Othello

Synopsis: Televised version of the play produced by George More O’Ferrall with Kevin Sheldon as associate producer. Stephen Murray is Iago, Andre Morell stars as Othello and Joan Hopkins makes her television debut as Desdemona. With music composed by Clifton Parker.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Television
Transmission details: 23 Apr 1950 at 20:30 (Channel: BBC)
Duration: 135 mins
Availability: No copy traced

Notes: Comments on this production in Radio Times suggest that producer O’Ferrall made advantageous use of the intimacy of the television medium when handling Iago’s reflective soliloquies: "by allowing the actor to speak softly he gives an impression of musing aloud that could hardly be achieved if the voice had to carry through a theatre" (21 April 1950, p. 42).
History: Transmitted as part of the annual Shakespeare birthday commemorations.
Figures: Reaction Index 75 (BBC Audience Research). 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: Lionel Hale, television drama critic for Radio Times, found "Andre Morrell’s Othello himself too much confined, too conversational, in this production ... .Stephen Murray’s Iago, though missing all the sergeant-major quality of the part, substituted a mastery of its own; and, throughout, the production elucidated the play with a magnificent command of both meaning and movement" (5 May 1950, p. 49).

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