Richard III is a 1955 British Technicolor film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play of the same name, also incorporating elements from his Henry VI, Part 3. It was directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Featuring many noted Shakespearean actors, including a quartet of knights, the film depicts Richard plotting and conspiring to grasp the throne from his brother King Edward IV, played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke. In the process, many are killed and betrayed, with Richard's evil leading to his own downfall. The prologue of the film states that history without its legends would be "a dry matter indeed", implicitly admitting to the artistic licence that Shakespeare applied to the events of the time.

Of the three Shakespearean films directed by Olivier, Richard III received the least critical praise at the time, although it was still acclaimed. It was the only one not to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, though Olivier's performance was nominated. The British Film Institute has pointed out that, given the enormous TV audience it received when shown in the United States on NBC in 1956, the film "may have done more to popularise Shakespeare than any other single work". The film gained further popularity in the US through a 1966 re-release, which broke box office records in many US cities. Many critics now consider Olivier's Richard III his best Shakespearean screen adaptation.

Plot

King Edward IV of England (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) has been placed on the throne with the help of his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Sir Laurence Olivier). After Edward's coronation in the Great Hall, with his brothers George and Richard watching, he leaves with his wife and sons. Richard contemplates the throne, before advancing towards the audience and then addressing them, delivering a speech that outlines his physical deformities, including a hunched back and a withered arm. He goes on to describe his jealousy over his brother's rise to power in contrast to his lowly position.

Richard dedicates himself to task and plans to frame his other brother, George, Duke of Clarence (Sir John Gielgud), for conspiring to kill the King, and to have George sent to the Tower of London, by claiming George will murder Edward's heirs. He then tells George he will help him get out. Having confused and deceived the King, Richard proceeds with his plans after getting a warrant, and enlists two ruffians (Michael Gough and Michael Ripper) to carry out his dirty work: George is murdered, drowned in a butt of wine. Though Edward had sent a pardon to Richard, Richard stopped it passing. Richard goes on to woo and seduce the Lady Anne (Claire Bloom), and though she hates him for killing her husband and father, she cannot resist Richard's charms and ends up marrying him.

Richard then orchestrates disorder at court, fueling rivalries and stirring antipathy toward the Queen consort, Elizabeth (Mary Kerridge). The King, weakened by exhaustion, appoints Richard as Lord Protector and dies soon after hearing of the death of George. His son, soon to become Edward V (Paul Huson), is met by Richard whilst en route to London. Richard has the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Hastings (Alec Clunes) arrested and executed, and forces the young King, along with his younger brother the Duke of York (Andy Shine), to have a protracted stay at the Tower of London.

thumb|left|[[Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier.]]

With all obstacles now removed, Richard enlists the help of his cousin the Duke of Buckingham (Sir Ralph Richardson) to alter his public image, and to become popular with the people. In doing so, Richard becomes the people's first choice to become the new King. Buckingham had aided Richard on terms of being given the title of Earl of Hereford and its income, but balks at the idea of murdering the two princes. Richard then asks an ambitious knight, Sir James Tyrrel (Patrick Troughton), to kill the princes. Buckingham, having requested his earldom at Richard's coronation, fears for his life when Richard (angry at Buckingham's refusal) shouts, "I am not in the giving vein today!" Buckingham then joins the opposition against Richard's rule.

Richard, now fearful because of his dwindling popularity, raises an army to defend his throne and the House of York against the House of Lancaster, led by Henry Tudor (Stanley Baker), the Earl of Richmond and later Henry VII of England, at Bosworth Field. Before the battle, however, Buckingham is captured and executed. On the eve of the battle, Richard is haunted by the ghosts of all those he has killed in his bloody ascent to the throne, and he wakes up screaming. He composes himself, striding out to plan the battle for his generals, and gives a motivational speech to his troops.

The two forces engage in battle, with the Lancastrians having the upper hand. Lord Stanley (Laurence Naismith) betrays Richard and allies himself with Henry. Richard sees this and charges into the thick of battle, side by side with his loyal companion Sir William Catesby (Norman Wooland) to kill Richmond and end the battle quickly. Eventually, Richard spots Richmond and they briefly engage in a duel before being interrupted by Stanley's men. Richard and Catesby are able to escape the oncoming forces but, in doing so, Richard is knocked off his horse, loses his cherished crown, and becomes separated from Catesby, who is off seeking rescue. Searching desperately for Richmond, whom he has lost sight of, Richard cries out: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

Catesby finds Richard and offers him withdrawal, but the King refuses to flee. Catesby is then killed by Richmond's men without Richard noticing. Richard then spots Stanley and engages him in single combat. Before a victor can emerge, the Lancastrian troops charge Richard and fatally wound him. The wounded murderous King convulses in spasms, offering his sword to the sky, and eventually dies of his wounds. Stanley orders Richard's body to be taken away and then finds his crown in a thorn bush. He then proceeds to offer it to Henry, leaving the throne of England in safe hands once again.

Cast

Olivier cast only British actors. Since the film was financed by Alexander Korda and produced by his London Films, obtaining the required actors was not difficult, as many actors were contractually obliged to London Films. As with most films with ensemble casts, all the players were billed on the same tier. However, Olivier played the title character and occupies the majority of screen time.

When casting the supporting roles, Olivier chose to fortify the already impressive cast with seasoned veterans, such as Laurence Naismith, and with promising newcomers, such as Claire Bloom and Stanley Baker. For the murderers, Olivier originally wanted John Mills and Richard Attenborough. However, Mills thought the idea might be regarded as "stunt casting", and Attenborough had to turn down the part due to a scheduling conflict. The film's marketers in the US picked up on the fact that the cast included four knights (Olivier, Richardson, Gielgud and Hardwicke) and used this as a selling point.

  • Paul Huson as Edward, Prince of Wales (later, for a brief while, King Edward V), the eldest son of the King, who holds many strong beliefs, and wishes one day to become a warrior king.
  • Andy Shine as the Duke of York, the younger son of Prince Edward.
  • Helen Haye as the Duchess of York, the mother of the King. Haye worked regularly for Alexander Korda. Her character's role is severely cut in the film from the play.
  • Pamela Brown as Mistress Shore, the King's mistress. Her character is only mentioned in Shakespeare's play, never seen.
  • Alec Clunes as The Lord Hastings (Lord Chamberlain), a companion and friend of Richard who is accused of conspiracy by Richard and is abruptly executed.
  • Laurence Naismith as The Lord Stanley. Stanley has a certain dislike for Richard and is not totally willing in his co-operation with him. Stanley eventually betrays Richard at Bosworth and engages him in a one-on-one duel.
  • Norman Wooland as Sir William Catesby, Esmond Knight as Sir Richard Ratcliffe, John Laurie as Lord Francis Lovell, Patrick Troughton as Sir James Tyrrell, and John Phillips as John, Duke of Norfolk, many of them loyal companions of Richard.

The House of Lancaster

  • Mary Kerridge as Queen Elizabeth, Queen Consort of Edward. Kerridge did not make many screen appearances, though she did sometimes work for Alexander Korda. Her role has also been reduced from Shakespeare's original.
  • Clive Morton as The Lord Rivers, brother of the Queen Consort. Morton was a British actor who mainly played supporting roles on screen.
  • Dan Cunningham as The Lord Grey, youngest son of the Queen Consort and stepson of the King. Cunningham's role in Richard III was one of his few screen appearances.
  • Douglas Wilmer as the Marquess of Dorset, eldest son of the Queen Consort and stepson of the King.
  • Claire Bloom as The Lady Anne, a widow and an orphan thanks to the acts of Richard, though she cannot resist his charms and eventually becomes his wife.
  • Stanley Baker, appropriately cast as the young Welshman, Henry, Earl of Richmond (later Henry VII, first of the House of Tudor). Henry, who is Richard's enemy, and Lord Stanley's stepson, claims his right to the throne, and briefly duels Richard at Bosworth.

Production

Background

Of Olivier's three Shakespeare films, Richard III had the longest gestation period: Olivier had created and been developing his vision of the character Richard since his portrayal for The Old Vic in 1944. After he had made Shakespeare films popular with Henry V and Hamlet, the choice of Richard III for his next adaptation was simple, as his Richard had been widely praised on stage. For the stage production, Olivier had modelled some of the crookback king's look on a well-known theatrical producer at the time, Jed Harris, whom Olivier called "the most loathsome man I'd ever met". Walt Disney is also said to have used Harris as his basis for the Big Bad Wolf in the film The Three Little Pigs. Alexander Korda, who had given Olivier his initial roles on film, provided financial support for the film.

Screenplay

Most of the dialogue is taken straight from the play, but Olivier also drew on the 18th century adaptations by Colley Cibber and David Garrick, including Cibber's line, "Off with his head. So much for Buckingham!". Like Cibber and Garrick, Olivier's film opens with material from the last scenes of Henry VI, Part 3, to introduce more clearly the situation at the beginning of the story.

A key change in the story involved the seduction of Anne. It is split into two scenes instead of one, and an element of perversity is added—whereas in the original play she is following a coffin with the corpse of her father-in-law, in this film the coffin contains the corpse of her husband. John Cottrell has been quoted as saying this makes "the young widow's seduction even more daring and revolting than it is in the original, and [gives] Anne's capitulation" in the second part after a passionate kiss "a new and neurotic twist". This is accomplished by cutting lines, changing lines, and changing the sequence of some lines.

Olivier makes other small and subtle additions in the stage direction. When Richard's nephew makes a joke about his uncle's hunchback ("you should bear me on your shoulder"), Richard spins round and gives the boy a malevolent glare making the boy stagger back.

The character of Queen Margaret is cut entirely, the role of the Duchess of York (Helen Haye) is significantly reduced, the role of Edward IV's wife Elizabeth is also reduced, and the execution of Clarence and other scenes are abridged. These cuts were made to maintain the pace of the film and to cut down the running time, as a full performance of the play can run upwards of four hours. Richard is made more directly responsible for the death of Edward IV than in the play, as Edward has his fatal attack only moments after Richard informs the assembled nobles that Clarence is dead.

Filming

Gerry O'Hara was Olivier's assistant director, on hand to help since Olivier was acting in most of the scenes.

Olivier was very precise in getting many of the visual details of the period correct. Actor Douglas Wilmer (Dorset) recounts that when he casually told Olivier that one piece of heraldry on the set was incorrect, Olivier started pumping as much information out of him as possible as if he was "drilling for oil". Fortunately, it was on the leg Richard was supposed to limp on, allowing the scene to continue.

Cinematography

The cinematography for the film was by Otto Heller, who had worked on many European films before coming to the UK in the early 1940s. The film uses the Technicolor process, which Olivier had earlier rejected for his Hamlet after a row with the company. The use of Technicolor resulted in bright, vibrant colours. Korda had suggested that Olivier also use the new extreme widescreen format, CinemaScope, but Olivier thought it was nothing more than a gimmick, and chose the less extreme VistaVision format instead.

Richard III opened at the Leicester Square Theatre on 13 December 1955, with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attending the premiere. Alexander Korda had sold the rights to the film to NBC in the US for $500,000 (about $ in today's dollars) and the film was shown on Sunday, 11 March 1956. While many sources refer to the "simultaneous release" in the US of Richard III on television and at the cinema, it was in fact shown first on television. It was not shown during prime time, but rather at 2:30p.m. in the afternoon, so prime time ratings for that day were not affected by any pre-emptions for a special programme. It was the first 3-hour telecast of a film ever in the US and the first time that a film in the US had premiered on two media on the same day. It had its US theatrical premiere at 8:30p.m. at the Bijou Theatre in Manhattan.

The film, although slightly cut for television, was generally well received by critics, with Olivier's performance earning particular notice, but as a result of its simultaneous release through television and cinemas in the US, it was a box office failure, and many critics felt at the time that it was not as well-made as Olivier's previous films. However, the airing on US television received excellent ratings, with an audience estimated at between 25 and 40 million. The film's failure at the US box office effectively ended Olivier's career as a director of Shakespearean films. His proposed film of Macbeth, which had been intended to go into production during 1957, in the end finally failed to gain financing.

When the film was reissued in 1966, it broke box office records in many US cities.

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| Berlin International Film Festival

| International Silver Bear

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| rowspan="3"| British Academy Film Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Film from any Source

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| colspan="2"| Best British Film

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| Best British Actor

| rowspan="3"| Laurence Olivier

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| rowspan="2"| David di Donatello Awards

| Best Foreign Production

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| Best Foreign Actor

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| Golden Globe Awards

| colspan="2"| Best English-Language Foreign Film

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| Jussi Awards

| Best Foreign Actor

| rowspan="2"| Laurence Olivier

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| Nastro d'Argento

| Best Foreign Film

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| National Board of Review Awards

| colspan="2"| Top Foreign Films

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| New York Film Critics Circle Awards

| Best Actor

| Laurence Olivier

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  • Olivier's performance as Richard III was ranked 39th in Premiere magazine's "100 Greatest Performances of All Time"

Reputation

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 81% rating based on 21 reviews. However, Olivier's direction has been criticised for being far more restricted in its style in comparison to the bold filming of Henry V, or the moody photography of Hamlet, and the reviewer for the AllMovie website complained that Olivier too far outshone the supporting cast. There were some complaints about geographical inaccuracies in the film. For example, the Battle of Bosworth Field was filmed in a region of Spain that does not resemble any locations in England. In The New York Times, Olivier observed that the film makes Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London "practically adjacent", but adds that "if they weren't like that, they should have been".

The British Film Institute suggests Olivier's Richard III may have done more to popularise Shakespeare than any other piece of work. The DVD is subtitled in English, with a Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono audio track. The DVD also contains a commentary by Russell Lees and John Wilders. The second disc of the DVD features a 1966 BBC interview with Olivier by Kenneth Tynan entitled Great Acting: Laurence Olivier. It also contains a gallery of posters, production stills and two trailers.