SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Feature film adapted from H.G. Wells’ short novel The Island of Dr Moreau (1896). The hubristic scientist, Dr Moreau, is banished from his home to a remote island where he proclaims himself the absolute authority. He governs the island by means of reign of terror while tutoring the brutish creatures in language skills and civilised behaviour. The film reduces the female presence on the island bringing it closer to Shakespeare’s narrative.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Film

Technical information

Black-and-white / Sound

Year of release

1932

Duration

71 mins

Credits

Producer

Erle C. Kenton

Cinematographer

Karl Struss

Writer

H G Wells

Screenplay

Philip Wylie; Waldemar Young

Art Direction

Hans Dreir

Cast

Charles Laughton	Dr Moreau (Prospero)
Kathleen Burke	Lota the Panther Woman (Miranda)
Richard Arlen	Edward Parker (Ferdinand)
Leila Thomas	Ruth Thomas

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

Tempest, The

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

science fiction films; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); horror films

Notes

Notes

Available on DVD and Blu-ray, from Eureka in the UK and Criterion in the US.

General

The film was banned in Great Britain from 1933-1959, and was then released with cuts. It is likely that the censors were alarmed by the fact that Moreau uses vivisection to turn animals into humans in his ‘house of pain’.

Reviews

For a critical analysis of the film see Judith Buchanan, Shakespeare on Film (Harlow: Pearson Education, 2005), pp 92-5. Buchanan notes `...considerable points of coincidence with Shakespeare’s narrative - a shipwreck, an unchartered island, an exiled magus, a primitive savage, an aspiration to imprint civilisation upon the barbarous and a carefully choreographed encounter between an unsocialised virgin and a shipwrecked man...'

Production Company

Name

Paramount Pictures

Distributor

Name

Eureka Entertainment

Email

info@eurekavideo.co.uk

Web

http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 8459 8054

Fax

020 8459 5162

Address

Unit 9, Ironbridge Close
Great Central Way
London
NW10 OUF

Notes

An independent distributor specialising in releasing classic and early/silent films on DVD, including the Masters of Cinema curated collection of classic and world cinema. Sale via retail outlets.

Name

Retail outlets