SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Merchant of Venice, The

Synopsis

A shortened version of the play which omits the casket scene and the business concerning Portia’s ring. Some scenes were filmed in Venice.

Country

Italy

Medium

Film

Technical information

Black-and-white / Silent

Year of release

1910

Duration

10 mins; 890 feet

Credits

Director

Gerolamo Lo Savio

Cast

Ermete Novelli	Shylock
Francesca Bertini	Portia
Ferruccio Garavaglia
Olga Giannini Novelli

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

Merchant of Venice, The

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

The copy held at the BFI National Archive is incomplete (568ft, 6mins) . It ends with Shylock appealing to the court after Portia has warned him not to spill ‘one drop of Christian blood ' (IV, i). The print is stencil-coloured. The film is contained within the BFI DVD SILENT SHAKESPEARE, a compilation of silent films.

General

Sources differ on the date of the film. Ball (p. 334-5) outlines the information available.

Reviews

Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp122-5, 334-5).

Production Company

Name

Film d’Arte Italiana

Distributor (Sale)

Name

BFI National Archive

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7436 0165

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN