SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Feature film musical about the efforts of London’s Windmill Theatre to stay open during the Blitz. In one scene in an officers’ mess a notice-board announces ‘By permission of Group Captain G. Homesby, Coming Sunday in the Camp (sic) Theatre, The Avon Repertory Co. presents HAMLET by William Shakespeare’. The two airman ponder this: "To be here or not to be here, is the question, old man" says one. The other replies "No, old boy, that’s the answer". Later the camp CO, offered showgirls instead, says "well, I don’t know - we’ve got Shakespeare booked on Sunday". The hero replies "Oh, I’m not saying a word against Shakespeare, sir, he’s very well thought of...". The showgirls win.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

1945

Duration

92 mins

Credits

Director

Victor Saville

Producer

Victor Saville

Cinematographer

Rudolph Maté

Screenplay

Abern Finkel; Lesley Storm; Lesser Samuels

Music

Morris Stoloff

Production Design

Frank Tuttle

Choreographer

Jack Cole; Val Raset

Cast

Lee Bowman	Squadron Leader Paul Lundy
Rita Hayworth	Rosalind Bruce

Additional Details

Production type

Operas and Musicals

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General

Adapted from the play Heart of the City by Lesley Storm.

Production Company

Name

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Archive

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

Online Retailer

Name

amazon.com

Web

http://www.amazon.com External site opens in new window