A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

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Dr Acula	A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)	Lead	[-]
(07/03/08 10:58 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Tags : None I just got a copy of this from the library and plan to watch it over the holiday weekend. What I've heard is that it's one of Hollywood's outstanding fantasy films of the golden age. Soon, I'll know one way or another myself, but are there any fans of this out there? The version I'm seeing is supposed to be the full version.
MartinZ60		#1	[-]
(07/04/08 1:30 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The dvd transfer is a beauty, far superior to the tv versions I watched for years. I think the cast does well by the Bard, for the most part. Cagney and Joe E. Brown are my favorites, and Anita Louise is enchanting, a glittering vision. What really makes it special are the sets, costumes and music, supported by the photography and visual effects, still some of the most dazzling I've seen. I hope you enjoy it. It's a treat.
GhostofChaneysLiver		#2	[-]
(07/04/08 6:58 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I'm probably a minority of one, but I've never been able to get through this film (and I'm a HUGE Cagney fan!). I tried again last month and had to bail. Call me a barbarian, but I don't dig the Shakespearean language (it grates on me), plus many of the performances are way over the top including [gasp] Jimmy Cagney. Cromwell
Wich2		#3	[-]
(07/04/08 11:03 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I don't think the Bard's comedy wears as well as his tragedy/history; but this one sure tries hard, and is gorgeous. MGM's next, ROMEO AND JULIET, is usually considered on of the best filmed Shakespeares, outside of Olivier's. Happy holiday, -Craig W. P.S. - Ghost, maybe you can deal with Will's stuff in smaller doses, in one of his most accessible plays, by a group who plays the story, rather than milking the poetry: http://www.radiodramarevival.com/julius-caesar-uncut/
Rick		#4	[-]
(07/04/08 11:14 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	MIDSUMMER was my introduction to Shakespeare, and I must have seen five versions of it before I saw any other of the Bard's work. Result being, I'm pretty burned out on this comedy. I can admire it, though, without loving it. True enough about the comedies, Craig. A lot of his gags might have played much better to the groundlings 400 years ago. Today they can feel like an odd mix of classical dialogue and Three Stooges silliness. This particular film is great to look at, and I love some of the playing, notably Cagney and even Rooney (a performance admittedly not for all--or even most--tastes.) The cast in MGM'S ROMEO AND JULIET is superb, of course, but those middle-aged 'kids' bug me more and more as time goes by. edit: Warning for critics of THE BLACK CAT ('41) and SH! THE OCTOPUS--Hugh "woo-woo" Herbert does his thing in this MIDSUMMER.
Imhoteps Ashes		#5	[-]
(07/04/08 6:14 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	One thing that shouldn't be lost sight of is the vastly different meaning of the term "comedy" back in the seventeenth century. It then simply referred to a light-hearted piece with a happy ending - not usually endless verbal gags and wall-to-wall pratfalls. Even a dark and slightly anti-semitic work like "The Merchant of Venice" is labelled a comedy. So it's not really fair to call Shakespeare's comedies unfunny. That's not their general purpose.
Wich2		#6	[-]
(07/04/08 6:46 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	With respect, Imhotep, I agree with much of your thesis, but not all of your conclusion. What you say about MERCHANT is true; and having done the piece, it is a very interesting problem for a modern cast, and a modern audience, to find the "light-hearted" moments in the Shylock/Antonio thread. Of course, in the Bassanio/Portia arc, that part is clear. (There are scholars who take it to the extreme of thinking that the whole play was, indeed, a close-to-what-we-call-comedy piece; that Shylock's manner, & his intransigence, were played for humor.) But there are moments in Master Will's plays that were clearly designed to be funny, and are not so much, today. Not his fault; what societies find laughable changes more with time and place, than what they find tragic. Best, -Craig ("Antonio, the Merchant") W.
Rick	T	#7	[-]
(07/04/08 9:53 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	True enough. The 'dark comedies' are anything but funny (MEASURE FOR MEASURE, THE WINTER'S TALE), but qualify as comedies of the time because those who live, live happily ever after. But much of MIDSUMMER for instance is intended as out-and-out laff fodder. COMEDY OF ERRORS is supposedly a genuine comedy (can't prove it by me.) TWELFTH NIGHT has some genuinely funny stuff. I saw a couple of examples of some really wrong-headed theater back in the late '70's. There are some famous examples from the 18th Century (I think) of Shakespeare's tragedies being rewritten so as not to be such downers. Lear and Cordelia survive, Othello sees the error of his ways, Hamlet and Ophelia set up housekeeping...like that. I saw a MEASURE FOR MEASURE and a WINTER'S TALE, rewritten by a man named Markowitz, or something. His thesis was that Shakespeare had turned these dark stories into 'comedies' purely for box office sake. So he rewrote them to give them the tragic ending they seem to be headed for. Needless to say, the critics, and I, were underimpressed.
Ted Newsom		#8	[-]
(07/05/08 8:10 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Here's a comedy rewrite that works--beautifully. http://www.shakespeare-parodies.com/hamlet.html We did this in Pasadena about ten years ago. Richard Nathan became a good friend of mine (and I played Guilderstern). In a perfect world, he ought to be a writer, not a well-paid corporate attorney. He knows his Bard-- but also his Marx Brothers, Three Stooges and Laurel & Hardy.
The Batman of Gotham		#9	[-]
(07/05/08 3:33 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	MartinZ60 wrote: The dvd transfer is a beauty, far superior to the tv versions I watched for years. I think the cast does well by the Bard, for the most part. Cagney and Joe E. Brown are my favorites, and Anita Louise is enchanting, a glittering vision. What really makes it special are the sets, costumes and music, supported by the photography and visual effects, still some of the most dazzling I've seen. I hope you enjoy it. It's a treat. I have to agree. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a real treat! A visual gem. A fantasy come to life. Light-hearted, and simultaneously, dark and foreboding... A truly stellar cast adds to it's many assets. What a delight! I love this movie - I love the cast - I love the visual effects! I've never seen a version of this play that I like better ( except the one where my son played Puck ). I'm tempted to break out my dvd-r and watch it now! - GJS
killer meteor		#10	[-]
(07/05/08 5:30 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Wich2 wrote: I don't think the Bard's comedy wears as well as his tragedy/history; but this one sure tries hard, and is gorgeous. MGM's next, ROMEO AND JULIET, is usually considered on of the best filmed Shakespeares, outside of Olivier's. Happy holiday, -Craig W. P.S. - Ghost, maybe you can deal with Will's stuff in smaller doses, in one of his most accessible plays, by a group who plays the story, rather than milking the poetry: http://www.radiodramarevival.com/julius-caesar-uncut/ MGM's Romeo and Juliet is beautifully presented, but suffers from ill suited leads. I found Leslie Howard and even the nearly 60 John Barrymoore fine, but Nora Shearer is badly miscast, and really, nothing cracks me up like Basil Rathbone being called a "saucy boy"
Imhoteps Ashes		#11	[-]
(07/05/08 8:08 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Wich2 wrote: (There are scholars who take it to the extreme of thinking that the whole play was, indeed, a close-to-what-we-call-comedy piece; that Shylock's manner, & his intransigence, were played for humor.) But there are moments in Master Will's plays that were clearly designed to be funny, and are not so much, today. Not his fault; what societies find laughable changes more with time and place, than what they find tragic. Points well taken. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was intended to be funny, but it takes a very special modern production to pull off the hilarity with any success. I've seen some dire stage versions in my time - including one truly horrid interpretation set in a disco - and they've all added extraneous visual gags in order to get any laughter. It takes a very special actor to be in sympathy with the Elizabethan sense of humour. Just about the most suicidal thing a director can do with a Shakespeare comedy (or any comedy, for that matter) is consciously strive to make it funny. It's better by far to focus on the play's other assets, such as its beautiful use of language. And if it emerges hilarious at the end, that's even better. But it's pretty rare amongst contemporary versions. I still find it hard to believe that Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice" was intended to be played for laughs. Would a genius like Shakespeare really lavish such gems as the "if you prick us, do we not bleed?" monologue on a throwaway racist stereotype? Shylock's lines and scenes have a power transcending anything else in the play, emerging as profoundly human despite the character's villainous intentions. It's only natural that earlier actors gave the role a grotesque, comedic spin considering widespread anti-semitic attitudes. Indeed, some of the best recent renditions - like Henry Goodman's under Trevor Nunn a few years ago - benefited from not taking themselves too seriously. There's no reason Shylock can't be a serious tragic villain with comedic overtones. The danger lies in letting the pendulum swing too far either way. Shylock remains the most human (if psychopathic) character in a play littered with the greedy, arrogant and self-obsessed. Last Edited By: Imhoteps Ashes 07/05/08 8:17 PM. Edited 1 times.
Wich2		#12	[-]
(07/05/08 10:18 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Shakespeare was such a damn good writer; and more, such a damn great human, that he couldn't help but give even his villians & comic foils that common humanity. I would add, though, after living inside the piece for a year, that I find Shylock himself to every bit as greedy, arrogant, and self-obsessed as any other of the grandes of Venice - which leads directly to the conflict in the play. I think Will is coming from a very, very deep place when he gives the key to unlocking that deadlock - Portia's presentation of the tool of (Judeo-) Christian mercy - and has it offered by a character who is a Lover. But a "Problem Play" it is, in many senses of that term, especially for us non-Elizabethans. Best, -Craig Last Edited By: Wich2 07/06/08 9:26 AM. Edited 1 times.
captainmarvel1957		#13	[-]
(07/06/08 3:14 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	One of the greatest all time speaking voices in the history of show business is Victor Jory. He played Oberon in Midsummer. I worked with Victor in the late seventies at the Actors Theatre of Louisville where his son, Jon, was the artistic director. I told this story a couple of weeks ago in another thread but couldn't find it to cut and paste. Victor told me that his costume in Midsummer was the heaviest costume he had ever worn. It was the cape that weighed so much and made it difficult to make entrances and exits. He also mentioned that it was made even worse by having children sitting on it. I haven't seen this movie since the early 70's, but I do have the Shakespeare box set that it is in, so now I am getting a yen to crack it open and watch it again. For what it's worth, I think my favorite Shakespearean comedy is Two Gentlemen of Verona, but that's primarily for the Launce and Crab characters.
todmichel		#14	[-]
(07/06/08 6:55 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Quote: "Even a dark and slightly anti-semitic work like "The Merchant of Venice" is labelled a comedy... " Euh... personnally I don't see any anti-semistism in "The Merchant of Venice". No more than for instance, in David Lean's adaptation of Dickens's "Oliver Twist". Both works are about ONE semitic character, not "against" semitic people. It's always the same old thing: as soon as you depict ONE character, and you give him a nationality - you can be accused of racism or anti-something. Both Shakespeare and Dickens described characters who existed in old Europe. They were not representative of their origins.
Wich2		#15	[-]
(07/06/08 9:25 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Still a great Jorystory, Cap. Best, -Craig W.
Rick		#16	[-]
(07/06/08 1:15 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Cap, I was lucky enough to see most of the shows in which Jory performed at ATL. I still think he's the best Willy Loman I've ever seen. I have a great Jory story (second-hand, courtesy of a friend who was onstage with him) but it really needs to be told, not typed. So, another time.
captainmarvel1957		#17	[-]
(07/06/08 1:43 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Love to hear it, Rick! Thanks, Wich! The great thing about Victor was that he loved being around young people and was great with us. I got the impression that it kept him young. I was there as an intern during my senior year of college and he asked me about speaking with the head of the department at Otterbein, where I went to school, about having him come in and do a show with us. He said he didn't care what the accomodations would be, he would even live in the dorms to come and do a show. I mentioned it to the head of the department and he declined. I heard after the fact that the following year the head of the department had him come in to do Our Town with the students. I wasn't even told it was happening. Perhaps Our Town was chosen because Victor would be allowed, as the Stage Manager, to carry the script around with him during the show. That gives the impression that due to his age he wasn't trusted to remember his lines and cues. That wasn't necessary. I can tell you that Victor Jory was letter perfect in everything I saw him do.
Rick		#18	[-]
(07/06/08 4:34 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I can tell you that Victor Jory was letter perfect in everything I saw him do. Including OUR TOWN, which I saw him do at Actors Theatre. Matter of fact, I was late getting back to my seat for the third act and, racing through an anteroom on the stage right side, I literally bumped into Victor Jory, waiting there to enter. "Oh, excuse me, young man," he said, as if it had not been entirely my fault. My friend, who worked with him on a couple of shows mentioned that he'd seen a TV listing for the movie SABAKA, starring Boris Karloff and Victor Jory. Jory told him he'd never done a movie with Karloff. "Played cards with him, though." Jory thought he'd probably shot something for TV which had been co-opted for the movie. This does indeed seem to be the case.
todmichel		#19	[-]
(07/06/08 4:49 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I never saw SABAKA, but I have always heard that Karloff's role was episodic at best, he is only in some short scenes apparently and probably never met most of the other cast members... If I remember well, Dennis Gifford, in his book about Karloff, told that it was dubious that Boris even gone to India for the shooting.
Rick		#20	[-]
(07/06/08 4:54 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I did see SABAKA once, long ago on TV. I believe Karloff's scenes were pretty random and short. Jory, as I recall, not only claimed to have never made a movie with Karloff, he said he'd never shot anything called SABAKA or THE HINDU (alternate title). He shot a lot of TV in the early '50's and just assumed it was something he had worked on under the belief it was for TV.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

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