, 1992) Hamlet (BBC 2, 2009)

Parodies

Songs

"My Robin is to the greenwood gone" (16th century)
"Pull Me Under" (1992)
"Song for Athene" (1997)

Opera/classical

Hamlet (Thomas)
Amleto (Faccio)
Hamlet (Tchaikovsky)
Tristia (Berlioz)
Die Hamletmaschine (Rihm)
Hamlet (Dean)

In popular culture

Films	To Be or Not to Be (1942) A Performance of Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja (1973) To Be or Not to Be (1983) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) Last Action Hero (1993) Renaissance Man (1994) In the Bleak Midwinter (1995) War (2002) Hamlet 2 (2008) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (2009) Three Days (2012)
Plays	Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) Stage Blood (1974) I Hate Hamlet (1991) To Be or Not to Be (2008)
Novels	Hamlet, Revenge! (1937) Theatre of War (1994) "The Undiscovered" (1997) The Shakespeare Stealer (1998) Interred with Their Bones (2007) Hamnet (2020)
Television	"The Producer" (1966) "The Conscience of the King" (1966) "Born to Be King" (1983) "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" (2001) Slings & Arrows (2003)
Video games	Last Action Hero (1993) Hamlet (2010) Elsinore (2019)
Books	Asterix and the Great Crossing The Seagull Sharpe's Havoc

Art

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