Episode 35 - Shakespeare on Screen

If you're like us, you probably think that the intersection of Shakespeare and the big and small screen might not be a very important one. But you, like us, would be wrong: the two are more intimately entwined than you would believe! From the early days of capturing live action on film, people have been absolutely obsessed with playing in Shakespeare's sand box. In today's episode, we are looking at how film innovations helped to translate Shakespeare to this new medium in the last year of the 19th century, how it helped define filmed drama in the middle 20th century, and how filmed Shakespeare pushed the boundaries of both film and television into the first decades of the 21st century. Ancient Bickerings: Where will Shakespeare on screen go in the next century? Notes: Shakespeare on Film by Maurice Hindle "Viewing Shakespeare on Film" timeline from Encyclopedia Britannica Clips: - 1899 scene from King John - Vitagraph's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909) - Asta Nielsen's star vehicle, Hamlet (1920) - The Taming of the Shrew starring (1929) - Trailer for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) - Trailer for Chimes at Midnight (1966) - Trailer for Romeo & Juliet (1968) - Trailer for Macbeth (1971) - Trailer for Antony & Cleopatra (1972) - Quasi-trailer for the BBC TV version of Hamlet (1980) - 1989 Henry V - St. Crispin's Day speech - Trailer for Romeo + Juliet (1996) - Trailer for Titus (1999) - Trailer for Hamlet (2000) - Trailer for The Merchant of Venice (2004) - Teaser trailer for Macbeth (2015) - To Be or Not to Be video game