SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Life of William Shakespeare: His Intriques and Romances or the Loves, Adventures and Life of William Shakespeare

Synopsis

Film biography of Shakespeare concentrating on his youth and early manhood. In the final scene Shakespeare dreams scenes from his plays - The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Hamlet.

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Film

Technical information

Black-and-white / Silent

Year of release

1914

Duration

c50; c5000 feet

Credits

Director

J B McDowell

Cast

Aimee Martinck	Queen Elizabeth
Albert Ward	William Shakespeare
Eva Bayley	Shakespeare’s mother
George Foley	Sir Thomas Lucy
Gray Murray	Hugh Clopton
Miss Bennett	Charlotte Clopton
Sybil Hare	Anne Hathaway

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

biographies; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

Estimated budget £4,000.

The copy held by Library and Archives Canada, donated by Vancouver City Archives, is excerpts only and incomplete at 857ft.

General

The inside scenes were shot in the studio at Walthamstow; the exterior scenes in Stratford where is was rumoured that furniture from Anne Hathaway’s cottage was used to bestow authenticity.

Reviews

Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp202-6, 353). Ball comments ‘I doubt if Shakespeare ever turned in his grave, but if he did, this film must have provided the impulse’.

Production Company

Name

British and Colonial Kinematograph

Archive

Name

Library and Archives Canada

Web

http://www.collectionscanada.ca External site opens in new window

Phone

(613) 996-5115

Fax

(613) 996-6274

Address

395 Wellington Street
Ottawa
ON K11 ON4
Canada