Hamlet at Elsinore

Hamlet at Elsinore (1964)

The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. An historic BBC production taped on location in and around Kronborg castle in Elsinore (Denmark), in which the play is set.

Date of release
1964-04-15
TMDB
8.0 / 10 (5)
Runtime
2h 50m
Genres
Drama, TV Movie
Director
Philip Saville

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Hamlet
  • Filmed in: Helsingør

Hamlet at Elsinore is a 1964 television adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet directed by Philip Saville, and produced by BBC TV in association with Danmarks Radio. Canadian actor Christopher Plummer took the lead role as Hamlet, having played the role previously with the Stratford Festival. Plummer earned an Emmy Award nomination for his performance.

Production

From conception to execution, the production took eight weeks and four days.

It was originated by Danish television, which lacked the financial resources to realize the project and turned to the BBC for help. Videotaped at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, Denmark, in September 1963 by a Danish crew with the director and actors supplied by the BBC, it represents a technical milestone for the BBC as a full-length play had never been videotaped on-location before.

The producer, Peter Luke, deliberately cast lesser-known actors as it was felt using major stars would prove a distraction. Christopher Plummer had an established career in the theatre at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Ontario, where he had first played Hamlet seven years earlier. However, Christopher Plummer's movie stardom wouldn't be cemented until The Sound of Music (1965).

This programme was recorded and edited on video tape (2" quadruplex).

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended