Richard III (1955)

Laurence Olivier directed three Shakespeare adaptations, and Richard III, released in 1955, was the last. It was not successful at the box office, perhaps because it was shown on television the same day it was released. It prevented an Olivier MacBeth, which couldn't get financing, but upon re-release in the mid-sixties it set box office records.

When I think of all the filmed adaptations of Shakespeare, and I've seen a lot of them, Olivier's Richard III is right up with the best of them (I'd also include Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, Kenneth Branagh's Henry V, and of course Olivier's Hamlet). The key is Olivier's understated performance as one of the worst villains in all of Shakespeare. He's made up with an anteater's nose, and he's always thinking. He also has a vicious sense of humor, as in the way he says lines like, "I'll have her, but I won't keep her long."

The play is about the end of the War of the Roses. Olivier, rightly so, begins his film with a bit of Henry VI, Part 3, when Edward IV is coronated as King of England. Richard is his younger brother, who lusts for the crown. In fact, a crown is the recurring symbol of the film, as it is focused on many times. The throne is a simple wooden chair, but the crown is the thing to have. Early in the film, Richard puts his crown on a pillow held by a herald, which slips off onto the ground. This was a mistake, but Olivier brilliantly keeps it in, a foreshadowing of events.

Richard wants the crown, but there are people standing in the way, so he gets rid of them. His other brother, the Duke of Clarence (John Gielgud) ends up drowned in a butt of wine, after Richard suggests he is traitorous to Edward. After learning of Clarence's death, Edward (Cedric Hardwicke) becomes ill and dies of his own accord. His son, Edward V, just 12 years old, is rushed to London to be crowned, but never is. Historians don't know what happened to him and his brother, afterward known as the Princes in the Tower, but Shakespeare lays the blame squarely on Richard.

He becomes king, but soon everybody is abandoning him, including his former hatchetman, Buckingham (Ralph Richardson). A final battle will take place between Richard and the usurping Richmond (later Henry VII). When Richard is knocked off his horse, his crown goes rolling.

The film is set in the proper time period (Olivier didn't fuss with modernizations). The color, pageantry, and pomp of the court is well done. While not historically accurate (there is a society devoted to clearing Richard's name) the set and costumes are authentic. It was shot in VistaVision, and the color had badly faded, and a top-notch restoration was done.

Olivier delivers his monologues directly to the audience, as if we were in on his scheme. He was said to be modeled after Broadway producer Jed Harris, whom Olivier called the most loathsome man he had ever met. Olivier's Richard is a two-faced man, who seems to be loved by his brothers and nephews, kissing up to them while plotting their deaths. He blames this on his deformities--a hunchback, a withered arm, one leg shorter than the other. Not only is there a hump on his back, but also a giant chip.

The rest of the cast is also excellent. There are four future knights--Olivier, Hardwicke, Gielgud, and Richardson, and terrific performances by Claire Bloom as Lady Anne, who marries Richard even though he killed her husband (she spits on him twice, but agrees to marry him, which is something that no actress, however accomplished, could make me believe).

There is only one other Richard III on film that I know of, with Ian McKellan as Richard set in a fascist England of the '30s. It has it's moments, but if you want to know the play, watch Olivier's version. It's about two-and-a-half hours long, but was severely cut--it runs four hours unabridged (it's the long of Shakespeare's plays except for Hamlet).