Duel d’Hamlet, Le

Synopsis: A film of the final scene in Hamlet with Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet. The film depicts Hamlet’s body being caught by Horatio. The film also included a soundtrack (primarily of sound effects) synchronised with the action.
Country: France
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Silent
Year of release: 1900
Duration: 3 mins; 174 feet

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Notes: The copy held by the Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin lasts 50 seconds. Another copy is believed to exist in the Cinémathèque Française but this has not been confirmed (7/2007). The clip is also included in SHAKESPEARE’S WOMEN (see separate catalogue entry).
History: The film was made for a presentation at the Universal Exposition in Paris, 1900.
Reviews: Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 pp. 24-8, 29, 304-5, 306. Sadoul, Georges, Histoire Generale du Cinema. Vol. 1: L’Invention du Cinema, 1832-97, Paris 1946. pp186, 236-7.

SHAKESPEARE