Life and Death of King Richard III

Alternative title: Richard Iii Mr Frederick Warde in Shakespeare’s Masterpiece ‘The Life and Death of King Richard’.
Synopsis: Feature film version of Richard III produced as a vehicle for the 19th-century stage tragedian Frederick Warde.
Country: United States
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Silent
Year of release: 1912
Recording date: 15 Oct 1912
Duration: 55 mins; c5000 feet

Notes: Estimated budget $30,000.
General: From the Moving Image Collection (MIC) ‘Found Films’ notes: "Found in collection of William Buffum. Buffum was former projectionist at the Bluebird Theatre in Portland, Oregon between 1938 and 1947. This is the first known feature-length Shakespearean film adaptation and first feature film from 1912 known to exist in its entirety. 1912 was the first year that feature-length films were produced in the United States." See http://mic.imtc.gatech.edu/remembrance_wall/remembrance_foundfilms.htm (accessed 5/2010)
History: Within a decade of its release, the film was believed to have been lost, with no prints surviving, but in 1996 a private film collector discovered a copy, which was then donated to the American Film Institute. The AFI restored the film and commissioned a new orchestral score, written by Ennio Morricone. The film now has the distinction of being the oldest feature-length motion picture to survive intact.
Reviews: Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968, pp155-162. 241, 342, 365
Rosenthal, Daniel. 100 Shakespeare Films. London: BFI, 2007 (pp193-4).

Shakespeare, "Life and Death of King Richard III". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av68526 (Accessed 19 Sep 2024)

Robert Gemp	King Edward IV
Virginia Rankin	Duchess of York
Albert Gardner	Prince Edward (Prince of Wales)
Carey Lee	Queen Elizabeth
Carlotta De Felice
Frederick Warde	Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard
George Moss	Tressel
Howard Stuart
James Keane	Earl of Richmond
Violet Stuart	Lady Anne

SHAKESPEARE