British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Othello

Alternative title
Otello
Synopsis
Feature film. Adaptation by Boris Pasternak. Sometimes imaginative, sometimes stolid, the production takes every opportunity to get out of the studio. Sergei Bondarchuk is Othello.
Language
English
Country
Former USSR
Medium
Film; Video
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1955
Duration
106 mins; 9,572 feet

Credits

Director
Sergei Yutkevich
Cinematographer
Evgeny Andrikanis
Writer
Boris Pasternak; William Shakespeare
Screenplay
Sergei Yutkevich
Music
Aram Khachaturian
Production Design
A. Vaisfeld; M. Kariakan; O. Krochinina; V. Dorrer
Cast
Sergei BondarchukOthello
Irina SkobtsevaDesdemona
Andrei PopovIago
Vladimir SoshalskyMichael Cassio
Antonina MaximovaEmilia
A KelbererMontano
P. BrillingLodovico
Yevgeni VesnikRoderigo

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
Othello
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
Related items
Othello Premiere
Week in Film No. 34/1955

Notes

History
An English dubbed version printed in Technicolor was made available in Britain, with Howard Marion Crawford supplying the voice of Othello, and Kathleen Byron as Desdemona. The BFI National Archive, London holds the original Sovcolor version.

USA premiere 15 May 1960.
Awards
Cannes Film Festival 1956 - Best Director
Documentation
See Yutkevich: ‘Shekspiri i Kino’ ('Shakespeare and Film’) (Moscow, 1973)
Reviews
Davies, Anthony ‘Filming Othello’ in Davies, Anthony and Wells, Stanley (eds). Shakespeare and the Moving Image: the Plays on Film and Television. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 196-210. [Compares the films of Othello by Orson Welles, Stuart Burge, and Sergei Yutkevich].

Production Company

Name

Mosfilm

Name

Universal International

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7255 1444
Fax
020 7436 0165
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Distributor

Name

Castle Home Video

Email
info@santruaryrecords.co.uk
Web
http://www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk External site opens in new window
Phone
020 8974 1021
Fax
020 8974 3700
Address
Sanctuary Records Group
A29 Barwell Business Park
Leatherhead Road
Chessington
KT9 2NY

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets

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