As You Like It
- Synopsis
- Feature film. Great Britain’s first feature-length Shakespeare sound film and Laurence Olivier’s first screen performance in a Shakespeare play. An energetic production set in an elaborate studio forest with real livestock. The film’s scenarist, J.M. Barrie, informed Elisabeth Bergner’s overly studied, acrobatic and Peter Pan-inspired Rosalind.
- Language
- English
- Country
- Great Britain
- Medium
- Film
- Technical information
- Black-and-white / Sound
- Year of release
- 1936
- Duration
- 95 minutes; 3,419 (16mm) feet
Credits
- Director
- Paul Czinner
- Cinematographer
- Harold Rosson; Jack Cardiff
- Writer
- J.M. Barrie; William Shakespeare
- Music
- William Walton
- Costume
- Joe Strassner; John Armstrong (2)
- Cast
Additional Details
- Production type
- Fiction Films
- Plays
- As You Like It
- Subjects
- Drama
- Keywords
- Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
- Related items
- First Television Broadcast: Demonstration at Radio Show
Notes
- Notes
- DVD released for sale in the UK in 2007. Different prints show different credits. In the 1936 US version Robert Cullen (as R.J. Cullen) is credited as production manager and scenarist. In the 1949 re-release he is credited only as production manager and Carl Mayer with the adaptation. Similarly for the 1936 version, Elisabeth Bergner’s name is above the title for the opening credits; in the 1949 re-release Laurence Olivier’s name is above the title.
The BFI National Archive, London holds a 35mm master and viewing print.
The Birmingham Shakespeare Library holds a typescript.
Budget $1m - General
- Excerpts of this production were shown as part of the first British TV broadcast demonstration in London on 26th August 1936.
David Lean is editor on the film and Ninette de Valois (uncredited) is the choreographer. - Reviews
- "Bergner is playing the wrong role, in the wrong language, in the wrong medium" - Anderegg, Michael, Cinematic Shakespeare (Landham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004).
Jackson, Russell, ‘Remembering Bergner’s Rosalind: As You Like It on film in 1936’ in Holland, Peter (ed.), Shakespeare, Memory and Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 237-255.
Archive
- Name
BFI National Archive
- Web
- http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7255 1444
- Fax
- 020 7436 0165
- Address
- 21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
- Name
Folger Shakespeare Library
- reference@folger.edu
- Web
- http://www.folger.edu External site opens in new window
- Phone
- (202) 544 4600
- Fax
- (202) 544 4623
- Address
- 201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington
DC 20003
USA
Distributor
- Name
Simply Media
- Contact
- Laura Smith
- info@simplymedia.tv
- Web
- http://www.simplymedia.tv/ External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 0203 542 3722
- Address
- Highlight House
57 Margaret Street
London W1W 8SJ - Notes
- Formerly known as DD Home Entertainment or DDHE
Distributor (Sale)
- Name
Retail outlets
How to cite this record
Shakespeare, "As You Like It". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av36305 (Accessed 12 Nov 2024)