Hamlet and Gravedigger "poor Yorick!" Richard Burton (1964)

[lesleypaul59]

...Liz ruined him ! R.I.P., Richard ! LES

[ImSoOffended]

4 people knew poor yorick

[94airodriguez]

L.A Noire anyone?

[RandomBathroom3000]

He's no Mel Gibson!

[Tezza21000]

@RandomBathroom3000

No he far exceeds dear old men.

[Tezza21000]

@Tezza21000 *mel

[RandomBathroom3000]

@Tezza21000 "he far exceeds dear old men" sounds almost Shakespearan.

[Ettoredipugnar]

@RandomBathroom3000 Mel Gibson couldent carry his dirty underware.

[makiavel88]

Are u here from the League of Legends? ^^

[justchen563]

@makiavel88 HAHAHA i thought of that when we first read yorick xD butshit i love this scene

[thecrimsonfloyd]

I really think this should be delivered much more mournfully...

[DominionOfTheSword]

Burton said he played Hamlet as a manic depressive. I always thought that was interesting

[BSFBOPE]

i think burton was an overpraised actor, who might have been better if not for the booze. o'toole was just has heavy a drinker and he was much much better, still anyone who can perform a full scale hamlet on stage deserves some praise. still he' playing it too much for laughs here. Burton's best roles are Becket and Night of the Iguana, the rest of his film work isnt my cup of tea...

[JuanMacready]

@BSFBOPE Burton was a wooden film actor and an overacting ham who only copied Olivier.

[PatriceVR]

This is horrible! What he hell? Why does he start singing? This is so stupid. So far Kenneth Branagh has the best version I've seen. He really gets the character. This guy is the worst actor!

[TheStockwell]

@PatriceVR This was 1964 and, after a century of mopey Hamlets, having a Hamlet who didn't spend three hours whining and whimpering was a big deal. Branagh has acknowledged Burton's Hamlet as one that broke the mold and led to Hamlets that are full of life and action instead of gloomy morose introspection. Hamlet was an introspective weenie until Burton showed up. Dated and strange? Maybe, but the Hamlets we've gotten used to - including Branagh's - start with this version. And so it goes . . .

[thelouisfanclub]

@TheStockwell

I like whiney, mopey hamlets

J/S

I understand he might have been breaking the mould and everything, but - I mean, it was a mold for a reason. Hamlet is a melancholy, introspective type! This is a most un-Hamlet-like Hamlet.

But you know, you've got to do it differently sometimes I guess.

[TheStockwell]

@thelouisfanclub Your reply made my day. Thanks. I think there's enough room for all kinds of Hamlets. There aren't any really bad Hamlets, just ones that are boring. Relentlessly introspective or Man of Action, Olivier or Branagh - I'm just happy there are different Hamlets to get into fist-fights over; like all those different approaches to Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. I like my Olivier and I like my Branagh - there's no reason to claim one or the other as the best.

[caspianrex]

@JuanMacready "Burton only copied Olivier"?!? Are you high? The two actors' interpretations are nothing alike! What is your deal with slamming Burton? I mean, if you don't like his acting, fine. But stuff like "I wish Richard Burton had died of LUNG CANCER" is a little...over the top.

[TheStockwell]

@caspianrex It should be noted that this "JuanMacready " character began infecting YouTube about the same time "PeterFirthsLover" was kicked off YouTube for being a totally irrational wanker. I'm not implying they are the same bizarre loser, only that their emotional and intellectual DNA suggest a common ancestor.

[JuanMacready]

@caspianrex I wish the talentless bisexual racist had died of lung cancer like his infinitely more talented friend Sir Stanley Baker.

[thelouisfanclub]

@JuanMacready

ok harsh

[92af]

Richard Burton was one of the worst actors ever

[carmaj156]

Interesting approach to that scene. Theater is flexible (till certain point), and Shakespeare never wrote that this scene could only be sad only. I think Burton's performance is great, as he sees Yorick like his lost old friend, instead of crying for him. Even so I prefer Branagh's version. I think it's the most accurate to the scene.

[1948BigCy]

@carmaj156 I don't think that is a unusual interpretation. It's in the script. George Rose as the grave digger starts it off "he poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once!", and the humor permeates the scene until the end. Burton's performance is loving, humorous, with just the right amount of sadness. Branagh on his best day couldn't touch it, IMHO.

[carmaj156]

@1948BigCy Perhaps you're right. However, I'm not talking about talent. Although Branagh is a very good actor, Richard burton was one of the best of all time (his performance in "Who´s afraid of Virginia Wolf" is incredible), but I'm talikng about the scene itself and, PERSONALLY, I like it better on Brannagh's version, because it's more, let's say, touching. The graveyard humour could be also a preamble for a sudden twist in the plot... just saying.

[JuanMacready]

@carmaj156 Burton was a wooden film actor and an overacting ham who only copied Olivier.

I wish Richard Burton had died of LUNG CANCER.

[caspianrex]

I didn't like Burton's performance when I first saw this film, and yet...on repeated viewings, he's really grown on me. He's definitely better than Olivier, and miles better than Ethan Hawke's horrendous Hamlet, about ten years ago.

[JuanMacready]

@caspianrex Better than Olivier? The talentless loser Burton only copied Olivier.

[Badfuzzy1]

Absolutely horrible performance. God damn

[freedomland11]

@Badfuzzy1 ......HAHAHA...i just loved the way you wrote that. One question, Why do you think so?

[MrAlex5223]

yorick died i think

[thefletchishere]

people who are complaining about burton dont understand that stage acting is totally different from screen acting. it looks wierd when you film plays.

[FrankClanton]

Burton was the worst Hamlet ever.

[1948BigCy]

@FrankClanton Frankly, that is an ill-thought statement...unless you've seen EVERY interpretation of Hamlet. A more appropriate statement would have been, "I did not like Burton's performance. In my opinion, it is the worst one of the worst Hamlets I have ever seen." BIG mfing difference.

[JuanMacready]

@1948BigCy Even Burton hated this film and didn't want it released.

[Mrs21thcenturyartist]

hey guys! don't u think peterfirthfan shoul be shut for once in his life! can\t u see ur such an ass!

[PeterFirthFan]

This film was fucking crap, just like the taelntless ugly racist's performance.

[LazlosPlane]

Whoosh. What's that smell? Oh, it's this production! It's STINKS!

Why is the gravedigger ALWAYS a cockney, anyway? I mean, we're in Denmark, right?  Everyone is speaking presumably, Danish. Yet the Gravedigger is from White Chappel for some reason.

[pvuf431]

@LazlosPlane Thats not a cockney accent. Not a Londoner. Berkshire or Oxfordshire in my opinion.

[LazlosPlane]

Professor Higgins!

[1948BigCy]

@LazlosPlane Shakespeare was English and he wrote for an English speaking audience. Why the heck would the play's language be in Danish? Or is this a trick question?

[rigstula]

@1948BigCy Indeed. However, it would be interesting to see a version of Hamlet set in Denmark in Norse times, around 900 AD. That is, after all, the culture and the setting the story originally came from.

[JohnnyElsewhereTV]

@rigstula That was pre-Christian, right? Another kettle of fish entirely....How about a "West Side Story" kind of treatment? "Now I am alone...To be or not to be..." "Hamlet take out the garbage!" "Oh mom! Tell unkle to take it out" "Your unkle and I are busy..."

[rigstula]

@JohnnyElsewhereTV That would be amusing, yeah xD

Yes, the original Norse saga of Amlethi is pagan, but is pretty much the same story. Uncle kills father, marries the mother, Amleth pretends to be stupid to prevent being killed and so forth. Not trying to discredit Shakespeare here, but he was hardly original, nor is that really important; it's his language that makes it great.

The Danes were christianised in the 10th century, so a 10th century Zealand setting could work very well, I think.

[PeterFirthFan]

No wonder Burton wanted this awful crapfest to never see the light of day.

[missbabyice]

This looks modern- I love how they've done it.

[establishmentman]

Thnaks for posting this. Great scene from a great performance