Duke of Gloucester soliloquy "the golden time I look for" (Paul Daneman)

Paul Daneman as Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III)

from Shakespeare's "Henry VI, Part III", Act 3, scene 2. lines 124-195

Paul Daneman (29 October 1925 - 28 April 2001) impersonated Richard in this 15 part series on Shakespeare's kings, from 1960.

"Truly, he had a sharp wit, provident and subtle". - Polydore Vergil , writing about Richard III, 1513

"(Richard) never acted sleepily, but incisively and with the utmost vigilance". - Croyland Chronicle Continuator, 1486

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Paul-Daneman
• Shakespeare
• 3H6
• Duke-of-Gloucester
• soliloquy
• Henry-VI
• Richard-III

[Lefty001]

I really like this version. I've been trying to find a good version of Richard III and Daneman is clearly having a lot of fun with this one.

[413ekc]

That same Age of Kings series had a young Sean Connery playing Hotspur! and Robert Hardy (later the veterinarian Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small) was a charming and sexy and ardent Henry V.

[413ekc]

this video is from a series of Shakespeare history plays - Richard II thru Richard III, in order of the reigns - that BBC produced in the 1960s - it was called An Age of Kings. It was fabulous. Got me hooked on Shakespeare (and Richard as an historical figure, who was not like Shakespeare's character - victors write the history plays).

My sister found it on DVDs - it may still be available. And yes, that was Julian Glover who spoke first (playing Edward IV, Richard's older brother).

[zilch77]

This is great stuff, I never seen this before. Thank you for finding and posting.

[Caspar33]

Thanks for posting this. Most interesting AND enjoyable. I first encountered Paul when I was a drama school - he was a friendly adjudicator on student performances. A charming man. It´s a great speech in any case.

[ArielchanTempest]

I like it. Alot. :)

[jimjamec]

@belisariusorb remember, he is taking direction...

[lepulverfe]

He is good..and over the top;-) but definately entertaining!

[belisariusorb]

I'm sorry but for me it is much too "theatrical". From the first he feels the need to "act out" every word in the text. Prefer a more minimal performance.

Thanks for posting though, love any Shakespeare material you offer.

[sjbosch56]

this is the first time I've seen Paul Daneman. Was this for the BBC? It seems to be a multi-part production.

Richard III's speech has probably been delivered as many different ways as there have been actors playing the role. But I think Olivier was right when he delivered the final part of the speech with no embellishment. This Richard fears neither God nor man, if anything he believes he is a victim and the world is divided into two camps, predators and their prey. And this will destroy him.