List of William Shakespeare screen adaptations

The Guinness Book of Records lists 410 feature-length film and TV versions of William Shakespeare's plays, making Shakespeare the most filmed author ever in any language.[1][2][3]

As of November 2023, the Internet Movie Database lists Shakespeare as having writing credit on 1,800 films, including those under production but not yet released.[4] The earliest known production is King John from 1899.[5]

Comedies

[edit]

All's Well That Ends Well

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
All's Well That Ends Well TV
  • United Kingdom
1968
Originally a Royal Shakespeare Company stage production, this was the first Shakespeare play broadcast in color by the BBC.[a] The second, of two, reels is believed to be lost.[6]
All's Well That Ends Well Video
  • United States
1978
A video recording of a 1978 New York Shakespeare Festival performance at the Delacorte Theatre, made by Jaime Caro for Theatre on Film and Tape.[7]
"All's Well That Ends Well"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1981
All's Well That Ends Well
(National Theatre Live)
TV
  • United Kingdom
2009
Live performance broadcast from the National Theatre in London's West End.

As You Like It

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
As You Like It Silent
  • United States
1912
The film brings stage star Rose Coghlan to the screen for her motion picture debut. At 61–62, Coghlan is an older Rosalind than usual. Filmed mainly outdoors.
Love in a Wood Silent
  • United Kingdom
1915
A silent comedy film in a contemporary setting of the play.[8]
As You Like It Film
  • United Kingdom
1936
Olivier's first performance of Shakespeare on screen. It was also the final film of stage actors Leon Quartermaine and Henry Ainley and featured an early screen role for Ainley's son Richard as Sylvius, as well as for John Laurie, who played Orlando's brother Oliver. Laurie would go on to co-star with Olivier in the three Shakespearean films that Olivier directed.[9]
As You Like It TV
  • United Kingdom
1963
A recording of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1961 performance for the BBC.[10] In a 2015 retrospective for The Guardian, theatre critic Michael Billington praised Redgrave as having "the ability to give a performance [as Rosalind] that becomes a gold-standard for future generations".[11]
"As You Like It"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1978
Recorded at Glamis Castle in Scotland, this was one of only two productions shot on location, the other being The Famous History of the Life of Henry the Eight. However, the location shooting received a lukewarm response from both critics and the BBC's own people, with the general consensus being that the natural world in the episode overwhelmed the actors and the story. Director Basil Coleman initially felt that the play should be filmed over the course of a year, with the change in seasons from winter to summer marking the ideological change in the characters, but he was forced to shoot entirely in May, even though the play begins in winter. This, in turn, meant the harshness of the forest described in the text was replaced by lush greenery, which was distinctly unthreatening, with the characters' "time in the forest appear[ing] to be more an upscale camping expedition rather than exile."[12]
As You Like It TV
  • Canada
1983
  • Herb Roland
  • Roberta Maxwell (Rosalind)
  • Andrew Gillies (Orlando)
  • Rosemary Dunsmore (Celia)
  • Christopher Gibson (Jaques)
  • Lewis Gordon (Touchstone)
  • Graeme Campbell (Duke Frederick)
  • William Needles (Duke Senior)
  • Stephen Russell (Oliver)
  • Mervyn Blake (Adam)
  • Mary Haney (Phebe)
  • John Jarvis (Silvius)
  • Elizabeth Leigh-Milne (Audrey)
As You Like It Film
  • United Kingdom
1992
Set in a modern, urban, environment. The film received mostly negative reviews. Time Out thought that the "… wonder is that they bothered to put film in the camera, for sadly this is Shakespeare sans teeth, eyes, taste, sans everything."[13] Derek Elley in Variety characterised it as a "British low-budgeter, mostly shot on drab exteriors, [that] will be limited to literary students and the very dedicated, given careful nursing."[14]
"As You Like It"
(Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)
TV
  • Russia
    • United Kingdom
1994
  • Alexei Karaev
Animated with paint on glass using watercolors.[15]
As You Like It Film
  • United Kingdom
2006
Branagh moved the play's setting from medieval France to a late 19th century European colony in Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It is filmed at Shepperton Film Studios and at the never-before-filmed gardens of Wakehurst Place.
As You Like It TV
  • Canada
2010
  • Andrea Runge (Rosalind)
  • Paul Nolan (Orlando)
  • Brent Carver (Jaques)
  • Ben Carlson (Touchstone)
  • Tom Rooney (Duke Frederick/Duke Senior)
As You Like It Video
  • United Kingdom
2010
Recording of a performance at Shakespeare's Globe.

The Comedy of Errors

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
The Boys from Syracuse Film
  • United States
1940
A musical film based on a stage musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, which in turn was based on the play.[16] It was nominated for two Academy Awards: one for Best Visual Effects (John P. Fulton, Bernard B. Brown, Joe Lapis) and one for Best Art Direction (Jack Otterson).[17]
Bhranti Bilas
(Bengali: ভ্রান্তি বিলাস, lit.'Illusion of illusion)'
Film
  • India
1963
  • Manu Sen
The film relocates the story to modern day India. The film tells the story of a Bengali merchant from Kolkata and his servant who visit a small town for a business appointment, but, whilst there, are mistaken for a pair of locals, leading to much confusion. It is based on an 1869 play by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, which is itself based on The Comedy of Errors. Bhranti Bilas was remade in 1968 as the musical comedy Do Dooni Char, which in turn was later remade as Angoor.
"The Comedy of Errors"
(Festival)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1967
Do Dooni Char Film
  • India
1968
  • Debu Sen
A musical comedy Bollywood adaptation based on the 1963 film Bhranti Bilas, which in turn was based on an 1869 play by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, which is itself based on The Comedy of Errors. Do Dooni Char was later remade as Angoor.
The Comedy of Errors TV
  • United Kingdom
1978
  • Philip Casson
A TV adaptation of a musical based on the play, with a book and lyrics by Trevor Nunn and music by Guy Woolfenden.
Angoor
(Hindi: अंगूर, lit.'Grape)'
Film
  • India
1982
A Bollywood adaptation, based on the 1968 film Do Dooni Char, which was based on the 1963 film Bhranti Bilas, which in turn was based on an 1869 play by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, which is itself based on The Comedy of Errors.
"The Comedy of Errors"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1983
The Comedy of Errors TV
  • United States
1987
  • Paul David Magid (Antipholus of Syracuse)
  • Howard Jay Patterson (Antipholus of Ephesus)
  • Samuel Ross Williams (Dromio of Syracuse)
  • Randy Nelson (Dromio of Ephesus)
  • Karla Burns (Duke of Ephesus/Luce)
  • Sophie Hayden (Adriana)
  • Gina Leishman (Luciana)
  • Ethyl Eichelberger (Courtesan/Emilia)
  • Timothy Daniel Furst (William Shakespeare)
Videotaped as part of PBS's Great Performances series at Lincoln Center, New York City, this production starring The Flying Karamazov Brothers combined Shakespeare with slapstick, acrobatics and juggling on the basis that "in Ephesus, you juggle or die!" with Shakespeare himself taking part in the action.
The Comedy of Errors TV
  • Canada
1989

Love's Labour's Lost

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Love's Labor Lost Animation
  • United States
1920
"Love's Labour's Lost"
(Play of the Month)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1975
"Love's Labour's Lost"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1985
Love's Labour's Lost Film
  • United Kingdom
2000
Branagh's film turns Love's Labour's Lost into a romantic Hollywood musical. Set and costume design evoke the Europe of 1939; the music (classic Broadway songs of the 1930s) and newsreel-style footage are also chief period details.

Measure for Measure

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Measure for Measure
(Italian: Dente per dente, lit.'A tooth for a tooth)'
Film
  • Italy
1943
  • Marco Elter
"Measure For Measure"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1979
Measure for Measure TV
  • United Kingdom
1994
Modern dress version of Shakespeare's "problem comedy" emphasizing the darker elements of the play and eliminating most of the humor.
Measure for Measure Film
  • United Kingdom
2006
  • Bob Komar
  • Simon Phillips (Duke Vincentio)
  • Josephine Rogers (Isabella)
  • Daniel Roberts (Angelo)
  • Simon Nuckley (Claudio)
  • Dawn Murphy (Escalus)
  • Luke Leeves (Lucio)
Contemporary re-working of Shakespeare's problem play set in the British army.
M4M: Measure for Measure Film
  • United States
2015
  • Gabriel Manwaring
  • Jim Kennedy (Duke)
  • Jamison Challeen (Angelo)
  • Vinnie Duyck (Escalus)
  • Noah Mickens (Lucio)
All-male cast version
Measure For Measure Film
  • Australia
2019
Adaptation set in modern-day Australia

The Merchant of Venice

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
The Merchant of Venice Silent
  • United States
1914
An early film of the play, now assumed to be lost.[18]
The Merchant of Venice Silent
  • United Kingdom
1916
The film was made by Broadwest. The company hired the complete stage cast of the play and filmed at Walthamstow Studios using largely natural light. The film marked the screen debut of Matheson Lang who went on to become one of the leading British actors of the 1920s.[19]
The Merchant of Venice Film
  • United Kingdom
1922
Der Kaufmann von Venedig Silent Germany 1923 Peter Paul Felner Werner Krauß (Shylock) Henny Porten (Portia) Harry Liedtke (Bassanio) Carl Ebert (Antonio) Max Schreck (Doge von Venedig) A relatively late silent movie, making significant changes in the plot, nevertheless considered as a masterwork, mostly due to its stunning cast.
The Merchant of Venice TV
  • United Kingdom
1947
"The Merchant of Venice"
(Sunday Night Theatre)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1955
  • Hal Burton
"The Merchant of Venice"
(Play of the Month)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1972
The Merchant of Venice TV
  • United Kingdom
1973
An adaptation from Jonathan Miller's acclaimed 1970 Royal National Theatre staging.[20]
The Merchant of Venice TV
  • Canada
1976
"The Merchant of Venice"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1980
The Merchant of Venice TV
  • United Kingdom
1996
  • Alan Horrox
The Merchant of Venice TV
  • United Kingdom
2001
The Maori Merchant of Venice
(Māori: Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti)
Film
  • New Zealand
2002
  • Waihoroi Shortland (Hairoka)
  • Ngarimu Daniels (Pohia)
The play was translated into Māori in 1945 by Pei Te Hurinui Jones, and his translation is used for the film. It is the first Māori-language film adaptation of any of Shakespeare's plays, and the first feature length Māori film.[21] The film was shot in Auckland, but "recreates 16th century Venice, with costumes and surroundings to fit the original setting".[22]
The Merchant of Venice Film
  • United States
2004

The Merry Wives of Windsor

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
The Merry Wives of Windsor
(German: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor)
Film
  • East Germany
1950
"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
(Sunday Night Theatre)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1952
Chimes at Midnight Film
  • Switzerland
  • Spain
1966
Welles said that the core of the film's story was "the betrayal of friendship." The script contains text from five of Shakespeare's plays: primarily Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, but also Richard II and Henry V, as well as some dialogue from The Merry Wives of Windsor. Richardson's narration is taken from the works of chronicler Raphael Holinshed. Welles had previously produced a Broadway adaptation of nine Shakespeare plays called Five Kings in 1939. In 1960, he revived this project in Ireland as Chimes at Midnight, which was his final on-stage performance. Neither of these plays was successful, but Welles considered portraying Falstaff to be his life's ambition and turned the project into a film. In order to get initial financing, Welles lied to producer Emiliano Piedra about adapting Treasure Island, and keeping the film funded during production was a constant struggle. Welles shot Chimes at Midnight throughout Spain between 1964 and 1965; it premiered at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, winning two awards.
The Merry Wives of Windsor TV
  • United States
1970
  • Leon Charles (Falstaff)
  • Valerine Seelie-Snyder (Mistress Ford)
"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1982
Jones originally wanted to shoot the episode in Stratford-upon-Avon but was restricted to a studio setting. Determined that the production be as realistic as possible, he had designer Dom Homfray base the set on real Tudor houses associated with Shakespeare: Falstaff's room is based on the home of Mary Arden (Shakespeare's mother) in Wilmcote, and the wives' houses are based on the house of Shakespeare's daughter Susanna, and her husband, John Hall. For the background of exterior shots, he used a miniature Tudor village built of plasticine.[23]

A Midsummer Night's Dream

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
A Midsummer Night's Dream Silent
  • United States
1909
The first film adaptation of the play.
Wood Love
(German: Ein Sommernachtstraum)
Silent
  • Weimar Republic
1925
  • Hans Neumann
A Midsummer Night's Dream Film
  • United States
1935
Austrian-born director Max Reinhardt did not speak English at the time of production. He gave orders to the actors and crew in German with William Dieterle acting as his interpreter. The film was banned in Nazi Germany because of the Jewish backgrounds of Reinhardt and composer Felix Mendelssohn. Filming had to be rearranged after Rooney broke his leg while skiing. According to Rooney's memoirs, Jack L. Warner was furious and threatened to kill him and then break his other leg. This was the film debut of Olivia de Havilland.[24]
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(Czech: Sen noci svatojánské)
Film
  • Czechoslovakia
1959 An animated puppet film directed by Jiří Trnka. It was an Official Selection as a Feature Film at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, and won special distinction.[25] An English-language dubbed version was made with narration by Richard Burton.[26]
A Midsummer Night's Dream Film
  • United Kingdom
1968
The film premiered in theatres in Europe in September 1968. In the U.S., it was sold directly to television rather than playing in theatres, and premiered as a Sunday evening special, on the night of 9 February 1969. It was shown on CBS (with commercials).
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(French: Le Songe d'une nuit d'été)
TV
  • France
1969
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1980
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
Dream of a Summer Night
(Italian: Sogno di una Notte d'Estate)
Film
  • Italy
1983
Based on a rock musical directed by Salvatores, it is a musical adaptation.[27][28] It was screened in the "De Sica" section at the 40th edition of the Venice International Film Festival.[29]
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
(Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)
TV
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
1992
A Midsummer Night's Dream Film
  • United Kingdom
1996
Filmed adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1996 version of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream Film
  • United States
  • Germany
  • Italy
1999
A Midsummer Night's Dream was filmed on location in Lazio and Tuscany, and at Cinecittà Studios, Rome, Italy. The action of the play was transported from Athens, Greece, to a fictional Monte Athena, located in the Tuscan region of Italy, although all textual mentions of Athens were retained. The film made use of Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for an 1843 stage production (including the famous Wedding March), alongside operatic works from Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, Gioacchino Rossini and Pietro Mascagni.[30]
The Children's Midsummer Night's Dream Film
  • United Kingdom
2001
  • Derek Jacobi (voice of Theseus)
  • Samantha Bond (voice of Hippolyta)
  • Dominic Haywood-Benge (Oberon)
  • Rajouana Zalal (Titania)
  • Leane Lyson (Puck)
  • Danny Bishop (Lysander)
  • Jamie Peachey (Hermia)
  • Jessica Fowler (Helena)
  • John Heyfron (Demetrius)
  • Oliver Szczypka (Bottom)
  • Daniel Rouse (Peter Quince)
In this version, a group of school children are attending a puppet performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream when they are drawn into the story and become the characters, dressed in Elizabethan costumes.
Get Over It Film
  • United States
2001
A contemporary adaptation set at a high school which includes another version of the play performed as a show-within-a-show, much like the Pyramus and Thisbe subplay in the original Shakespeare.
A Midsummer Night's Rave Film
  • United States
2002
A modern adaptation set at a warehouse party
Midsummer Dream
(Spanish: El Sueño de una Noche de San Juan)
Film
  • Spain
  • Portugal
2005
  • Ángel de la Cruz
  • Manolo Gómez
An animated adaptation of the Cream story.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
(ShakespeaRe-Told)
TV
  • United Kingdom
2005
a modern adaptation
Were the World Mine Film
  • United States
2008
  • Tom Gustafson
The film, inspired by the play, prominently features a modern, LGBT interpretation of the play put on in a private high school in a small town. Additionally, this musical's lyrics are largely based on Shakespeare's original text. For example, the title comes from a line in a song, drawn from a line in a play, "Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated / The rest I'd give to be to you translated."
10ml LOVE Film
  • India
2010
A Hindi romantic comedy concerning the tribulations of a love quadrangle during a night of magic and madness and a contemporary adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
A Midsummer Night's Dream Film
  • United States
2015
Recording of a production at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn, New York.
Strange Magic Film
  • United States
2015
An animated musical fantasy romantic comedy film with feature animation by Lucasfilm Animation and Industrial Light & Magic.[31]
A Midsummer Night's Dream TV
  • United Kingdom
2016
A Midsummer Night's Dream Film
  • United States
2018
  • Casey Wilder Mott
A modern-day version set against the backdrop of Hollywood, CA.

Much Ado About Nothing

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Much Ado About Nothing TV
  • United States
1973
A CBS television presentation of Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival production.
Much Ado About Nothing (Russian: Много шума из ничего) Film
  • Soviet Union
1973
  • Samson Samsonov
Soviet romantic comedy
"Much Ado About Nothing"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1984
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
Much Ado About Nothing Film
  • United Kingdom
1993
"Much Ado About Nothing"
(ShakespeaRe-Told)
TV
  • United Kingdom
2005
A modern adaptation by David Nicholls.
Much Ado About Nothing Film
  • United States
2012
Anyone But You Film
  • United States
2023 A modern adaptation by Will Gluck and Ilana Wolpert.[32]

The Taming of the Shrew

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
The Taming of the Shrew Silent
  • United States
1908
Daring Youth[33] Silent
  • United States
1924
The Taming of the Shrew Film
  • United States
1929
The first sound film adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew.
You Made Me Love You Film
  • United Kingdom
1933
Kiss Me, Kate Film
  • United States
1953
An adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, it tells the tale of musical theater actors, Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi, who were once married and are now performing opposite each other in the roles of Petruchio and Katherine in a Broadway-bound musical version of the play. Already on poor terms, the pair begin an all-out emotional war mid-performance that threatens the production's success.
The Taming of the Shrew TV
  • Australia
1962
The play was performed live but included some filmed sequences shot in Centennial Park.[34][35]
Arivaali
(Tamil: அறிவாளி)
Film
  • India
1963
  • A. T. Krishnaswami
The Taming of the Shrew
(Italian: La Bisbetica domata)
Film
  • Italy
  • United States
1967
"A bawdy and boisterous production which reduces the play to the Katharina/Petruccio romance."[36]
The Taming of the Shrew TV
  • Australia
1973
The Taming of the Shrew TV
  • United States
1973
Videotaped broadcast of the San Francisco American Conservatory Theater presenting Shakespeare's classic take with a Commedia dell'arte flair, as if it were an inn yard performance by a traveling company.
The Taming of the Scoundrel
(Italian: Il Bisbetico Domato)
Film
  • Italy
1980
"The Taming of the Shrew"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1980
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
Kiss Me, Petruchio TV
  • United States
1981
Documentary following actress Streep and actor Julia as they prepare to perform and actually perform Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew for the "Shakespeare in the Park" theater festival in Central Park, New York.
The Taming of the Shrew
(The Shakespeare Collection)
Video
  • United States
1983
  • John Allinson
"Atomic Shakespeare"
(Moonlighting)
TV
  • United States
1986
First aired on 25 November 1986, the episode presented the play through multiple fourth-wall layers with a self-referential frame tale, in which a young fan of the TV show has a Shakespeare reading assignment and imagines it as presented by the show's regular cast.
Nanjundi Kalyana
(Kannada: ನಂಜುಂಡಿ ಕಲ್ಯಾಣ, lit.'Nanjundi's marriage)'
Film
  • India
1989
An adaptation based on Parvathavani's Kannada drama which was a translation of the play. The film was among the biggest grossing Kannada films of 1989, and was remade in Telugu as Mahajananiki Maradalu Pilla (1990).
Mahajananiki Maradalu Pilla
(Telugu: మహాజనానికి మరదలు పిల్ల, lit.'A child of neglect)'
Film
  • India
1990
A remake of the Kannada film Nanjundi Kalyana (1989).
"The Taming of the Shrew"
(Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)
TV
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
1994
  • Aida Ziablikova
10 Things I Hate About You Film
  • United States
1999
A modernization of the play, retold in a late-1990s American high school setting. New student Cameron is smitten with Bianca and, in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating, attempts to get bad boy Patrick to date Bianca's ill-tempered sister, Kat.
The Carnation and the Rose
(Portuguese: O Cravo e a Rosa)
Telenovela
  • Brazil
2000–1
Deliver Us from Eva Film
  • United States
2003
  • Gary Hardwick
"The Taming of The Shrew"
(ShakespeaRe-Told)
TV
  • United Kingdom
2005
  • David Richards
A modern adaptation by Sally Wainwright.
Frivolous Wife
(Korean: 날나리 종부전)[37]
Film
  • South Korea
2008
  • Lim Won-kook

Twelfth Night

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Twelfth Night Film
  • United States
1910
Twelfth Night Film
  • United States
1933
  • Hascy Tarbox (Sir Andrew Aguecheek)
  • Joanne Hill (Viola)
Notable as the earliest surviving film directed by Welles, then aged 17. It is a recording of the dress rehearsal of Welles's own abridged production at his alma mater, the Todd School for Boys, where he had returned to direct this adaptation for the Chicago Drama Festival in 1933.[38]
Twelfth Night
(Russian: Двенадцатая ночь)
Film
  • Soviet Union
1955
Twelfth Night[39] TV
  • Australia
1966
Twelfth Night TV
  • United Kingdom
1970
"Twelfth Night"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1980
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
Twelfth Night[40] Film
  • Australia
1986
Twelfth Night TV
  • United Kingdom
1988 Music by Patrick Doyle and Paul McCartney
"Twelfth Night"
(Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)
TV
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
1992
  • Maria Muat
Twelfth Night Film
  • United Kingdom
1996
Twelfth Night, or What You Will TV
  • United Kingdom
2003
She's the Man Film
  • United States
2006
Adapts the story to a high-school setting.
Twelfth Night Film
  • United Kingdom
2013
"Globe on Screen": All-male cast in an "original practice" production.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
A Spray of Plum Blossoms
(Chinese: 一剪梅; pinyin: Yī jiǎn méi)
Silent film
  • Republic of China (1912–1949)
1931
The film is noted for its attempted "Westernized stylings" including its surreal use of decor, women-soldiers with long hair, etc. The film also had English-subtitles, but as some scholars have noted, since few foreigners watched these films, the subtitles were more to give off an air of the West rather than to serve any real purpose.[41][42]
"The Two Gentlemen of Verona"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1983
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.

Tragedies

[edit]

Antony and Cleopatra

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Antony and Cleopatra Film
  • United States
1908
Antony and Cleopatra
(Italian: Marcantonio e Cleopatra)[43]
Silent film
  • Italy
1913
Antony and Cleopatra TV
  • Australia
1959
  • Bettie Kauffman (Cleopatra)
  • Keith Eden (Antony)
  • Kevin Miles (Caesar)
Antony and Cleopatra[44] Film
  • United Kingdom
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
1972
Antony and Cleopatra TV
  • United Kingdom
1974
  • Jon Scoffield
An adaptation of Trevor Nunn's Royal Shakespeare Company production.
"Antony & Cleopatra"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1981
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
Kannaki Film
  • India
2002

Coriolanus

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
"The Tragedy of Coriolanus"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1984
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
Coriolanus Film
  • United Kingdom
2012

Hamlet

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Hamlet
(French: Le Duel d'Hamlet)
Film
  • France
1900 Believed to have been the earliest film adaptation of the play. The film is two minutes in length. It also was one of the first films to employ the newly discovered art of pre-recording the actors' voices, then playing the recording simultaneous to the playing of the film. So, while produced during the silent film era, the film is technically not a silent film.[45]
Hamlet Silent
  • France
1907 The first multi-scene cinematic adaptation of any work by Shakespeare.[46]
Hamlet Silent
  • France
1908 One of twelve renditions of the play produced during the silent film era.
Hamlet Silent
  • United Kingdom
1912
  • Charles Raymond (Hamlet)
  • Dorothy Foster (Ophelia)
  • Constance Backner (Gertrude)
Hamlet Silent
  • United Kingdom
1913
Made by the Hepworth Company and based on the Drury Lane Theatre's 1913 staging of the work.
Hamlet
(Italian: Amleto)[47]
Silent
  • Italy
1917
Hamlet Silent
  • Germany
1921
Blood for Blood
(Urdu: Khoon Ka Khoon)
Film
  • India
1935
  • Sohrab Modi (Hamlet)
  • Naseem Banu (Ophelia)
  • Shamshadbai (Gertrude)
Cited as one of the earliest talkie adaptations.[48] Credited as "the man who brought Shakespeare to the Indian screen",[49] it was Modi's debut feature film as a director.[49] The story and script were by Mehdi Hassan Ahsan from his Urdu adaptation of Hamlet. Khoon Ka Khoon was the debut in films of Naseem Banu.[50] Khoon Ka Khoon was a "filmed version of a stage performance of the play".[51] The film has been cited by National Film Archive of India founder P K. Nair, as one of "most wanted" missing Indian cinema treasures.[52]
Hamlet Film
  • United Kingdom
1948
Olivier's second film as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed. Hamlet was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.[53] It is also the first sound film of the play in English. Olivier's Hamlet is the Shakespeare film that has received the most prestigious accolades, winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
I, Hamlet
(Italian: Io, Amleto)
Film
  • Italy
1952
Hamlet
(Urdu: हेमलेट)
Film
  • India
1954
Sahu was influenced by "classic European sources".[54] Though termed a "free adaptation" in the credit roll of the film, Sahu stayed true to the title, its setting, and the original names in the play, remaining as close as possible to Olivier's 1948 film.[55]
Hamlet TV
  • Australia
1959
The Bad Sleep Well
(Japanese: 悪い奴ほどよく眠る, romanizedWarui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru)
Film
  • Japan
1960
Hamlet
(German: Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark)
TV
  • West Germany
1961
Ophelia Film
  • France
1963
Hamlet
(Russian: Гамлет, romanized: Gamlet)
Film
  • Soviet Union
1964
Based on a translation by Boris Pasternak, and with a score by Dmitri Shostakovich. Both Kozintsev and the film itself gained prominence among adaptations of the play, and Smoktunovsky is considered one of the great cinematic Hamlets.
Hamlet Film
  • United States
1964
Hamlet at Elsinore TV
  • Denmark
  • United Kingdom
1964
Johnny Hamlet
(Italian: Quella sporca storia nel West, lit.'That Dirty Story in the West)'
Film
  • Italy
1968
A Spaghetti Western version.[56]
Hamlet Film
  • United Kingdom
1969
One Hamlet Less
(Italian: Un Amleto di meno)
Film
  • Italy
1973
  • Carmelo Bene (Hamlet)
  • Luciana Cante (Gertrude)
  • Isabella Russo (Ophelia)
  • Giuseppe Tuminelli (Polonius)
  • Alfiero Vincenti (Claudius)
Hamlet TV
  • Australia
1974
  • Julian Pringle
The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet
(Turkish: İntikam Meleği – Kadın Hamlet)
Film
  • Turkey
1977
  • Fatma Girik (Hamlet)
  • Sevda Ferdag (Her Mother)
  • Reha Yurdakul (Her Uncle)
  • Ahmet Sezerel (Orhan)
"Hamlet, Prince of Denmark"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1980
Strange Brew Film
  • Canada
1983
Hamlet Goes Business
(Finnish: Hamlet liikemaailmassa)
Film
  • Finland
1987
Hamlet Film
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • France
1990
The movie received two Academy Award nominations, for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design (Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo).[57] Bates received a BAFTA nomination as Best Supporting Actor for playing Claudius.[58]
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Film
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
1990
Based on Stoppard's play of the same name, the film depicts two minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who find themselves on the road to Elsinore Castle at the behest of the King of Denmark. They encounter a band of players before arriving to find that they are needed to try to discern what troubles the prince Hamlet. Meanwhile, they ponder the meaning of their existence. The movie won the Golden Lion at the 47th Venice International Film Festival.
"Hamlet"
(Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)
TV
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
1992
  • Natalia Orlova
Renaissance Man Film
  • United States
1994
The Lion King Film
  • United States
1994 An animated epic musical drama film, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The story takes place within a pride of lions in Africa.
In the Bleak Midwinter Film
  • United Kingdom
1995
Hamlet Film
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
1996
The film is notable as the first unabridged theatrical film adaptation, running just over four hours. The play's setting is updated to the 19th century, but its Elizabethan English remains the same. Hamlet was also the last major dramatic motion picture to be filmed entirely on 70 mm film until the release of The Master (2012). Hamlet was highly acclaimed by the majority of critics and has been regarded as one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations ever made.[59][60][61]
Let the Devil Wear Black Film
  • United States
1999
A modern-day version set in Los Angeles. All of the language is modern.[62]
Hamlet Film
  • United States
2000
In this version, Claudius becomes King and CEO of "Denmark Corporation", having taken over the firm by killing his brother, Hamlet's father. This adaptation keeps the Shakespearean dialogue but presents a modern setting, with technology such as video cameras, Polaroid cameras, and surveillance bugs. For example, the ghost of Hamlet's murdered father first appears on closed-circuit TV.
The Tragedy of Hamlet Film
  • United Kingdom
2002
Film of the stage production mounted at Theatre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. Director Brook cut about one-third of the text, bringing it down to two hours and 20 minutes without an intermission and rearranging the order of some scenes.
The Banquet
(Chinese: 夜宴; pinyin: Yè Yàn)
Film
  • China
2006
A loose adaptation of Hamlet and Ibsen's Ghosts, set in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 10th century China.
Hamlet TV
  • United Kingdom
2009
An adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2008 modern-dress stage production.
Tardid
(Persian: تردید, lit.'Doubt)'
Film
  • Iran
2009
Hamlet Film
  • Canada
2011
A condensed retelling of the play set in 1940s England.
Karmayogi Film
  • India
2012
Haider Film
  • India
2014
The Lion King Film
  • United States
2019 A musical drama film, produced and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a photorealistic animated remake of Disney's traditionally animated 1994 film of the same name. The story takes place within a pride of lions in Africa.

Julius Caesar

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Julius Caesar Film
  • United States
1950
The first film version of the play with sound. It was produced using actors from the Chicago area. Heston, who had known Bradley since his youth, was the only paid cast member. Bradley recruited drama students from his alma mater Northwestern University for bit parts and extras, one of whom was future star Jeffrey Hunter, who studied alongside Heston at Northwestern. The 16 mm film was shot in 1949 on locations in the Chicago area, including Soldier Field, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Elks National Veterans Memorial, and the Field Museum. The Indiana sand dunes on Lake Michigan were used for the Battle of Philippi. One indoor set was built in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. To save money, about 80% of the film was shot silently, with the dialogue dubbed in later by the actors.
Julius Caesar Film
  • United States
1953
Brando's casting was met with some skepticism when it was announced, as he had acquired the nickname of "The Mumbler" following his performance in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).[63] Mankiewicz even considered Paul Scofield for the role of Mark Antony if Brando's screen test was unsuccessful.[64] Brando asked John Gielgud for advice in declaiming Shakespeare, and adopted all of Gielgud's recommendations.[65] Brando's performance turned out so well that the New York Times stated in its review of the film: "Happily, Mr. Brando's diction, which has been guttural and slurred in previous films, is clear and precise in this instance. In him a major talent has emerged."[66] Brando was so dedicated in his performance during shooting that Gielgud offered to direct him in a stage production of Hamlet, a proposition that Brando seriously considered but ultimately turned down.[67]
Julius Caesar TV
  • United Kingdom
1969
  • Alan Bridges
filmed for BBC Television.
Julius Caesar Film
  • United Kingdom
1970
The first film version of the play made in colour.[68]
"Julius Caesar"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1979
Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
"Julius Caesar"
(Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)
TV
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
1994
  • Yuri Kulakov
Cel animation
Julius Caesar TV
  • United Kingdom
2012
Royal Shakespeare Company stage production, filmed for BBC Television.
Julius Caesar TV
  • United Kingdom
2018
  • Angus Jackson
  • Alex Waldmann (Brutus)
  • James Corrigan (Mark Antony)
  • Andrew Woodall (Julius Caesar)
  • Martin Hutson (Cassius)
  • Hannah Morrish (Portia)
Royal Shakespeare Company stage production, filmed for BBC Television.
Julius Caesar TV
  • United Kingdom
2018
Donmar Warehouse all-female stage production, filmed for Television.

King Lear

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
King Lear
(Italian: Re Lear)
Silent
  • Italy
1910
  • Gerolamo Lo Savio
King Lear Silent
  • United States
1916
Gunasundari Katha
(Telugu: గుణసుందరి కథ)
Film
  • India
1949
King Lear TV
  • United States
1953
Originally presented live, now survives on kinescope.
King Lear[69][70] Film
  • United Kingdom
1971
King Lear
(Russian: Король Лир, romanizedKorol Lir)
Film
  • Soviet Union
1971
The Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich composed the score.
"King Lear"
(Great Performances)
TV
  • United States
1974 Recording of a New York Shakespeare Festival production.
King Lear TV
  • United Kingdom
1974
  • Tony Davenall
"King Lear"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1982 Released in the US as part of the Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare series.
King Lear TV
  • United Kingdom
1983
Elliott set his Lear in an environment resembling Stonehenge, although the production was entirely shot in a studio. In keeping with the primitive backdrop, this production emphasizes the primitive over the sophisticated. Shakespeare's characters use the clothing, weapons, and technology of the early Bronze Age rather than the Elizabethan era. Olivier's Lear in this production garnered great acclaim, winning him an Emmy for the performance. It was the last of Olivier's appearances in a Shakespeare play. At 75, he was one of the oldest actors to take on this enormously demanding role. (He had previously played it in 1946 at the Old Vic, without much success.)
Ran
(Japanese: , lit.'Chaos)'
Film
  • Japan
  • France
1985
An adaptation of the story in a Japanese setting, Ran was Kurosawa's last epic, and has often been cited as amongst his finest achievements. With a budget of $11 million, it was the most expensive Japanese film ever produced up to that time.[71]
King Lear Film
  • United States
1987
Adapted as post-Chernobyl disaster science fiction. Rather than reproducing a performance of Shakespeare's play, the film is more concerned with the issues raised by the text, and symbolically explores the relationships between power and virtue, between fathers and daughters, words and images. The film deliberately does not use conventional Hollywood film-making techniques which make a film 'watchable', but instead seeks to alienate and baffle its audience in the manner of Berthold Brecht.[72]
Gypsy Lore
(Hungarian: Romani kris - Cigánytörvény)[73]
Film
  • Hungary
1997
  • Đoko Rosić (Lovér)
  • Mihály Szabados (Tamáska)
  • Silvia Pincu (Ilka)
  • Diliana Dimitrova (Kukunda)
  • Violetta Koleva (Sarolta)
A Thousand Acres Film
  • United States
1997 A modern retelling of the Lear story, from the perspective of the Goneril character (Ginny).
King Lear TV
  • United Kingdom
1997
BBC film of the Royal National Theatre's stage version. It was televised with an accompanying documentary, including interviews with the director and cast.
King Lear Film
  • United Kingdom
1999
Apart from Peter Brook's 1971 adaptation, Blessed's is the only other feature-length film adaptation to preserve Shakespeare's verse. Yvonne Griggs, in Shakespeare's King Lear: A close study of the relationship between text and film (2009), characterised it as "a very stilted costume drama".[74]
The Tragedy of King Lear Screenplay
  • United Kingdom
2000 An unfilmed screenplay written by Harold Pinter on a commission from Tim Roth.[75]
King of Texas TV
  • United States
2002
A Western adaptation of King Lear, the film takes the plot of the play and places it in the Republic of Texas during the 19th century.[76]
King Lear TV
  • United Kingdom
2008
It features the same cast and director as the 2007 RSC production, and started filming only a few days after the final performance at the New London Theatre, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.
King Lear TV
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
2018
Set in an alternative universe, 21st-century, highly militarised London.

Macbeth

[edit]
Title M C Y Directors Starring Description
Macbeth Silent
  • United States
1908
The earliest known film version of that play. It was a black and white silent film with English intertitles. It is currently unknown if any print of the film still exists.[77]
Macbeth Silent
  • France
1909
A silent black-and-white film with French intertitles.
Macbeth Silent
  • Italy
1909
The second adaptation that year, and is the third film version. In black-and-white, the runtime is 16 minutes.
Macbeth Silent
  • United Kingdom
1911
Like all films of the time, it is silent with English intertitles, black-and-white, and ran for 14 minutes. No prints are known to exist.[78]
Macbeth Silent
  • Germany
1913
47-minute silent adaptation.[79] It is considered to be lost, but according to Carl Bennett in The Progressive Silent Film List, a print may exist at the George Eastman Museum's International Museum of Photography and Film.[80]
Macbeth Silent
  • France
1915
A silent black-and-white film with French intertitles.
Macbeth Silent
  • United States
1916
The film stars Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Constance Collier, both famous from the stage and for playing Shakespearean parts. Although released during the first decade of feature filmmaking, it was already the seventh version of Macbeth to be produced, one of eight of the silent film era. It is considered to be a lost film. The running time is 80 minutes.[81] In the companion book to his Hollywood television series, Kevin Brownlow states that Sir Herbert Tree failed to understand that the production was a silent film and that speech was not needed so much as pantomime. Tree, who had performed the play numerous times on the stage, kept spouting reams of dialogue. So Emerson and Fleming simply removed the film and cranked an empty camera so as not to waste film when he did so.[82]
The Real Thing at Last Silent
  • United Kingdom
1916
A satirical silent adaptation. It was written in 1916 by Peter Pan creator and playwright J. M. Barrie as a parody of the American entertainment industry. The film was made by the newly created British Actors Film Company in response to news that American filmmaker D. W. Griffith intended to honor the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with the production of a film version. No copies of The Real Thing at Last are known to survive.[83] It parodies the sensationalism of the American entertainment of the day, contrasting it with more reserved British sensibilities. It loosely follows the plot of the play, but two versions of each depicted scene are shown:

In the British version, Lady Macbeth wiped a small amount of blood from her hands; in the American she had to wash away gallons of the stuff. In the British, the witches danced around a small cauldron; in the American the witches became dancing beauties cavorting around a huge cauldron. In the British, Macbeth and Macduff fought in a ditch; in the American Macbeth falls to his death from a skyscraper.[83]

Macbeth Silent
  • United Kingdom
1922
The last silent version, and the eighth film adaptation of the play.
Macbeth Film
  • United States
1948
Macbeth Film
1950s An unsuccessful mid-1950s attempt by Olivier to finance a new film version.
Marmayogi
(Tamil: மர்மயோகி, lit.'The Mysterious Sage, Hindi: एक था राजा, romanizedEk Tha Raja, lit.'Once There Was A King')'
Film
  • India
1951
A film adaptation of the novel Vengeance by Marie Corelli and Macbeth. The film was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi.
"Macbeth"
(Hallmark Hall of Fame)
TV
  • United States
1954
A live television adaptation telecast in color, but has only been preserved on black-and-white kinescope.[84][85]
Joe MacBeth Film
  • United Kingdom
1955
A modern retelling set in a 1930s American criminal underworld. The film's plot closely follows the original.[86]
Throne of Blood
(Japanese: 蜘蛛巣城, romanizedKumonosu-jō, lit.'Spider Web Castle)'
Film
  • Japan
1957
The film transposes the plot from Medieval Scotland to feudal Japan, with stylistic elements drawn from Noh drama. As with the play, the film tells the story of a warrior who assassinates his sovereign at the urging of his ambitious wife. Despite the change in setting and language and numerous creative liberties, in the West Throne of Blood is often considered one of the best film adaptations of the play.
Macbeth TV
  • United States
1960
A filmed-on-location adaptation with the same two stars and director as the 1954 production. Shown on TV in the US and in theatres in Europe.[87]
Macbeth TV
  • Australia
1960
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the production as "visually efficient" but also "a dreadful warning of what can happen when a producer becomes frightened of a great text... a torrent of gabble and shouting. Some of the most concise dramatic poetry in all Shakespeare received treatment worthy of the race results."[88]
Macbeth TV
  • Canada
1961
Macbeth TV
  • Australia
1965
  • Wyn Roberts (Macbeth)
  • Terri Aldred (Lady Macbeth)
  • Keith Eden (Macduff)
  • Keith Lee (Banquo)
  • Peter Hepworth (Fleance)
"Macbeth"
(Play of the Month)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1970
Macbeth[89] Film
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
1971
Macbeth TV
  • United Kingdom
1978
Videotaped version of Nunn's Royal Shakespeare Company production produced by Thames Television. The original stage production was performed at The Other Place, the RSC's small studio theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. It had been performed in the round before small audiences, with a bare stage and simple costuming. The recording preserves this style: the actors perform on a circular set and with a mostly black background; changes of setting are indicated only by lighting changes.
Macbeth
(The Shakespeare Collection)
Video
  • United States
1981
Macbeth TV
  • Hungary
1982 The film is composed of only two shots: The first shot (before the main title) is five minutes long, the second 57 minutes long.[90]
"Macbeth"
(BBC Television Shakespeare)
TV
  • United Kingdom
1983
Macbeth Film
  • France
1987
A film adaptation of Verdi's opera Macbeth (libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on Shakespeare's play) It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.[91]
Men of Respect Film
  • United States
1990
  • William C. Reilly
"Macbeth"
(Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)
TV
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom
1992
  • Nicolai Serebryakov
Macbeth TV
  • United Kingdom
1997
  • Jeremy Freeston
Macbeth on the Estate TV
  • United Kingdom
1997
Modern-setting version in a world of drugs and drug kingpins.
Macbeth TV
  • United Kingdom
1998
Makibefo Film
  • Madagascar
1999
  • Alexander Abela
  • Martin Zia (Makibefo)
  • Neoliny Dety (Valy Makibefo)
  • Jean-Félix (Danikany)
  • Bien Rasoanan Tenaina (Malikomy)
  • Jean-Noël (Makidofy)
Filming took place near the town of Faux Cap, Madagascar, with a single technical assistant. With the exception of an English-speaking narrator, all the roles are played by indigenous Antandroy people (few of whom had ever seen a movie before) who performed a largely improvised story based on Macbeth set in a remote fishing village.[92]
Macbeth TV
  • United Kingdom
2001
Royal Shakespeare Company
Rave Macbeth Film
  • Germany
2001
A loose adaptation set in rave culture.
Scotland, PA Film
  • United States
2001
  • William Morrissette
Maqbool
(Hindi: मक़बूल Urdu: مقبُول)
Film
  • India
2003
"Macbeth"
(ShakespeaRe-Told)
TV
  • United Kingdom
2005
  • Mark Brozel
Set in a three Michelin star restaurant owned by celebrity chef Duncan Docherty, with Joe Macbeth as the sous chef and his wife Ella as the Maître d'. Joe and his fellow chef Billy Banquo are annoyed that Duncan takes the credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm has no real flair for the business. Then they encounter three supernatural binmen who predict that Macbeth will get ownership of the restaurant, as will Billy's children. Joe and Ella are inspired to kill Duncan, but the binmen subsequently warn that Macbeth should be wary of Peter Macduff, the head waiter.
Macbeth Film
  • Australia
2006
Sets the story in a modern-day Melbourne gangster setting, and the actors deliver the dialogue in Australian accents, largely maintains the language of the original play.[93]
Macbeth TV
  • South Africa
2009 An episode