Hamlet

Name: Hamlet
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 4 min
Rating: 5
Cast: Walter Ringham, Johnston Forbes-Robertson, S.A. Cookson

1913
1h 4m

IMDb RATING

5.0/10

YOUR RATING

Johnston Forbes-Robertson in Hamlet (1913)

Drama

The opening scene is in Elsinore, where a ghost is seen by the sentinels keeping guard on the battlements of the castle. This is related to Hamlet by his friend Horatio, who describes the sp... Read allThe opening scene is in Elsinore, where a ghost is seen by the sentinels keeping guard on the battlements of the castle. This is related to Hamlet by his friend Horatio, who describes the spirit as much resembling the late King of Denmark, his deceased father, whom his Uncle Clau... Read allThe opening scene is in Elsinore, where a ghost is seen by the sentinels keeping guard on the battlements of the castle. This is related to Hamlet by his friend Horatio, who describes the spirit as much resembling the late King of Denmark, his deceased father, whom his Uncle Claudius is suspected to have murdered in order that the latter might usurp his throne. Uncle ... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.0/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Trivia
Johnston Forbes-Robertson was sixty years old when he played the role of Hamlet in this film. Twenty years older than the actress who played his mother, Gertrude.

Connections
Featured in Theater of Blood (1973)

User reviews2

Review

Featured review

6/10

Underrated Gem of Early British Cinema

By no means should this be a Shakespeare-lover's favourite adaptation of Hamlet. Perhaps most notable is the lack of dialogue (or many intertitles) in what seemingly appears a relatively static film which may be off-putting for modern audiences (the artistic ambitions of the 1921 version might possibly account for that silent version's comparative popularity?). Furthermore, the acting is melodramatic even for the silent era, and the pacing would be wrong in any era.

Despite this, it must be remembered that this was one of the first feature length British films, and one of the first feature length film adaptations of Shakespeare. Viewed in context, this contains ambitious set pieces, cinematography, and special effects which can only be admired given the lack of experience of the British film industry at that time. It still does not stand up entirely well when compared with the more confident British film A Message from Mars (1913), or Italian epics L'Inferno (1911) and Cabiria (1914), all other underrated entries of the early 1910's. Nevertheless, it shows a similar level of determination to provide something which at the time would have been genuinely innovative and exciting, and, for the most part, that still shows.

As an adaptation of Shakespeare, it is lacking. As a piece of film history, however, it has been criminally overlooked.