As You Like it

Starring:Henry Ainley, Felix Aylmer, Stuart Robertson, Leon Quartermaine, Austin Trevor, Lionel Braham, John Laurie, Laurence Olivier, J. Fisher White, Mackenzie Ward, Aubrey Mather, Richard Ainley, Peter Bull, Elisabeth Bergner, Sophie Stewart, Joan White, Dorice Fordred, C. Hall, Cyril Horrocks, Ellis Irving
Director: Paul Czinner
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous sets, costumes, actors - but too many missing lines.......2004-10-08

"As You like It" Should be as light and lively as the recent version of "A Midsummer Nights Dream." Considering the age of the film, the sets and costumes are wonderful. Crowd scenes actually have a reasonable number of people. The production is movie - not stage play.

With that in mind, too much of the play is missing. Too many lines have been deleted, some for no reason. Often, the actors stand for a long silent shot, when the director easily could have had the missing line spoke in the same time. Many of the long passages are reduced to the first and last couple of lines. This hinders the character development and the pacing. It also makes the long speeches left, stand out to much, as if the director is saying "now wait, this part is important." Elisabeth Bergner as "Rosalind" is the worst offender. Many of her lnes are skipped, the worst of it is in the epilogue. Also missing - almost completely is act five.

The film transfer is okay, the sound is lacking high end compared to modern films. This may be due to the limitations of filming at the time. What was jarring, until I got use to it, was silence. When the actors aren't talking, there is no background - no music, no foley, just quiet. Something modern films should try once in a while.

As the only film of "As You Like It" on DVD, it will have to do until something better comes along. At the bargin price, it is a good film to fill the slot on the Shakesphere shelf. I lay in bed after watching it, trying to figure out who should play Rosalind in a new version. . .

Average customer rating:

Sir Laurence Olivier's first film
A Knowing Orlando Courts a Deranged Rosalind
Old-fashioned, but fun
Try the 1978 version with Helen Mirren
DVD is a big improvement

As You Like it
Starring: Henry Ainley , Felix Aylmer , Stuart Robertson , Leon Quartermaine , and Austin Trevor
Director: Paul Czinner
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305470332
Release Date: 1999-07-20

Description

The Bard's brilliant comedy with Sir Laurence Olivier in his first Shakespearian role. Elisabeth Bergner stars as Rosalind, the daughter of an exiled Duke, who falls in love with Orlando (Olivier), the son of one of her father's courtiers. When Orlando continues to ignore her, Rosalind decides the best way to be at his side is by disguising herself as a boy. Her deception works too well as Orlando would rather be in the boy's company than hers. How Rosalind works out her predicament is part of the fun in this early sound film adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play.

Customer Reviews:

Sir Laurence Olivier's first film .......2006-04-12

Elisabeth Bergner as Rosalind gets top billing in this 1936 B&W film. I love William Shakespeare. His mastery of language and plot is always (so far) a joy. When I bought this, I had just seen my son as Amiens, Lord Attending Exiled Duke, and the character of Rosalind played by a very pretty, perky and sassy young actress. After that performance, this DVD version was painful to watch and I never got through it. Sir Laurence is good, if not entirely believable as Orlando, but the film appears to be cast as a vehicle for Elisabeth Bergner though for the life of me I can't imagine why. Born in the Ukraine, and having first appeared in the Berlin silent film "Der Evangelimann" in 1923, Elisabeth Bergner acts like a silent actress, and "As You Like It" appears to be her first English-speaking role. Still, as Shakespeare goes, this is a funny and thoroughly enjoyable story with several clever twists. It's a Shakespeare play that cries out for Kenneth Branagh.

A Knowing Orlando Courts a Deranged Rosalind.......2005-01-31

A charming, if prudish, version of "As You Like It". In this adaptation, Celia is taller than Rosalind (abiding by Le Beau's lines in I, ii of the First Folio and disregarding Rosalind's line in I, iii about being "more than common tall" - which is cut here). Felix Ayimer is excellent as Duke Frederick but many other characters are marginalized as the script, reduced to about half its full length, focuses on Orlando and Rosalind. I miss some of the racy passages and rants of Jacques and Touchstone that have been excised. Elisabeth Bergner's performance is affected and histrionic but an interesting dynamic develops (whether intentionally or unintentionally) between her Ganymede and Olivier's Orlando. I suspect that Olivier's Orlando knows from the moment he meets Ganymede that he is, indeed, Rosalind. He plays it with such subtlety, though, as if the director wasn't in on the choice. Bergner's Rosalind seems to be mentally unstable, just a bit off. Olivier's Orlando is attracted to her capriciousness and exuberance. Overall, I enjoyed the film more than I enjoyed Sir Peter Hall's puzzling production (2005 at BAM) with his daughter Rebecca as Rosalind (she was the weak link in a superb cast). I viewed the film on VHS and the sound quality was awful. Maybe they improved it for the DVD.

Old-fashioned, but fun.......2002-06-05

This version of "As You Like It" has not aged well. The modern approach to Shakespeare, with more natural dialog and realistic costuming, has left the tight-wearing overly theatrical players of old looking a bit foolish. They strut around the stage with obvious gusto and verve, but they just never connect.

With that in mind, "As You Like It" can be fun. The play itself is a bit silly, and the actors even sillier. The director made no attempt to disguise the feminine status of Elizabeth Bergener. She remains a pretty girl in boys clothes with a screeching soprano voice. To his credit, Olivier plays it as straight as an oak, and never for a minute doubts her ill-conceived charade. Jacques is in full motley, making his presence in Arden forest even more absurd.

Lacking any other version on DVD, "As You Like It" contains a certain charm. Just be prepared. Your "willful suspension of disbelief" has never been so sorely tested.

Try the 1978 version with Helen Mirren.......2001-08-16

This is not a bad play, but it feels tight. I wanted to see it to compare with the 1978 version with Helen Mirren (just about impossible to find - try Ambrose Video and sit down for the price). The setting is forcefully lush, but feels plastic. My general view is that Shakespeare needs to be "slowed down", performance-wise and most old movies (40-50 years) seem rushed.

DVD is a big improvement.......2001-07-08

I have always enjoyed this movie even though the VHS version has very poor sound and picture quality. The DVD is much improved in both areas and is worth the additional investment (don't expect digital quality though). I love Olivier (young and handsome here) and considered him the star of this film, but the DVD keep box has about three "pages" of film history that set me straight. It explains that at the time this film was produced Elizabeth Bergener was the big star and Laurence Olivier a struggling young hopeful. Bergener insisted on him as Orlando. Her husband was the director of this and many other of her films. Also, I found her voice shrill, but hear it a bit differently now that I know that English is not her first language (she came to England as a fleeing Germany where she was already an international star). Fascinating stuff, a great film and good DVD quality.

As You Like It By William Shakespeare with Laurence Olivier and Elisabeth Bergner

Average customer rating:

As You Like It By William Shakespeare with Laurence Olivier and Elisabeth Bergner

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Description

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