I\u2019ve been looking for a good print of this movie for a few years.\u00a0 Orson Welles made this in his later years when money for his productions was very hard to find.\u00a0 So, he allied himself with a Spanish production company.\u00a0 The movie didn\u2019t make any money and the prints of the film weren\u2019t preserved well.\u00a0 But at last, I was able to see a good copy.<\/p>\n
The story is a pasting together of sections of three of Shakespeare\u2019s plays (Henry IV \u2013 Part 1, Henry IV Part 2 and Henry V) that deal with Prince Hal and Falstaff.\u00a0 Welles was able to assemble a cast that did justice to the work.\u00a0 Welles plays Falstaff and was born for the part.\u00a0 John Gielgud is King Henry IV and Jeanne Moreau plays Doll Tearsheet.\u00a0 Ralph Richardson performs narration.\u00a0 The rest of the cast I\u2019m not familiar with but I will say they acquit themselves admirably especially Keith Baxter, the actor playing Prince Hal.<\/p>\n
This is Shakespeare, not modern cinema so not all audiences will enjoy it.\u00a0 But for those who have a liking for the Bard this motion picture will reward your time.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very human tale of a young man (Prince Hal) rebelling against his place in the world.\u00a0 And at the same time, it is the story of a larger-than-life character, Falstaff.\u00a0 A man that combines wit, braggadocio, cowardice, humor, lust for life and villainy in almost equal proportions.<\/p>\n
Technically there are some aspects of the film that aren\u2019t up to modern standards.\u00a0 The audio track isn\u2019t perfect.\u00a0 But for the most part it\u2019s an engaging production.\u00a0 Even the battle scene which was made on a very small budget is a cinematic success and enhances the film.<\/p>\n
I need to buy a good copy of this film.\u00a0 I can see watching this one about every six months or so.\u00a0 Recommended for the lover of Shakespeare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve been looking for a good print of this movie for a few years.\u00a0 Orson Welles made this in his later years when money for<\/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":[239,237],"tags":[2354,43,2758,1440,38,1355,295,2363],"class_list":["post-19934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-john-gielgud","tag-movie-review","tag-orson-welles","tag-ralph-richardson","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-shakespeare","tag-shakespeare-in-film"],"yoast_head":"\n