Hamlet

Is there any Shakespearian play more filmed than Hamlet? Google tells me that there are over 50 adaptations going all the way back to 1900. The exact number is hard to determine because there are also a great deal of films that are just versions of Hamlet adapted to different scenarios such as Disney’s The Lion King or the SCTV film Strange Brew. There is also, of course, last year’s Hamnet, a film that retells the story of William Shakespeare and his eventual writing of the play. Of all these adaptations, though, 1948’s version written, directed, and starring Laurence Olivier stands out amongst scholars and film critics as one of the finest examples of the play brought to life. 

Olivier had directed himself before a few years prior in Henry V, a Shakespearian play that he adapted like he was filming the play live on stage, until he slowly expanded it beyond the proscenium. Because of that choice, there are large portions of that film that feel less like a movie and more like something you’d find streaming on BroadwayHD. Hamlet was meant to widen that viewpoint, to make a legitimate film adaptation of the bard. In some ways, it accomplishes that. But it also narrows the focus of the play to just the activities inside the castle, eliminating the broader world events that make up several moments in the original prose. 

The film is also in black-and-white, giving it a more noir feel than it otherwise would have had. Reportedly, this was because Olivier got in a fight with Technicolor over some of their demands and elected to fall back on the old standard of black-and-white rather than capitulate. Whatever the reason, the monochromatic canvas gives power to the film that color would have taken from it, especially in the scenes dealing with the ghost of Hamlet’s father, the former king.

Hamlet is, of course, the story of the young Prince Hamlet whose father has recently died from an apparent snakebite. His mother has shortly afterwards married the former king’s brother, who inherits the throne. But there is some suspicion that the new king had a hand in the death of his brother as a means of taking the throne. Treachery and murder get revealed over the course of the story, and it all leads to a traditional Shakespearian tragic ending as only the bard could write. 

Hamlet was released to theaters and to the Academy at a time of uprising. While the Academy had always had the rule that any film or filmmaker could be eligible for an award regardless of whether they, or their studio, were a member of the Academy, there was a growing sentiment in the years immediately after World War II that the Academy was too heavily rewarding of British actors and filmmakers, favoring them over locally grown talent.

There were also financial issues going on behind the scenes. It had just been ruled that studios could no longer own the theaters showing their films. This was considered a monopoly, and the studios were ordered to sell off their theaters, effectively ending a major revenue stream and bringing to a close the old studio system.  Suddenly, the Academy was facing a shortage of funds as studios backed out of financial support. The yearly Academy Awards were relocated to a much smaller venue, seating under a thousand, where the previous year more than 5,000 could attend the ceremony. The Academy was also fighting against the rise of television, even refusing to sell broadcast rights to the ceremony. This stubbornness would hold out for a few years before they finally gave in and televised the 25th ceremony in 1953. 

Going into the 1949 Oscars, Hamlet was not expected to win. It was a dry British adaptation of a Shakespeare play, heavily trimmed to meet the runtime for a traditional movie release, and while it starred a lot of known faces, most of them were barely in the film and under so much makeup and fake beards as to render them nearly unrecognizable. The Red Shoes, a Technicolor marvel that was also the number one grossing film of the year, was expected to win instead. 

The Academy was so confident in that prediction that at the ceremony, Ethel Barrymore was brought out to read the Best Picture card and hand out the Oscar. Ethel had been highly critical of Laurence Olivier’s portrayal, proudly proclaiming that her brother John Barrymore was far more convincing in the role, and she was prepared to give out the statue toPowell and Pressburger for The Red Shoes. How it must have upset her when she opened the envelope and saw that Hamlet had won. That’s right up there with John Wayne giving out the award to The Deer Hunter, a film he was very much against.

There were outcries over Hamlet’s win, of course, with people complaining that a foreign film had won when it should have been an American film. Others pointed out that, while Olivier was a Brit, he had been working in America and within the Hollywood system for several years by this point. It didn’t matter. There were always going to be people upset over this win and for his win as an actor, a rare case of a director directing himself for the win. Looking back on the film now, though, while Hamlet still stands as one of the best adaptations of the play, it isn’t quite on the same level as The Red Shoes. 

For one, the limitations of the time are all the more obvious when watching this version. It never really leaves the castle, giving the production a claustrophobic feel overall. That castle becomes a character in the proceedings but not one that is warm and inviting but instead cold and distant. This can work for a production, and there are moments here when it absolutely does, such as the visitation of the Ghost of Old King Hamlet. The setting, coupled with an amazing bit of sound design, sells this sequence without overselling it. 

Olivier’s work as Hamlet is perfectly fine, though he does come across as a bit too old for the part, especially considering the woman playing his mother, Queen Gertrude (Eileen Herlie), was a full decade younger than him, and no attempts to hide that age disparity were made. It makes a scene early on when she is kissing her son on the lips feel very different than intended. Olivier was a more convincing Henry V, but this is the role he is more associated with. 

While many changes were made to the text to keep the runtime down, it still clocks in at over two and a half hours in length. Fans of the bard won’t mind, but many modern viewers may find that it runs on a bit too long. Others, however, felt that it sacrificed too much and that Hamlet was better served in more recent years by Kenneth Branagh, who made his adaptation word-for-word from the original text. There’s merit in both opinions, but those accustomed to more energy and excitement will be better served with the latter adaptation.  

One of the best additions Olivier added to his film was making it clear that when Queen Gertrude drinks from the poisoned cup in the final scene, she is doing so willingly and not accidentally. So many other adaptations leave that ambiguous or deliberately make that a tragic accident. Here, we are seeing a woman realizing what her actions have wrought and intentionally ending her life. It really works for this picture and makes the ending all the more powerful for it. 

This is one of those films that I can appreciate on a technical and historical level, yet I never really warm to it as entertainment. Perhaps that is because I have seen this play performed live, and that has left me spoiled as to how good it can actually be when there is energy and the excitement of live theater on display. I found this film technologically interesting, but the overall experience was a bit too cold. Instead, I came away from this most recent viewing feeling that The Red Shoes is the better picture overall, but for whatever reason at the time, it fell just short of getting the votes. In no way do I consider this version of Hamlet to be undeserving of the win; it just isn’t as interesting or as exciting to watch as The Red Shoes. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Laurence Olivier (won)

Best Director: Laurence Olivier

Best Actor: Laurence Olivier (won)

Best Supporting Actress: Jean Simmons

Best Art Direction - Set Decoration - Black-and-White: Roger K. Furse and Carmen Dillon (won)

Best Costume Design - Black-and-White: Roger K. Furse (won)

Best Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: William Walton

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Release Date: May 4, 1948

Running Time: 155 minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, and Jean Simmons

Directed by: Laurence Olivier