The merchant of Venice (1927)

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Newman, Widgey R., director.

AM (Publisher), digitiser.

British Film Institute, owner.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Merchant of Venice.

Shakespeare, William.

Genre:

Fiction films

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 video file (19 min., 5 sec.)) silent with intertitles, black and white

Production:

[Great Britain?] De Forest Phonofilms Ltd. 1927

Contained In:

Shakespeare in silent film

Language Note:

Silent film with English intertitles

Summary:

This film shows multiple out-takes of two different scenes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. It is notable for being the first known talking film adaptation of a Shakespeare play. The beginning shows multiple takes of a dancing scene, followed by two actresses practising some of their lines. The majority of the film portrays Act 3, Scene 1, of the play where Antonio, a wealthy merchant, borrows money from the moneylender Shylock to help his friend Bassanio woo the heiress Portia. Warning: This film contains an caricatured depiction of a Jewish person in the character of Shylock

Please be aware that this film includes racist representations which some people may find distressing

Participant:

Lewis Casson, Maurice Farquharson, Joyce Lyons, Torin Thatcher

Credits:

Director, Widgey R. Newman ; author of original work, William Shakespeare

Notes:

Original film format: 35mm

Vendor supplied data

Related Work:

Based on : Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Merchant of Venice http://viaf.org/viaf/181845272

OCLC:

1582416615