British Universities Film & Video Council

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King Henry V

Synopsis
Televised broadcast of John Barton’s Elizabethan Theatre Company production of the play. As producer Michael MacOwan emphasises, this production "should be thought of not so much as a television production of Henry V, but as an attempt to show on the television screen the work that is being done by a group of young actors who are trying to return to the essentials of Elizabethan playing’" (Radio Times, 15 May 1953, p. 26).
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Television
Transmission details
19 May 1953 at 20:45 (Channel: BBC)
Duration
97 mins
Availability
Unavailable

Credits

Producer
John Barton; Michael MacOwan
Writer
William Shakespeare
Art Direction
Reece Pemberton
Cast
Colin GeorgeKing Henry V
Toby RobertsonChorus
Michael DavidArchbishop of Canterbury
Bernadette SorelPrincess Katherine of France (Katherine)
Michael DavidDauphin
Clifford RoseGovernor of Harfleur
Clifford RoseSir Thomas Erpingham
Clifford RoseAmbassador
Clifford RoseEarl of Salisbury
Frank WindsorMichael Williams
Frank WindsorAncient Pistol (Pistol)
Gordon GostelowFluellen
Gordon GostelowEarl of Westmoreland
James RougheadDuke of Exeter
Jocelyne PageHostess, formerly Mistress Quickly
Jocelyne PageQueen Isabel of France (Queen Isabel)
John SouthworthMontjoy
John SouthworthKing Charles VI of France
Keith FaulknerBoy (Falstaff’s page)
Michael DavidEarl of Warwick
Peter JeffreyConstable of France
Peter JeffreyJamy
Reginald SelousCorporal Nym (Nim)
Reginald SelousLord Rambures
Roger MilnerMacmorris
Roger MilnerFrench soldier (Le Fer)
Roger MilnerJohn Bates
Roger MilnerEnglish Herald
Toby RobertsonGower
Toby RobertsonDuke of Burgundy
Toby RobertsonBishop of Ely
Toby RobertsonDuke of York
Trenor StanleyDuke of Bourbon
Trenor StanleyDuke of Bedford
Trenor StanleyEarl of Grandpre
William LawfordDuke of Orleans
William LawfordBardolph
William LawfordDuke of Gloucester
Yvonne BonnamyAlice

Additional Details

Theatre company
Elizabethan Theatre Company
Production type
Television and Radio Drama
Plays
Henry V
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Doubling of roles

Notes

Notes
The introductory exhortions of the Chorus ("Into a thousand parts divide one man ...") seems to have been used as the principal motto for this production in which some actors played four or five roles.
General
Production cost: £ 586 (BBC Play Library)
History
This production was presented as the first of the Elizabethan Theatre Company’s new season at Canterbury, England.
Figures
The BBC Research Report indicates that 36% of the adult viewing public watched the broadcast, but their responses added up to a "Reaction Index" of only 52, compared with 71 for Morley’s 1951 Life of Henry V (cf. Rothwell/Melzer, p. 95). The Reaction Index is a measurement of the quality
and success of the programme with the audience who had watched it. It is based on a range of 0 to 100.)
Reviews
Rothwell, Kenneth S. and Annabelle Henkin Melzer, Shakespeare on Screen: An International Filmography and Videography (London: Mansell, 1990), entry 174, p.95.

Online Availability

Online URL
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1048671/index.html

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Record Stats

This record has been viewed 1660 times.