Friday, March 22, 2019

King Lear (1953)

King Lear is a 1953 television adaptation of the Shakespeare play. Orson Welles stars. It is part of the Omnibus series, which ran nine years. This is from an early season. Heavily abridged, it removes the subplot entirely but includes all of the main plot.





Posted by at
Labels: , ,

8 comments:

  1. CJ Kennedy4:51 AM

    Orson Wells certainly had a wide range as an actor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My name is Erika.6:36 AM

    I like the King Lear story but have never seen this version. I want to say it's too bad they abridged it because the subplots really help, but I guess that is what you do to make Shakespeare more available to the masses. Happy Friday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divers and Sundry8:35 AM

      It lasts almost 3 hours when done in full, I think, so especially if done for tv abridging is necessary. You definitely lose something in the "translation".

      Delete
  3. Jenny Woolf3:20 PM

    Some of the acting is very good. I am not so bothered about the cuts, since the existing Shakespeare original texts do vary so much, and I think it was probably common for companies to put on different versions of the same play. I feel this has in a way been dumbed down, though, though it is interesting to have a look at.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divers and Sundry3:38 PM

      Pared down for television, since the Omnibus tv series had a set amount of time to use. I'm looking for full-length plays not set in modern times, but they can be hard to find.

      Delete
  4. Bleubeard and Elizabeth3:52 PM

    I wish I had time to watch this, but there's no way today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divers and Sundry7:21 AM

      Well, it's not like you don't know the story ;) Orson Welles is good as Lear, I think.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)