This is not one of my favorite plays.\u00a0 Part of that is my allegiance to the House of Lancaster.\u00a0 Henry IV and Henry V seemed like my kind of guys so I was sorry to see the House of York pry back the crown from their side in Henry VI Parts I, II & III.\u00a0 But more than that, it\u2019s the spectacle of a monster like Richard crushing the people around him, his family in fact, without any compunction or even much difficulty.\u00a0 His brothers Edward and George are oblivious to his treachery even as it is being accomplished.\u00a0 His other enemies are more aware but equally powerless to save themselves from his malice.\u00a0 He moves from outrage to outrage upping the ante at each stage.\u00a0 Finally, he assigns a merciless assassin to smother his nine and twelve-year-old nephews with their own pillow to ensure that they never have the chance to revenge themselves on Richard for his usurpation of their father\u2019s crown.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s the matter of Lady Anne.\u00a0 She is the widow of the Lancaster heir to the throne, Henry VI\u2019s son Edward.\u00a0 And it was Richard who killed Edward.\u00a0 Having Anne agree to wed Richard is the final outrage that just makes the play a bridge too far for me.\u00a0 I mean, come on! Richard is a hunchbacked, withered armed, monster.\u00a0 Anne spits in his face and calls him a fiend and then willingly marries him.\u00a0 This is a tough play to understand.<\/p>\n
Anyway, Olivier plays Richard to the hilt.\u00a0 He is actually comical at certain points in his jocular, two-faced portrayal of the monster.\u00a0 Olivier has surrounded himself with an all-star cast of Shakespearean professionals.\u00a0 Cedric Hardwicke is his brother King Edward IV, John Gielgud is his brother George, Duke of Clarence, Ralph Richardson is Duke of Buckingham and Claire Bloom is Lady Anne.\u00a0 The acting is good.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that I can\u2019t stomach the plot.\u00a0 To see evil just dance along while well meaning people are led to the slaughter irks me.\u00a0 The ending should be consolation enough.\u00a0 Richard gets his comeuppance and pays the price.\u00a0 But the play rubs me the wrong way.\u00a0 It\u2019s the way that good seems to be powerless to resist evil.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost as if it gives up without a fight.\u00a0 Oh well.<\/p>\n
So, as you can tell I don\u2019t love this play but I recognize that it\u2019s really about me and my way of looking at the world. \u00a0I acknowledge that this is a well-acted version of the play and the production is full of nice touches.\u00a0 The chanting monks, the cinematography of the battle scene, the excellent set design, the skill of the cast.\u00a0 Olivier\u2019s elocution and mastery of the part demands it be seen.\u00a0 He gives us a consummate and thoroughgoing villain.\u00a0 All of it recommends this play to the Shakespeare devotee.\u00a0 So, I do recommend this version.\u00a0 It is well done and deserves high praise.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019d rather watch Hamlet.\u00a0 I\u2019d rather watch Henry V.\u00a0 Richard III rankles me no little bit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is not one of my favorite plays.\u00a0 Part of that is my allegiance to the House of Lancaster.\u00a0 Henry IV and Henry V seemed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,238,237],"tags":[1439,747,2354,890,43,191,1440,38,1355,2449,295,2363],"class_list":["post-10696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-classic-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-cedric-hardwicke","tag-england","tag-john-gielgud","tag-laurence-olivier","tag-movie-review","tag-ocf-classic-movie-review","tag-ralph-richardson","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-richard-iii","tag-shakespeare","tag-shakespeare-in-film"],"yoast_head":"\n