Twelfth Night (1969) - Sir Ralph Richardson, part 1 of 10

some marvelous performances here!

This extract starts with Act I, scene ii "What country, freinds, is this?"

Then the start of play, Act I, scene i. It then back to end of Act I, scene ii. It shifts then to Act 1, scene iv, then to Sir Toby and Maria's first appearance, Act I, scene iii

link below to a single playlist of all 10 parts of this "Twelfth Night":
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7F429A373BCAC12F

Joan Plowright ... Viola and Sebastian
Paul Curran ... Sea Captain
Adrienne Corri ... Countess Olivia
Gary Raymond ... Orsino, Duke of Illyria
Kurt Christian ... Curio
Christopher Timothy ... Valentine
Ralph Richardson ... Sir Toby Belch
John Moffatt ... Sir Andrew Aguecheek
Sheila Reid ... Maria

Directed by John Sichel

It was filmed in sumptuous color, but alack! my VHS tape is so old and worn it looks like a black and white film. I increased the saturation as much as possible during the conversion...

Twelfth Night; or, What You Will by William Shakespeare


William Hazlitt on Twelfth Night:

This is justly considered as one of the most delightful of Shakespear's comedies. It is full of sweetness and pleasantry. It is perhaps too good-natured for comedy. It has little satire, and no spleen. It aims at the ludicrous rather than the ridiculous. It makes us laugh at the follies of mankind, not despise them, and still less bear any ill-will towards them. Shakespear's comic genius resembles the bee rather in its power of extracting sweets from weeds or poisons, than in leaving a sting behind it. He gives the most amusing exaggeration of the prevailing foibles of his characters, but in a way that they themselves, instead of being offended at, would almost join in to humour; he rather contrives opportunities for them to shew themselves off in the happiest lights, than renders them contemptible in the perverse construction of the wit or malice of others.




William Winter ("Shadows of the Stage", iii, 28, from 1892) on "Illyria":

It is even more difficult to assign a place and a period for Twelfth Night than it is to localise As You Lihe It. Illyria, — now Dalmatia, Croatia, and Bosnia, — was a Roman province, a hundred and sixty-seven years before Christ. In Shakespeare's time, Dalmatia was under the rule of the Venetian republic.

The custom has long prevailed of treating the piece as a romantic and poetic picture of Venetian manners in the seventeenth century. Some stage managers have used Greek dresses. For the purposes of the stage, there must be a 'local habitation.' For a reader, the scene of Twelfth Night is the elusive and evanescent, but limitless and immortal, land of dreams.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• Twelfth
• Night
• comedy
• Ralph-Richardson
• Joan-Plowright
• Theatre
• play

[Sgtfluffball]

This video is making me want to kill myself

[ShakespeareAndMore]

please inform us of any success

[KayakFreak]

How delightful to listen to people who actually understand what they are saying spout Shakespeare. Absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing this gem.

[ZizoZidan68]

thanks 4 uploading . i love shakes & all his plays

btw i read this play above between 1998 - 2000) with other shakes plays

[loggats]

happy twelfth night tonight, all

[MrJiffyPOPPOP]

Happy Birthday Ralph!

[9P9T6]

kind of feels like an old Star Trek episode

[macbeth870]

Richardson is Sir Toby Welch

[TheSubfamily]

Thanks you so much!:)

[sydneypsyche]

who is sir ralph richardson in this movie? 

[StarWarsUpdates]

Alec Guiness forever!!!

[nicelydone31]

@Alishhh4 yes, thats joan. i love the 1996 version but i think this is my favourite!

[Alishhh4]

They have also missed out some parts here and there, the Acteon reference, for example, but other than that it is the complete script yes.