Richard Burton's ''Hamlet'' is a common name for both the Broadway production of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

that played from April 9 to August 8, 1964 at the

Lunt-Fontanne Theatre The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, originally the Globe Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 205 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1910, the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was designed by C ...

, and for the filmed record of it that has been released theatrically and on home video.

Theatre

Background

The production took place because of a lighthearted agreement between

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

and Peter O'Toole while they were filming '' Becket''. O’Toole decreed that they should each play

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

afterwards under the direction of

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

and

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

in either

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, with a coin toss deciding who would be assigned which director and which city. O’Toole won London and Olivier in the toss, with Burton being assigned Gielgud and New York. O’Toole kept his part of the agreement, appearing as Hamlet under Olivier's direction in the premiere production of the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

later that year, and Burton approached producer Alexander H. Cohen and Gielgud about mounting a New York production.

Concept

Because Burton disliked wearing period costumes, and for aesthetic reasons of his own, Gielgud conceived of a production performed in a “rehearsal” setting with an incomplete set and the actors wearing what appeared to be street clothes (although the costumes were actually the result of continuous trial-and-error in rehearsals, with the actors bringing in countless variations of attire for Gielgud to consider). Gielgud also opted to depict the Ghost as a shadow against the back of the stage wall, voicing the character himself on tape (since he was unavailable while the production was in performance).

Reception

The production was a financial smash, achieving the longest run for the play in Broadway history at 137 performances, which broke the previous record set by Maurice Evans's ''GI Hamlet'' in the 1940s. The run's popularity was due in no small part to attention Burton received for his romance with

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

, whom he married while the production was in Toronto pre-Broadway; crowds gathered outside the New York theater to get a glimpse of Burton, and sometimes Taylor, after the show. Burton's reviews in the title role were largely favorable and he received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for his performance, and Hume Cronyn’s performance as

Polonius Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is the chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the cou ...

won him the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.

Eileen Herlie Eileen Herlie (8 March 1918 – 8 October 2008) was a Scottish-American actress. Personal life Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to an Irish Catholic father, Patrick Herlihy, and a Scottish Protestant mother, Isobel Cowden, in ...

, who played Queen Gertrude, had already played the role in Laurence Olivier's Oscar-winning 1948 film version. Less favorably received were Linda Marsh as

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

and

Alfred Drake Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 – July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer. Biography Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Bro ...

King Claudius King Claudius is a fictional character and the main antagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle and later stepfather to Prince Hamlet. He obtained the throne of ...

, whom Gielgud had considered replacing with respectively Sarah Miles and either Harry Andrews or himself in rehearsals. Interest in the production inspired books by cast members William Redfield and Richard L. Sterne. Sterne went to the length of hiding a tape recorder in a briefcase at rehearsals to get accurate transcriptions of what was said. Sterne hid, under a part of the set, for six hours, to record Gielgud and Burton in their private meeting the day before the first performance.

Film

A filmed record was created by recording three live performances on camera from June 30 to July 1 using a process called Electronovision and then editing them into a single film.

Theatrical release

This film was produced by Horace William Sargent Jr. (as Bill Sargent — often incorrectly attributed as William Sargent Jr.), who was also the creator and patent holder of Electronovision, and whose credits include '' T.A.M.I. Show'', '' Richard Pryor: Live in Concert'', and '' Give 'em Hell, Harry!''. ''Hamlet'' played for only two days in theatres to lukewarm reviews. William Redfield wrote that “the film version played four performances in a thousand theatres and has grossed (to date) a total of $4,000,000. The financial details of this venture involved a mass screwing of the acting company so excruciatingly delicious that only a separate letter could do the tale justice.”

1995 re-release

Upon discovering the lost copy of the film, Paul Brownstein had it restored and shown in theaters in May–June 1995 at the

Online release

Alternative Entertainment Network (aentv.com) publicly streamed a copy of the film in real-time in April, 1997, making it among the first movies to be streamed on the Internet.

Home media

By contractual agreement, all prints of the film were to have been destroyed after its theatrical run. However, a single print was discovered in Burton's garage following his death, and his widow allowed it to be distributed on VHS, and later on DVD. The film was originally titled ''Hamlet'', but the VHS and DVD covers read ''Richard Burton's Hamlet''.

Columbia Masterworks LP album set

A four-record Columbia Masterworks LP album set of the production was made in 1964, with its original cast. However, the recording was not made directly from the soundtrack of the film. The production's cast recorded it in the recording studio, and the album was released in both mono and stereo, but has so far not appeared on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

. The film, by contrast, was released only in mono sound. The album set was nominated for the Best Documentary, Spoken Word or Drama Recording (other than comedy) Grammy award.

Cast

as Hamlet * Hume Cronyn as Polonius *

as Claudius *

as Gertrude * William Redfield as Guildenstern * George Rose as First Gravedigger * George Voskovec as Player King *

Philip Coolidge Philip Coolidge (August 5, 1908 – May 23, 1967) was an American stage, film, and television actor, who performed predominantly in supporting roles during a career that spanned over three decades, from 1930 to the late 1960s. Early life Born in ...

as Voltemand *

John Cullum John Cullum (born March 2, 1930) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including '' Shenandoah'' (1975) and '' On the Twentieth Century'' (1978), winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in ...

as Laertes * Michael Ebert as Francisco/ Fortinbras * Dillon Evans as Reynaldo/Osric * Clement Fowler as Rosencrantz * Geoff Garland as Lucianus * Barnard Hughes as Marcellus/Priest * Linda Marsh as Ophelia * Robert Milli as Horatio * Hugh Alexander as Cornelius/ Second Gravedigger/ English Ambassador * Robert Burr as Bernardo/Ensemble * Christopher Culkin as Player Queen *Alex Giannini as Ensemble *

as Ghost * Claude Harz as Ensemble * John Hetherington as Player Prologue/Ensemble *

Gerome Ragni Gerome Ragni (born Jerome Bernard Ragni; September 11, 1935 – July 10, 1991) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter, best known as one of the stars and co-writers of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. On June 18, 2009, he was inducted into the So ...

as Ensemble * Linda Seff as Ensemble * Richard L. Sterne as Gentleman * Carol Teitel as Ensemble *Frederick Young as Ensemble

References

External links

*
''Richard Burton's Hamlet'' at AllMovie
{{Authority control 1964 films 1964 drama films American black-and-white films Films based on Hamlet Richard Burton

1960s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films American drama films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films