Hamlet (1948 Film) - Influence

Influence

In the past, the 1948 film was often considered the definitive cinematic rendition of Hamlet. Over the years, however, it has lost some of its status, especially in comparison to Olivier's versions of Henry V and Richard III. This is primarily because Olivier, according to some critics, overemphasized Hamlet's Oedipal fixation on his mother, and because Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of the most important supporting characters in the play, were completely omitted from this film version, robbing the film of what could have been some of its best comedic moments. (The fact that Rosencrantz and Guildernstern had been included in the 1969 Nicol Williamson - Tony Richardson Hamlet and the 1990 Mel Gibson - Franco Zeffirelli version, both of which are shorter than Olivier's, did not help Olivier's rationale that the play needed such drastic cuts to work on screen). In contrast, Kenneth Branagh's 1996 film version of the complete Hamlet included everything that Olivier had omitted.

Pauline Kael has asserted that

"even if you feel that certain scenes should be done differently, when has the rest of the play been done so well? Whatever the omissions, the mutilations, the mistakes, this is very likely the most exciting and most alive production of Hamlet you will ever see on the screen. It's never dull, and if characters such as Fortinbras and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sacrificed, it's remarkable how little they are missed."

In fact Time magazine wrote in 1948:-

"A man who can do what Laurence Olivier is doing for Shakespeare is certainly among the more valuable men of his time."