Quite honestly, this is a pretty terrible film; more high camp Hollywood than the Bard of Stratford-On Avon and yet this production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", co-directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, has its moments, at least when the players are on screen, (the simpering Athenian lovers are something of a comedown even if Olivia De Havilland does make for a lovely Hermia while the fairies are just strange and not in a good way).
Reinhardt did it originally on stage and this is that version with added special effects and some very good Oscar-winning cinematography by Hal Mohr. It's got an all-star cast though most of them are clearly unsuited to Shakespeare, (Dick Powell claimed he didn't actually understand what he was saying), yet the two best performances are perhaps the most unlikely. James Cagney gets to display his magnificent Bottom and a fifteen year old Mickey Rooney makes for a delightfully demented Puck. Hardly ever shown now, it's a genuine curiosity but that doesn't mean it's worth seeing.
No comments:
Post a Comment