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Shakespeare
Online
The Hollywood
Bard
Richard
III
The Internet Movie Database lists
nine versions of this play: eight theatrical releases and one
made-for-TV version.
 The first one I saw was the 1995
version, directed by Richard Loncraine and starring Ian McKellen,
Annette Bening, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Nigel Hawthorne,
and Robert Downey, Jr. I actually saw this before I ever read
the play, and I liked it a lot, so I can highly recommend it,
whether you're interested in reading the play or not. It retains
the original dialogue, but the setting is in a kind of psuedo-Third
Reich era, with military uniforms, guns, and even tanks. One
disturbing thing I noted: the director ripped off Friday the
13th! Robert Downey, Jr. dies exactly like Kevin Bacon did in
the first of that slasher-series. Probably the biggest contribution
that series of films has made. Amazon.com offers this at $17,
but it should also be available at your local video store. There's
also a Spanish-subtitled version available at Amazon.com, also
at $17.
 Amazon.com also offers the 1955
(or 1956, dependind on who you ask) Laurence Olivier version,
available only in widescreen format. I haven't seen this version,
but it rates pretty highly both on IMDB (7.9 stars out of ten)
and on Amazon.com (five out of five stars). In addition to Olivier,
this version also stars Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, and Claire
Bloom. Amazon.com has it for $21; I haven't seen it in my local
video store, but I haven't really looked. I would guess that
if I really wanted to hunt it down, I could find it locally,
somewhere.
The only other version I've seen
is the 1983 BBC-TV version, with Ron Cook as Richard. I liked
this one, too, but be warned: it's long,
close to four hours, if I remember correctly. I do remember reading
somewhere that Richard III was Shakespeare's second-longest play,
in terms of number of lines, with Hamlet being the longest, so
it's no surprise it was so long. If you can get ahold of this
version, and you have the time to watch it all in one sitting,
I can higly recommend it. |
