SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Feature film. Set in 1927 Iowa where Walter Hale (Presley) manages a Chautauqua show. Mr Morality (Price) is a lecturer. In one scene he quotes from Nietzsche, Jonson, Confucius and Shakespeare. In a later scene he lectures on morality to a packed and rapt audience. Shakespearean actor Mr Drewcott (Carradine) performs to a thin and unappreciative audience - he is heard (in voice over) reciting some twenty lines from Hamlet’s soliloquy (III i) as Elvis watches, smiling.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

1969

Duration

79 mins; 7,110 feet

Credits

Director

Peter Tewskbury

Producer

Lester Welch

Cinematographer

Jacques Marquette

Screenplay

Arnold Peyser; Lois Peyser

Music

Billy Strange

Costume

Bill Thomas

Cast

Elvis Presley	Walter Hale
John Carradine	John Drewcott (Hamlet)
Vincent Price	Mr Morality

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

Available from amazon.co.uk Region 1 only (3/2007).

General

A Chautauqua was a travelling show and local assembly that flourished in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, providing popular education combined with entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts, and plays.

Based on the novel The Chautauqua by Day Keene and Dwight Babcok from a story by Mauri Grashin.

Reviews

Monthly Film Bulletin (vol. 37, no. 432, January 1970), p. 18.

Production Company

Name

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets