Hamlet (1907 film)

1907 film by Georges Méliès

Hamlet

Production still of the climactic duel

Directed by| Georges Méliès
Based on| Hamlet
1599 play
by William Shakespeare
Starring| Georges Méliès

Production
company

Star Film Company

Release date

* October 1907 (1907-10)

Running time

| 175 meters
Country| France
Language| Silent

Hamlet, released in the United States as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, was a 1907 French short silent film directed by Georges Méliès, based on William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. The film, now presumed lost, was the first cinematic version of any Shakespeare play to unfold across multiple scenes. In 175 meters (roughly ten minutes) of film, it presented a character study of the mentally troubled Prince Hamlet, as seen in glimpses of several famous moments from the play: his encounter with the gravediggers and the skull of Yorick; his meeting with his father's ghost; his betrothed Ophelia, seen in a ghostly vision of her flower-throwing frenzy just before her death; and his final duel with its fatal aftermath.

Méliès, an early French filmmaker known for his innovations, made several films with Shakespearean themes; in Hamlet, he played the title character in addition to conceiving and directing the film. Scholars have highlighted Méliès's groundbreaking use of cinematic techniques to adapt Shakespeare's plot, as well as the adaptation's dreamlike pace and style.

## Plot

[edit]

As gravediggers joke in a cemetery, the melancholy Prince Hamlet contemplates the skull of Yorick, whom he knew in life. This iconic scene is followed by a series of vignettes showing Hamlet's madness: in his room, he is haunted by hallucinations; he encounters his father's ghost, who exhorts Hamlet to exact vengeance on the current king, his uncle; and he sees a ghostly vision of his beloved, the now dead Ophelia, throwing flowers to him. Hamlet crumbles into demented raving, in which state he is discovered by some courtiers, who slowly calm him down.

Later, after an errand designed to keep him away from the court, Hamlet returns and fights a duel in front of the royal throne. After much fighting, Hamlet wins the duel; the king intends to kill Hamlet with a poisoned drink, but his mother drinks it instead and dies. Hamlet, waving aside the courtiers, kills the king and then throws himself on his own sword. As he dies, he reveals to the court the reason for his vengeance. The courtiers lay Hamlet's body on his shield, and carry him out on their shoulders.[1]

## Cast

[edit]

* Georges Méliès as Hamlet

## Production

[edit]

The pioneering Parisian filmmaker Georges Méliès had multiple cinematic encounters with the plays of William Shakespeare. The first, his 1901 film The Devil and the Statue, had alluded to Romeo and Juliet by including a balcony scene and Venetian lovers called Roméo and Juliette. (An earlier Méliès work, the 1899 film Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb, is sometimes called simply Cléopatre, but it is not connected to Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.)[2] Méliès also dabbled in Shakespeare in his 1905 film The Venetian Looking-Glass, which incorporates the character of Shylock from The Merchant of Venice.[3] However, these earlier films had merely borrowed elements from Shakespearean works; by contrast, Méliès's 1907 version of Hamlet was a true Shakespearean adaptation.[2]

Méliès himself played Hamlet.[2] Special effects used in the film appear to have included multiple exposures for Hamlet's ghostly visions.[4]

The film was the first multi-scene cinematic adaptation of any work by Shakespeare.[5] Later in 1907, Méliès made his last Shakespearean film, Shakespeare Writing "Julius Caesar", in which Méliès played Shakespeare himself.[2]

## Release and reception

[edit]

Hamlet was released by Méliès's Star Film Company, and is numbered 980–987 in its catalogues. It was registered for American copyright at the Library of Congress on 15 October 1907.[6]

The film scholar Robert Hamilton Ball, in his study of Shakespearean silent films, highlights the ways in which Méliès adapted the story in order to tell it in truly cinematic language, a historically unprecedented achievement. (Earlier Shakespeare films by others had stuck to purely theatrical techniques, seeking merely to film scenes from the plays as they were performed onstage.) Ball comments: "It is easy to brand this ten-minute film an absurd simplification … but it was nevertheless a distinct advance over anything which had heretofore been achieved in Shakespeare film."[2]

In his book Shakespeare, Cinema, and Society, John Collick compares Méliès's film to the Expressionist theatrical productions of Adolphe Appia and Edward Gordon Craig, saying that Méliès's use of "multiple exposures and dream-like Expressionist imagery … unconsciously recreat[ed] the spirit, if not the intention, of Appia's and Craig's ideas." Collick also highlights that by condensing the play into a brief succession of fragmentary scenes, Méliès was able to concentrate on the theme of madness in an artistically expressive way.[4]

All told, an estimated forty-one film adaptations of Hamlet were made during the silent era. Like many of these, Méliès's version is currently presumed lost.[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Méliès, Georges (1905), Complete Catalogue of Genuine and Original "Star" Films, New York: Geo. Méliès, p. 136
2. ^ a b c d e Ball, Robert Hamilton (1968), Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History, New York: Theater Arts Books, pp. 34–35, ISBN 9781134980840
3. ^ Malthête, Jacques; Mannoni, Laurent (2008), L'oeuvre de Georges Méliès, Paris: Éditions de La Martinière, p. 178
4. ^ a b Collick, John (1989), Shakespeare, Cinema and Society, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 76–77, ISBN 9780719024474
5. ^ Guneratne, Anthony (2006), "Cinema Studies: 'Thou dost usurp authority': Beerbohm Tree, Reinhardt, Olivier, Welles, and the Politics of Adapting Shakespeare", in Henderson, Diana E. (ed.), A Concise Companion to Shakespeare on Screen, Malden, MA: Blackwell, p. 38, ISBN 9781405148887
6. ^ Malthête & Mannoni 2008, p. 352
7. ^ Cartmell, Deborah (2008), "Theater on film and film on theater in Hamlet", in Fotheringham, Richard; Jansohn, Christ; White, R. S. (eds.), Shakespeare's World/World Shakespeares: The Selected Proceedings of the International Shakespeare Association World Congress, Brisbane, 2006, Newark: University of Delaware Press, p. 176, ISBN 9780874139891

## External links

[edit]

* Hamlet at IMDb
* Hamlet at AllMovie

* v
* t
* e

William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Characters|

* Hamlet
* Claudius
* Gertrude
* Ghost
* Polonius
* Laertes
* Ophelia
* Horatio
* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
* Fortinbras
* The Gravediggers
* Yorick

Soliloquies|

* "To be, or not to be"
* "Mortal coil"
* "What a piece of work is a man"
* "Speak the speech"

Words and phrases|

* "Hoist with his own petard"
* "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"
* "Thy name is"

Terminology|

* Dumbshow
* Induction
* Quiddity
* Substitution

* Sources
* Criticism

* Legend of Hamlet
* The Spanish Tragedy
* Ur-Hamlet
* Critical approaches
* Bibliographies
* Saxo Grammaticus
* House of Gonzaga
* Damon and Pythias

Influence|

* Common phrases from Hamlet
* Cultural references to Hamlet
* Cultural references to Ophelia
* Language of flowers
* Human skull symbolism

Performances|

* Moscow Art Theatre (1911–1912)
* Richard Burton (1964)
* List of skulls used to depict Yorick

On screen|

* 1900
* 1907
* 1908
* 1912
* 1913
* 1917
* 1921
* 1935
* 1948
* 1954
* 1961
* 1964
* 1969
* 1974
* 1990
* 1996
* 2000
* 2011
* upcoming film

Adaptations|

| Films|

* The Rest Is Silence (1959)
* The Bad Sleep Well (1960)
* Ophelia (1963)
* Johnny Hamlet (1968)
* One Hamlet Less (1973)
* The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet (1977)
* Strange Brew (1983)
* Hamlet Goes Business (1987)
* The Lion King (1994)
* Let the Devil Wear Black (1999)
* The Banquet (2006)
* Doubt (2009)
* Karmayogi (2012)
* Haider (2014)
* Hamlet A.D.D. (2014)
* Hemanta (2016)
* Ophelia (2018)
* The Lion King (2019)

|

Novels|

* Hamlet Had an Uncle (1940)
* Too, Too Solid Flesh (1989)
* Gertrude and Claudius (2000)
* Dating Hamlet (2002)
* The Dead Fathers Club (2006)
* Something Rotten (2007)
* Hamlet's Father (2008)
* The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (2008)

Plays|

* Hamletmachine (1977)
* Dogg's Hamlet (1979)
* Fortinbras (1991)

Musicals|

* Rockabye Hamlet (1973)

Television|

* Hamlet (Australian TV, 1959)
* Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC, 1964)
* Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (BBC, 1980)
* Hamlet (BBC 2, animated, 1992)
* Hamlet (BBC 2, 2009)

Parodies|

* 15-Minute Hamlet
* The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
* I, Hamlet
* The Klingon Hamlet
* "Lyle the Kindly Viking"
* To Be or Not to Be: That is the Adventure
* "Tales from the Public Domain"
* The Skinhead Hamlet

Songs|

* "My Robin is to the greenwood gone" (16th century)
* "Pull Me Under" (1992)
* "Song for Athene" (1997)

Opera/classical|

* Hamlet (Thomas)
* Amleto (Faccio)
* Hamlet (Tchaikovsky)
* Tristia (Berlioz)
* Die Hamletmaschine (Rihm)
* Hamlet (Dean)

In popular culture|

| Films|

* To Be or Not to Be (1942)
* A Performance of Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja (1973)
* To Be or Not to Be (1983)
* Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
* Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
* Last Action Hero (1993)
* Renaissance Man (1994)
* In the Bleak Midwinter (1995)
* War (2002)
* Hamlet 2 (2008)
* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (2009)
* Three Days (of Hamlet) (2012)
* Grand Theft Hamlet (2024)

|

Plays|

* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966)
* Stage Blood (1974)
* I Hate Hamlet (1991)
* To Be or Not to Be (2008)

Novels|

* Hamlet, Revenge! (1937)
* Theatre of War (1994)
* "The Undiscovered" (1997)
* The Shakespeare Stealer (1998)
* Interred with Their Bones (2007)
* Hamnet (2020)

Television|

* "The Producer" (1966)
* "The Conscience of the King" (1966)
* "Born to Be King" (1983)
* "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" (2001)
* Slings & Arrows (2003)

Video games|

* Last Action Hero (1993)
* Hamlet (2010)
* Elsinore (2019)

Books|

* Asterix and the Great Crossing
* The Seagull
* Sharpe's Havoc

Art|

* Ophelia (Millais)
* Ophelia (Cabanel)
* Affe mit Schädel
* Ophelia (Waterhouse)
* Polish Hamlet. Portrait of Aleksander Wielopolski
* The River Bank (Ophelia)

Related|

* Hamlet and Oedipus
* Hamlet and His Problems
* Hebenon
* Hamlet Q1
* Ostalo je ćutanje
* The Chronicles of Amber
* "Symphony No. 65" (Haydn)
* The Hobart Shakespeareans
* Gertrude – The Cry
* Poor Murderer
* Something Rotten!
* Sons of Anarchy

* v
* t
* e

Georges Méliès

Actualities|

* Actualities (1896–1900)
* Reconstructed actualities (1897–1902)

Films|

| 1896|

* Playing Cards
* Conjuring
* Watering the Flowers
* The Rag-Picker
* Post No Bills
* The Rescue on the River
* A Terrible Night
* Arrival of a Train (Joinville Station)
* A Lightning Sketch
* Conjurer Making Ten Hats in Sixty Seconds
* A Serpentine Dance
* Miss de Vère (English Jig)
* The Vanishing Lady
* The Haunted Castle
* Tom Old Boot

|

1897|

* A Nightmare
* Comedian Paulus Singing
* A Funny Mahometan
* An Hallucinated Alchemist
* The Haunted Castle
* On the Roofs
* D. Devant, Conjurer
* The School for Sons-in-law
* The Last Cartridges
* The Surrender of Tournavos
* Sea Fighting in Greece
* Gugusse and the Automaton
* Between Calais and Dover
* The Laboratory of Mephistopheles
* The Barber and the Farmer
* The Bewitched Inn
* A Private Dinner
* After the Ball
* A Hypnotist at Work
* Dancing in a Harem

1898|

* A Novice at X-Rays
* Divers at Work on the Wreck of the "Maine"
* The Magician
* The Famous Box Trick
* Pygmalion and Galatea
* Adventures of William Tell
* The Astronomer's Dream
* The Cave of the Demons
* The Four Troublesome Heads
* The Temptation of Saint Anthony

1899|

* A Dinner Under Difficulties
* Robbing Cleopatra's Tomb
* The Bridegroom's Dilemma
* An Up-to-Date Conjuror
* The Devil in a Convent
* The Pillar of Fire
* The Clown and Automobile
* A Mysterious Portrait
* Christ Walking on the Water
* Summoning the Spirits
* The Dreyfus Affair
* The Human Pyramid
* Cinderella
* The Snow Man
* The Mysterious Knight

1900|

* Addition and Subtraction
* The Miracles of the Brahmin
* The Cook's Revenge
* The Misfortunes of an Explorer
* Paris Exposition, 1900
* The One-Man Band
* Joan of Arc
* The Rajah's Dream
* The Two Blind Men
* The Artist and the Mannikin
* Thanking the Audience
* The Christmas Dream
* Crying and Laughing
* Coppelia, the Animated Doll
* Fat and Lean Wrestling Match
* A Fantastical Meal
* Going to Bed Under Difficulties
* The Doctor and the Monkey
* What Is Home Without the Boarder
* China Versus Allied Powers
* The Brahmin and the Butterfly
* The Triple-Headed Lady
* Dislocation Extraordinary
* Red Riding Hood

1901|

* The Magician's Cavern
* Excelsior!
* The Sacred Fountain
* Blue Beard
* The Man with the Rubber Head

1902|

* The Eruption of Mount Pelee
* The Catastrophe of the Balloon "Le Pax"
* A Trip to the Moon
* The Shadow-Girl
* The Coronation of Edward VII
* The Treasures of Satan
* The Human Fly
* Up-to-Date Surgery
* Gulliver's Travels Among the Lilliputians and the Giants
* Robinson Crusoe
* The Marvellous Wreath

1903|

* Misfortune Never Comes Alone
* The Infernal Cake Walk
* The Mysterious Box
* The Queen's Musketeers
* The Enchanted Well
* The Inn Where No Man Rests
* The Drawing Lesson
* The Mystical Flame
* The Witch's Revenge
* The Oracle of Delphi
* A Spiritualistic Photographer
* The Melomaniac
* The Monster
* The Kingdom of the Fairies
* The Infernal Cauldron
* The Apparition
* Jupiter's Thunderbolts
* Ten Ladies in One Umbrella
* Jack Jaggs and Dum Dum
* Bob Kick, the Mischievous Kid
* Extraordinary Illusions
* Alcofrisbas, the Master Magician
* Jack and Jim
* The Magic Lantern
* The Ballet-Master's Dream
* The Damnation of Faust
* The Terrible Turkish Executioner
* A Moonlight Serenade

1904|

* Tit for Tat
* A Wager Between Two Magicians, or Jealous of Myself
* Every Man His Own Cigar Lighter
* The Bewitched Trunk
* The Fugitive Apparitions
* The Untamable Whiskers
* The Clockmaker's Dream
* The Imperceptible Transmutations
* A Miracle Under the Inquisition
* Faust and Marguerite
* Tchin-Chao, the Chinese Conjurer
* The Wonderful Living Fan
* The Cook in Trouble
* The Mermaid
* The Providence of the Waves
* The Barber of Seville
* The Wonderful Rose-Tree
* The Impossible Voyage
* The Firefall
* The Christmas Angel

1905|

* The Living Playing Cards
* The Black Imp
* The Crystal Casket
* The Lilliputian Minuet
* A Mesmerian Experiment
* The Venetian Looking-Glass
* The Palace of the Arabian Nights
* The Tower of London
* The Enchanted Sedan Chair
* An Adventurous Automobile Trip
* The Mysterious Island
* Unexpected Fireworks
* Rip's Dream
* The Scheming Gambler's Paradise
* The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship

1906|

* A Mix-up in the Gallery
* The Chimney Sweep
* The Tramp and the Mattress Makers
* The Hilarious Posters
* A Desperate Crime
* Punch and Judy
* A Roadside Inn
* Soap Bubbles
* The Merry Frolics of Satan
* A Seaside Flirtation
* The Mysterious Retort
* The Witch
* Robert Macaire and Bertrand

1907|

* Rogues' Tricks
* Under the Seas
* How Bridget's Lover Escaped
* Tunnelling the English Channel
* The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon
* Hamlet
* Shakespeare Writing "Julius Caesar"
* Sightseeing Through Whisky
* Good Glue Sticks
* Satan in Prison
* Delirium in a Studio
* The Knight of Black Art
* The Good Luck of a "Souse"

1908|

* Humanity Through the Ages
* The Genii of Fire
* Why That Actor Was Late
* The Dream of an Opium Fiend
* Long Distance Wireless Photography
* The Prophetess of Thebes
* In the Barber Shop
* A Fake Diamond Swindler
* The New Lord of the Village
* The Miser
* Sideshow Wrestlers
* The Broken Violin
* A Love Tragedy in Spain
* Mishaps of the New York–Paris Race
* The Woes of Roller Skaters
* Love and Molasses
* The Mischances of a Photographer
* The Indian Sorcerer
* A Tricky Painter's Fate
* French Cops Learning English
* Fun With the Bridal Party
* Not Guilty
* Buncoed Stage Johnnie
* A Grandmother's Story
* The Helping Hand
* The Old Footlight Favorite
* Honeymoon in a Balloon
* The Duke's Good Joke
* Incident from Don Quixote
* The Fairy Dragonfly
* Moitié de polka
* Fortune Favors the Brave
* Hypnotist's Revenge
* Pharmaceutical Hallucinations
* The Good Shepherdess and the Evil Princess
* The Living Doll
* Seein' Things
* The Frozen Policeman
* Tribulation or the Misfortunes of a Cobbler

1909|

* The Doctor's Secret
* The Diabolic Tenant
* Whimsical Illusions
* King of the Mediums
* The Spider and the Butterfly

1911|

* Baron Munchausen's Dream
* The Diabolical Church Window

1912|

* The Conquest of the Pole
* Cinderella or the Glass Slipper
* The Knight of the Snows
* The Voyage of the Bourrichon Family

Related|

* Jehanne d'Alcy (wife)
* Gaston Méliès (brother)
* Georges Méliès in culture
* Le Grand Méliès (1952 documentary)
* Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film prologue)
* The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007 book)
* Hugo (2011 film)
* Théâtre Robert-Houdin

* Filmography
* Bibliography
* Category

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