A Midsummer Night's Dream - 1935 ( Fairies, Forest scene)
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1935
Directed by William Dieterie , Max Reinhardt
Puck - " Lord, what fools these mortals be."
The advent of the shimmering 1935 Hollywood interpretation of Shakespeare’s ethereal A Midsummer Night’s Dream was appropriately enough the result of public adoration of the stage work that ultimately inspired it. Back in the days of the pre-code cinema, theater director Max Reinhardt was known for his flamboyant and controversial stage incarnations of the Bard, and his production of Midsummer was a huge hit in Vienna. Attending one of the stagings, coincidentally enough, was Warner Brothers film mogul Jack Warner, who was executive in charge of overseeing what films the studio would be producing. While at the time crime dramas and backstage musicals were the rage, Warner wasn’t oblivious to the Oscar bait films that could bring added prestige, what with the slew of successful literary adaptations crafted at M-G-M. Two such works in fact debuted in the same year as Midsummer, and both ere based on Dickens’ novels: A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield. While Reinhardt had long scoffed at the possibilities of cinema approaching the “superior” form of live theater, he quickly reversed himself after Warner offered him a sweet deal and the complete access to the studio’s advanced technical capabilities; that for example would enable characters to dissolve into this air. Sold into expanding the possibilities of the stage Reinhardt drastically reversed himself, stating with unbridled enthusiasm: “The motion picture is the most wonderful medium for the presentation of drama and spectacle the world has ever known. The screen has leaped further ahead in the last few years than the stage has evolved in centuries.”
After he signed on Reinhardt to his chagrin was told by Warner that New York stage players would not be considered for casting; rather, the studio stock company was asked to try their hands at Shakespeare. Demetrious was played by Dick Powell, Hermia by Olivia de Havilland, Puck by Mickey Rooney, Flute by Joe E. Brown, and Oberon by Victor Jory. By then the absolute king of the lot, James Cagney was basically allowed to pick any role; he chose Bottom, sensing that the ultimate challenge for a great actor is to play a bad one. (Accounts from the period are contradictory with some contending that Cagney really hankered for the role, while others make claim that he preferred any role to Bottom.) Warner hoped that the big name marquee would attract a public that was unpredictable when it came to the Bard on the big screen. As Reinhardt worked to create and acting style able to bridge the gap between ultramodern performances and stylized poetic dialogue, Jack Warner apparently decided that the stage veteran who had never before directed a motion picture needed some help, so he assigned studio stalwart William Dieterle, who Reinhardt knew from Germany, having assigned him his first role as an actor. Dieterle’s own experience enabled him to assume responsibility for the technical elements, leaving the then sixty-two year old Reinhardt to focus on issues of image and interpretation. Reinhardt’s extravagance knew no limits as he upped an already excessive one million dollar budget another half million by utilizing the largest soundstage in movie history to that point, ordering nearly a hundred truckloads of trees and shrubs, and bringing to bear an intense lighting system and a massive supply of luminous paint. Ravens, owls and turtle doves were added to complete the textural density of an alternative universe. The studio’s celebrated maestro, Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote a score that included Felix Mendelssohn’s famed music, which was inspired by the play. Extending the parameters even further, a Bronislawa Nijinska ballet was inserted.
When the initial public reaction was middling, Warner ordered the film cut by thirty minutes, with the ballet sequences getting most of the trimming. One major critic praised the “breathtaking set designs and cinematography” but took issue with the “monotonous howlings” of ten-year old Rooney and the “over energetic jabberings” of Cagney. The Times of London declared: “The most lamentable mistake in the cast was the Bottom of James Cagney. He seemed to me to misconceive the character, and only became tolerable in the scene where he discovers the ass’s head on his shoulders.” Cagney’s response was along the lines of “The only thing I was going by is that Bottom was the greatest ham that Shakespeare had ever written. He wanted to play all the parts.
Пікірлер: 58
This is the coolest version ever! There is something magical about the way it was filmed.
Magical and of it's time, I love this film...no CGI here.
I can't describe how beautiful it's their clothes, accessories, details.... I just want to draw all of it
I've searched for this for 30 or more years after seeing it on TV once and once only. At last I had the idea of googling and voila! It took all this time to find this masterpiece.
@BravuraK
6 жыл бұрын
Peter Taylor ah Peter... I first watched this at the age of 6!! That was 1959. Glad you discovered MSND... you can buy the DVD on Line...Amazon is the word! Regards Susan
@petertaylor3600
6 жыл бұрын
Thank you very much for the info. I'd started to think it was one of those things that had been totally lost. I'm wondering if it was 1959 that was my sighting of it. Maybe it was. But never seen again, to my knowledge, at least here.
@BravuraK
6 жыл бұрын
Peter Taylor My early memory is of that time... However the movie was well ahead of its time! 1935.... BW movies were only available at that time on 50's TV sets.
@petertaylor3600
6 жыл бұрын
No. it was some time in the mid 60s and shown on the ABC. Something the ABC of today would never dream of running. I'll try online.
@lindasturm699
5 жыл бұрын
I saw it for the first time on TCM today! It was wonderful.
Pure magic. In fact the entire WB film is pure magic.
This is the first film of a Shakespeare play I ever saw--it was played for us in high school, back when there were almost no other films available of Shakespeare productions. Busby Berkeley crossed with ballet, using the Mendelssohn incidental music. Ludicrous and enchanting at the same time--sort of like the play itself. Especially Mickey Rooney as Puck, genius casting.
While I do think that a lot of progress has been made in special effects thanks to CGI technology (and I don't say that just because I'm a 28-year-old millennial LOL), I grew up on a lot of classic movies like this, though this one I discovered more recently thanks to Scary Fairy Godmother. :) And a lot of the effects back in these classics are damn impressive. :D The way the fairies are portrayed in this movie is simply breathtaking. :) Albeit kinda weird sometimes, even by fairies' standards, and they're pretty weird. XD But I think it's stuff like this that really makes this adaptation of my favorite Shakespeare play, and this is hands down one of my favorite scenes. The art of the moonlight and the forest is just beautiful, the music enchanting (no pun intended), and the fairies are just as ethereal, and eerie, as many imagine them to be. The way they fade in through the fog and dance through the night on foggy spiraling trails underneath the moonlight and stars, I want to just get lost in this world. Simply gorgeous. :) I also enjoy seeing how a lot of times the fairies are depicted as wild, surreal, unpredictable, even at times downright animalistic, like when you watch Puck portrayed here. That's what makes them really weird to me, but then again, fairies are known to be all that, unpredictable and linked with nature, which I thought was brilliant. I love the 1999 version of this play, but this one is my second favorite, so many good qualities to this version to admire. :)
@johnniefujita
3 жыл бұрын
Some impressive elements from this production are completely unexplored by the today's productions. It is so raw, yet so provocative, inviting you to fill in the gaps of each narrative.
@elissasangi-hd9om
10 ай бұрын
If you got all that out of the movie, you need read A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM! It is the funniest story I ever read. Literally had me laughing out loud every time! This used to be on TV all the time. A true classic. SUPERB!
@AishaVonFossen
10 ай бұрын
@@elissasangi-hd9om Oh I actually have read it before, I even acted parts of it out in group projects in an acting class I took in high school with one of my best friends. Fun memories. ☺️
@elissasangi-hd9om
10 ай бұрын
@@AishaVonFossen Cool!!
this film gives me shivers it is so magical
The Magic in this scene that has never been bettered in later versions, even with CGI available. My only complaint is I wish this had continued up until the entrance of Oberon. And I fell in love with Nini Theilade in this movie (the fairy dancer) who died in 2018 at the age of 102!
@arianbyw3819
Ай бұрын
Yes, nini theilades performance as moth was superb. My favourite part of the film.
The funniest story I ever read, literally had me laughing out loud every time - and to think how many times this was on TV! SUPERB!
ABSOLUTE GENIUS
Delightful........thanks for the post!
Better than CGI!!
@loge10
6 жыл бұрын
costernocht Totally agree...
@AishaVonFossen
3 жыл бұрын
Word!
THE PRODUCTOR AND THE EFFECT TEAM WAS AHEAD OF THEIR TIME AND OUR TIME WE NEED CGI TO DO THE SAME EFFECTS!!
wonderful bit of early movie magic... magical!
@BravuraK
9 жыл бұрын
Very much so! I can remember first watching this as a little girl, the mist surrounding Oberon's costume was Magical. Glad you enjoyed. Susanxx
One of my top favorite movies, I have it on DVD. Now, if only someone would put the old version of ALICE in WONDERLAND, the one with W.C. Fields and others I would be so happy.
Good bless u did uploading this.
Magical my dearest friend from OZ...... Hope you are well..... Have some warm hugs and many xxxx
@BravuraK
9 жыл бұрын
Thank you Tine, there is Magic and lots of smiles and hugs for you my friend. Hope all is good in the Garden? Talk soon Susan xxx
Great stuff - and who needs cgi. People say Rooney as Puck is irritating. He is Puck!
"HOW NOW, SPIRIT?! WHETHER WANDER YOU?!"
Una película excepcional querida Susan! Gracias por recordarnosla! Muchos besos y feliz domingo Amalia
@BravuraK
9 жыл бұрын
Muchos besos Amalia. Glad you enjoyed the short excerpt from as you say an exceptional looking film for its time. xx Susan
This magical, esoteric atmosphere should have an expression on modern cinema. But i can't relate it to any recent movie.
Rooney really was a great actor
@seanohare5488
Жыл бұрын
I agree s great talent fine musician too
It seems strange that this movie version of M.N.Dream has never been bettered. I saw the whole movie on TV in the night once and was captivated by it, pure magic. Im also surprised that the full movie dosn't seem to be available here .on the tube.
@vingedheart
5 жыл бұрын
Well - here is is: ok.ru/video/1191645612686
@seanohare5488
Жыл бұрын
Yeah strange not on utube why
Nice.
He’s my great grand uncle
… and having Mendelssohn puts it over the top.
Where can I find the full movie?
Poderiam colorizar esse filme. Já existe a tecnologia.
@richarddowney1972
Жыл бұрын
No colorization please. This was beautifully filmed with great care and artistry in B&W.
@junito1957
8 ай бұрын
@@richarddowney1972 I UNDERSTAND BUT THE KIDS THESE DAYS WANT COLOR SO IF THEY COLORIZED FOR SURE THE YOUNGER PEOPLE AND MANY OTHER WILL WATCH IT EVEN PRODUCTORS
Kinda like Cagney in this. He was cute playing the ass. Brought the film to life.
Jenny filme
Kreepy af