Notable Film adaptions from Shakespeare's work shakespearecandle.com The following are the most notable film adaptations based on Shakespeare's plays. Some of the complete films can be played on shakespearecandle for free. The Taming of the Shrew, (1929), starring Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Directed by Sam Taylor. A Midsummer Night's Dream, (1935), starring James Cagney, Dick Powell, Ian Hunter. Directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle. Romeo and Juliet, (1936), starring Leslie Howard and John Barrymore. Directed by George Cukor. As You Like It, (1936), starring Henry Ainley and Elisabeth Bergner. Directed by Paul Czinner. Henry V, (1944), starring Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks. Directed by Lawrence Olivier. Macbeth, (1948), starring Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy. Directed by Orson Welles. ** Hamlet, (1948), starring Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie. Directed. by Lawrence Olivier. Othello, (1952), starring Orson Welles, Micheál MacLiammóir, Robert Coote. Directed by Orson Welles. Julius Caesar, (1953), starring Marlon Brando, Louis Calhern, James Mason. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Romeo and Juliet, (1954), starring Laurence Harvey, Susan Shentall, Flora Robson. Directed by Renato Castellani. Richard III, (1955), starring Laurence Olivier, Cedric Hardwicke, Nicholas Hannen. Directed by Lawrence Olivier. Othello, (1955), starring Sergey Bondarchuk, Irina Skobtseva, Andrei Popov. Directed by Sergei Jutkevitsh. Forbidden Planet, (1956) starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen Directed by Fred M. Wilcox. (Based on The Tempest.) Throne of Blood / The Castle of the Spider's Web / Cobweb Castle, (1957), starring Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Minoru Chiaki. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. (Transposes the plot of Macbeth to feudal Japan.) The Tempest, (1960), (TV) starring Richard Burton. Directed by George Schaefer. page 1 shakespearecandle.com Notable Film adaptions West Side Story, (1961), starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno. Directed by Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins. (Musical inspired by Romeo and Juliet, about two rival NYC gangs.) Hamlet, (1964), starring Richard Burton, Hume Cronyn. Directed by Bill Colleran and John Gielgud. (Staged in the style of a "dress rehearsal", but performed in front of a live audience.) Hamlet, (1964), starring Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Mikhail Nazvanov. Directed by Grigori Kozintsev. The Taming of the Shrew, (1967), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Romeo and Juliet, (1968), starring Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting, Milo O'Shea. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. King Lear, (1971), starring Paul Scofield, Irene Worth, Cyril Cusack. Directed by Peter Brook. King Lear, (1971), starring Juri Jarvet, Elza Radzina, Galina Volchek. Directed by Grigori Kozintsev. Macbeth, (1971), starring Jon Finch, Nicholas Selby, Francesca Annis. Directed by Roman Polanski. Antony and Cleopatra, (1974), starring Patrick Stewart and Ben Kingsley. Directed by Trevor Nunn and John Schoffield. Comedy of Errors, (1978), starring Judi Dench and Francesca Annis. Directed by Philip Casson and Trevor Nunn. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, (1980), (BBC-TV) starring Patrick Stewart. Directed by Rodney Bennett. The Merry Wives of Windsor, (1982), (BBC-TV), starring Ben Kingsley. Directed by David Jones. The Tempest, (1982), starring John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon. Directed by Paul Mazursky. Ran, (1985), (based on King Lear), straring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. (Transposes King Lear to feudal Japan.) King Lear, (1987), directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Henry V, (1989), starring Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. ** Romeo and Juliet, (1990), starring Francesca Annis, Vanessa Redgrave and Ben Kingsley. Directed by Armando Acosta II. Hamlet, (1990), straring Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, Alan Bates. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Prospero's Books, (1991), starring John Gielgud, Michael Clark, Isabelle Pasco Directed by Peter Greeneway. (Based on The Tempest.) As You Like It, (1992), starring James Fox, Cyril Cusack, Andrew Tiernan. Directed by Christine Edzard. Much Ado about Nothing, (1993), Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Othello, (1995), starring Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh, Irène Jacob. Directed by Oliver Parker. Richard III, (1995), starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent. Directed by Richard Loncraine. page 2 shakespearecandle.com Notable Film adaptions William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, (1996), starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Claire Danes. Directed by Baz Luhrman. Hamlet, (1996), starring Kenneth Branagh, Richard Attenborough, Judi Dench, Billy Crystal, Kate Winslet. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. ** Twelfth Night, (1996), starring Helena Bonham Carter, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Kingsley, Imogen Stubbs, Mel Smith. Directed by Trevor Nunn. Looking for Richard, (1996), directed by Al Pacino. (Shakespeare in Love, (1998), starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush and Judi Dench. Directed by John Madden.) Written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. (Fictional story of Shakespeare being deeply in love with another although married.) (Inspired partly by Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet.) 10 Things I Hate About You, (1999), starring Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon- Levitt. Directed by Gil Junger. (Based on The Taming of the Shrew.) A Midsummer's Night's Dream, (1999), starring Calista Flockhart, Michelle Pfeiffer. Directed by Michael Hoffman. Titus, (1999), starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Harry J. Lennix. Directed by Julie Taymor Love's Labour's Lost, (2000), starring Alessandro Nivola, Alicia Silverstone, Kenneth Branagh. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. (Style is like 1930's musical.) Hamlet, (2000), starring Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles, Kyle MacLachlan. Directed by Michael Almereyda. William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, (2004), starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes. Directed by Michael Radford. Coriolanus, (2011), starring Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox. Directed by Ralph Fiennes. The Hollow Crown: Richard II, (2012) starring David Bradley, Richard Bremmer, Daniel Boyd. Directed by Rupert Goold. (TV adaption, part of a mini series.) ** indicates highly regarded by critics shakespearecandle.com page 3 shakespearecandle.com.