masterspieces
I saw this today on TCM after not having seen it for decades. I then read the reviews and message boards. I don't know what others saw, but I found the production to be stunning.Its black and white, yet the difference between "real" and "faerie" was made obvious. Several stories within a story. Names known in the 1930's may not match names known today. Costuming may not be historically correct, but it does enable the audience to recognize each person's status.I personally did not check biographhies for anyone's prior experience with Shakespeare on stage, but I do not feel that anyone embarrassed themselves in their performance. I know the language can be hard to follow, but if you listen without concentrating, the words reveal the content. I've read complaints about Puck's portrayal as over the top, but modern images of fairies are not the way they were portrayed in the past. Fairies were not human, and their qualities beyond being ethereal could include capriciousness, arbitrariness and spite.If you watch and listen with an open mind, this doesn't have to be perfect to be perfectly entertaining and a more than fair performance of the Bard's work and words.
lugonian
Opening: "Warner Brothers have the honor to present a Max Reinhardt production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935), directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle." For its initial attempt in a cultural production, the studio Warners selected one of the popular works of William Shakespeare that originally premiered around 1595. Rather than the traditional Warner Brothers logo used for its introduction, the credits are superimposed over a dark background with a giant moon, bear trees, glittering of twinkled stars and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's orchestration to the compositional works of Felix Mendelssohn whose "Wedding March" has become legendary. If that doesn't earn any attention, then the list of players the studio had selected should. Of the performers credited on screen (by order of appearance), only Olivia De Havilland (billed DeHaviland), in her motion picture debut, gets a very impressive start to what's to become a long and successful career. For Warners, it's an achievement towards the Hall of Fame.PROCLAMATION: "From Theseus, our noble and valiant Duke, homeward bound from his defeat of the Amazonian Army, come greetings to his loyal subjects and the joyous news that before this moon is old, he will wed Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons with pomp, with triumph, and with reveling. Let masques and plays be readied against the nuptial day to the actors chosen to play at the wedding of the Duke. A pension will be granted from the ducal treasury to the mount of sixpence for each actor every day of his life. Let every citizen of Athiens give fitting welcome to our noble lord." Set in Athens, the story begins at welcoming committee gathering of the royal court where several characters are introduced: Hermia (Olivia De Havilland) loves Lysander (Dick Powell) but by the choice of her father (Grant Mitchell), is to marry Demetrius (Ross Alexander), who's loved by Helena (Jean Muir). Theseus (Ian Hunter), the Duke of Athens, is set to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons (Verree Teasdale) with a celebration soon to be honored. Later, Hermia and Lysander elope, taking refuge in the forest. Demetrius follows the couple while Helena follows Demetrius. Also in the woods are tradesmen Bottom the Weaver (James Cagney), Flute (Joe E. Brown), Peter Quince (Frank McHugh), Snout (Hugh Herbert), Snug (Dewey Robinson), Robin (Otis Harlan) and Prologue (Arthur Treacher), rehearsing the play "Pyramus and Thisbe." Oberon, King of the Fairies (Victor Jory - in black body suit) and Titania, Queen of the Fairies (Anita Louise - all dressed in white), supernatural creatures of the night, make their arrival while Puck (Mickey Rooney - bear chested in ruffled loin cloth and Satan's horns on his forehead), the mischievous devilish boy of the woods, under instructions by Oberon, stirs up trouble by sprinkling passion flower juice on the loving couples to have them falling in love with the wrong partners. Before the night of fantasy is over, Puck uses the potion transforming Bottom's head into a donkey's, making certain that it's Bottom whom Titania, under the magic potion, first sees and falls in love. "What fools these mortals be."Along with opera, the works of Shakespeare can be a hard sell to the masses. How can Shakespeare be analyzed? Well, at first glance when I first watched MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM on broadcast television in 1972, I was more fascinated by the famous names associated with this production more than anything else. After getting into it, I found the plot hard to follow, spoken words in the Shakespearean tradition difficult to comprehend, resulting to very dull viewing. Still overlong and uneven, I've grown to comprehend as well as appreciate this Shakespearean fairy tale.For many years, all television and later home video prints were available from the edited 117 minute reissue. It wasn't until after 2000 when the initial theatrical 143 minute version become available to Turner Classic Movies followed by a 2007 DVD release with overture, "ten minute" intermission title and exit music (plus interesting commentary by Scott MacQueen). Had the movie been produced in Technicolor, it might have been outstanding. In "glorious black and white," the visuals are even more impressive, notably for the frequent use of dark photography for its imaginative ballet dance, presentation of hideous black elves and goblins, the spider web transformation to wedding veil and the return to Fairyland sequence adding much to its very haunting appeal.Of the many performers in stylish costumes, ranging from Cagney's donkey's head to the charm and beauty of DeHavilland, Louise and Muir, the one who stands apart from the others is young Mickey Rooney. Granted, his hideous laugh and hoarse voice can be as trite and annoying as Hugh Herbert's constant giggles, but by the time Roone's Puck recites his exit speech as he faces the camera, it's apparent that A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is Rooney's show all the way. Joe E. Brown should not go unmentioned for some amusing bits of "unintentional comedy" as he muffles up a dramatic play. Others in the cast include Hobart Cavanaugh, Helen Westcott, Billy Barty and Nini Theilade as the Prima Ballerina. As much as Warners' A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM renewed the appeal of Shakespeare on film, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, the one most deserving was the win for best cinematography. There were other versions based on this tale, but in conclusion, they'll never be another one like this again. FINIS (***1/2)
