Product Description

The famous comedy by William Shakespeare, incidental music by Felix Mendelssohn. British live TV version, probably produced by the BBC, with PATRICK ALLEN, IEIRA HEATH, CYRIL LUCKHAM, TONY BATEMAN, JILL SENNETT, JOHN FRASER, CLIFFORD ELKIN, MAUREEN BECK, ANNA MASSEY, PETER WYNGARDE, TONY TANNER, KAY FRAZER, and BENNY HILL as "Bottom." Music by The Philharmonia Orchestra and the Ambrosian Singers. Soloist: OARIEN ANCADI. Music directed by GUY WOOLFENDEN. A well mounted and literate version of Shakespeares fantasy. 111 minutes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96179 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-18
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Customer Reviews

Shakespeare Out of Sync
The customer reviews on the Amazon site should have warned me: This is a technically unacceptable DVD. I borrowed the VHS version from a friend and it is superior in every way. On the DVD, the visuals are dark and smeared---plus, ruinously, the soundtrack is always completely out of sync with the film. The performance itself is a telecast from the 1960s featuring a number of major British Shakespeareans plus a few "special guests" (Benny Hill and Tony Tanner). It is mostly complete, though there are some odd cuts (Puck's final speech, for example). On the VHS version you can see and hear it properly and enjoy the production values and acting nuances. On DVD, it is a pain, start to finish.

A Midsummer Night's Kinescope
I wish I could give this elaborate, well-acted 1964 English television production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" another star or two. It incorporates some of Mendelssohn's music and a small corps de ballet, has well-designed sets and costuming (using the Greek motif in a very traditional way), incorporates a judiciously cut text (mostly intact) and features a very good set of performances. Particular stand-outs are the venerable Miles Malleson's Peter Quince, Tony Tanner's exceptionally energetic and feral Puck, and a nicely moderated Bottom by comic Benny Hill.

The problem is that this appears to be a bare-bones kinescope. The packaging is a plain transparent plastic case with a small label; there is no additional printed material besides the disc itself. The DVD is in black and white (not an inherent problem - just pointing it out), presents a very muddy picture throughout, and has a poorly synchronized soundtrack where the voice persists after the actor has finished speaking (or even left the scene).

So, despite its assets (and, as noted, there are many), I can only give this filmed performance 3 stars (and that's a stretch - the mis-synchronized soundtrack is really annoying). I recommend it for completists only.