Rotten
Despite winning several Oscars, Olivier's (condensed) version of Shakespeare's masterpiece makes for frustrating viewing.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Hamlet
The motion picture of all time ... for all time!
1948 · 2h 33m · Approved
Drama
Directed by
Laurence Olivier
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
Hamlet
Overview
Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
Director and cast
- Laurence Olivier Director
- Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
- Jean Simmons as Ophelia - His Daughter
- Basil Sydney as Claudius - The King
- Eileen Herlie as Gertrude - The Queen
- Norman Wooland as Horatio - His Friend
- Felix Aylmer as Polonius - Lord Chamberlain
- Terence Morgan as Laertes
- Peter Cushing as Osric
- Stanley Holloway Cast
- Russell Thorndike Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
96%
Tomatometer
Fresh
This is picture-making at its best, and its showing must be done with the dignity it deserves.
Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh
The matter is settled; the filmed Hamlet of Laurence Olivier gives absolute proof that these classics are magnificiently suited to the screen.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Rotten
Laurence Olivier's famous 1948 interpretation of Shakespeare's play suffers slightly from his pop-Freud approach to the character and from some excessively flashy, wrongheaded camera work.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fresh
Sir Laurence Olivier's masterful version of the classic.
TIME Magazine
More films
Hamlet (1990)
Drama · History · PG
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Franco Zeffirelli
- Cast
- Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, Alan Bates
IMDb
6.7
Rotten Tomatoes
76%
Metacritic
53
Hamlet (1996)
Drama · PG-13
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
- Runtime
- 4h 2m
- Director
- Kenneth Branagh
- Cast
- Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie
IMDb
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes
95%
Othello (1951)
Drama · Approved
Manipulated by his jealous ensign Iago, the Moorish general Othello is driven to believe that his new wife Desdemona is unfaithful, setting in motion a chain of deception, jealousy, and violence that leads to tragedy.
- Runtime
- 1h 33m
- Director
- Orson Welles
- Cast
- Micheál Mac Liammóir, Robert Coote, Suzanne Cloutier
IMDb
7.5
Rotten Tomatoes
87%
Fences (2016)
Drama · PG-13
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
- Runtime
- 2h 19m
- Director
- Denzel Washington
- Cast
- Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson
IMDb
7.2
Rotten Tomatoes
92%
Metacritic
79
I Never Sang for My Father (1970)
Drama · GP
A man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.
- Runtime
- 1h 32m
- Director
- Gilbert Cates
- Cast
- Gene Hackman, Melvyn Douglas, Dorothy Stickney
IMDb
7.8
Rotten Tomatoes
100%
Snow (1963)
Documentary · N/A
Comprising train and track footage quickly shot just before a heavy winter's snowfall was melting, the multi-award-winning classic that emerged from the cutting-room compresses British Rail's dedication to blizzard-battling into a thrilling eight-minute montage cut to music. Tough-as-boots workers struggling to keep the line clear are ...
- Runtime
- 8m
- Director
- Geoffrey Jones
IMDb
7.0
Rail (1967)
Documentary · N/A
"Rail" captures British Railways at a major turning-point in its history. In certain respects, this was a period of considerable upheaval and loss. There was a facing-up to the increasing need for a big modernisation drive. Full and speedy electrification, or the wider promotion of diesel-power on remaining lines, became a matter of to...
- Runtime
- 14m
- Director
- Geoffrey Jones
IMDb
7.4
Locomotion (1975)
Documentary · N/A
Collage film about the history of trains set to music.
- Runtime
- 16m
- Director
- Geoffrey Jones
IMDb
7.2
Shell Spirit (1963)
N/A
Directed by Geoffrey Jones.
- Runtime
- 2m
- Director
- Geoffrey Jones
IMDb
6.8
Comments
Talk about the film with other members