SILENT SHAKESPEARE

Details

• Release Year: 1911
• Genre: Comedy, Drama
• Plot: Such stuff as dreams are made on... In the early days of cinema, pioneer filmmakers created these seven charming, moving and magical films based on the plays of William Shakespeare. Considered a 'lowbrow' medium, the fledgling movie industry sought to elevate its status by immortalizing the classics and hiring the greatest actors of the day. As most of these early photoplays were only one or two reels long, adapting the Bard proved to be both challenging and inspiring. Digitally restored by the British Film Institute, this DVD features: King John (Britain, 1899: the first known Shakespeare film, only one of the four scenes survives, King John's death scene--runtime about 2 minutes; dir. Walter Pfeffer Dando and William K.L. Dickson; ), The Tempest (Britain, 1908: dir. Percy Stow and runs about 12 minutes), A Midsummer Night's Dream (USA, 1909: dir. Charles Kent and J. Stuart Blackton and runs abour 12 min.), King Lear (Italy, 1910: dir. Gerolamo Lo Savio and runs about 16 min.), Twelfth Night (USA, 1910: dir. Eugene Mullin & Charles Kent, and runs about 12 min.), The Merchant of Venice (Italy, 1910: dir. Gerolamo Lo Savio, DVD runtime about 10 min.), Richard III (Britain, 1911: dir. Frank R. Benson and runs about 23 min.).
• Cast: Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Louis Calvert, S.A. Cookson, James Fisher, Gerald Lawrence, Norman McKinnel, Franklyn McLeay, William Mollison, Julia Neilson, F.M. Paget, Arthur Sefton, Dora Senior, Lewis Waller, Walter Ackerman, Charles Chapman, Dolores Costello, Helene Costello, Maurice Costello, Julia Swayne Gordon, Gladys Hulette, William Humphrey, Elita Proctor Otis, William V. Ranous, William Shea, Rose Tapley, Florence Turner, Clara Kimball Young, James Young, Francesca Bertini, Giannina Chiantoni, Olga Giannini Novelli, Ermete Novelli, Charles Kent, Edith Storey, Tefft Johnson, Marin Sais, James Berry, Alfred Brydone, Kathleen Yorke, Murray Carrington, Frank R. Benson, Eric Maxon, Moffat Johnston, James Maclean, Victor McClure, R.I. Connick, George Manship, Harry Caine, Wilfrid Caithness, L. Rupert, H. James, Various
• Director: Various
• Runtime: 1:29
• Company: British Mutoscope & Biograph Company, Clarendon, Vitagraph Company of America, Film d'Arte Italiana, Co-operative Cinematograph
• Media Format: movie