Hamlet
1948 film by Laurence Olivier · Released 1948
Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. It was adapted, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier and was his second film as director, as well as the second of the three Shakespeare films he directed (the 1936 As You Like It had starred Olivier, but had been directed by Paul Czinner). Hamlet was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is also the first sound film of the play in English.
Cast ages at release (1948)
- Basil Sydney, as King Claudius: 53–54
- Eileen Herlie, as Queen Gertrude: 29–30
- Jean Simmons, as Ophelia: 18–19
- Stanley Holloway, as Gravedigger: 57–58
- Laurence Olivier, as Prince Hamlet: 40–41
- Peter Cushing, as Osric: 34–35
- Anthony Quayle, as Marcellus: 34–35
- Felix Aylmer, as Polonius: 58–59
- Terence Morgan, as Laertes: 26–27
- Norman Wooland, as Horatio: 37–38
- John Laurie, as Francisco: 50–51
- Esmond Knight, as Bernardo [sometimes spelled Barnardo]. Bernardo is a sentry : 41–42
- Harcourt Williams, as First Player: 67–68
- Niall MacGinnis, as Sea Captain: 34–35
- Patrick Troughton, as Player King: 27–28
- Russell Thorndike, as Priest: 62–63
- Christopher Lee, as a guard: 25–26
- John Gielgud: 43–44