Richard III

Synopsis: A much shortened record of F.R. Benson’s production filmed at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford in 1911 with Benson as King Richard. The film makes no attempt to be other than what it is, a stationary camera recording of a stage performance. With captions which take up almost half the film footage the narrative still remains unclear. Ball op cit writes ‘This film, then, is stage film at its worst, theatrical rather than cinematic in its methods and effects, a series of incomprehensible illustrations of subjects described by titles, of unrecognisable people doing unintelligible things’.
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Silent
Year of release: 1911
Duration: 15 mins; 1,385 feet

Notes: The BFI National Archive viewing copy is 1324ft.
General: The cast is taken from the Company’s performance at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre 21 April 1911; not necessarily all those named appear in the film.
Reviews: Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp84-8, 322-3). McKernan, Luke and Olwen Terris. Walking Shadows: Shakespeare in the National Film and Television Archive. London: BFI, 1994 (p. 136).

Alfred Brydone	King Edward IV
Elinor Aickin	Duchess of York
Hetty Kenyon	Richard, the young Duke of York
Murray Carrington	George, Duke of Clarence
Alfred Wild	Murderer (2)
Alfred Wild	Sir William Catesby
Cecil Dighton	Sir James Blunt
Constance Benson	Lady Anne
Eric Maxin	Earl of Richmond
F. R. Benson	Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard
George Manship	Earl of Oxford
H. James	Sir James Tyrrel
Harry Caine	Lord Hastings
J. Victor	Lord Mayor of London
James Berry	Ghost of King Henry VI
James Maclean	Duke of Norfolk
John Howell (2)	Sir Robert Brackenbury
Kathleen Yorke	Edward, Prince of Wales
L. Rupert	Sir Richard Ratcliffe
Moffat Johnston	Duke of Buckingham
R.I. Conrick	Lord Rivers
Victor McClure	Earl of Surrey
Violet Farebrother	Queen Elizabeth
Wilfred Caithness	Stanley, Earl of Derby

British Universities Film & Video Council