An Even Briefer Hamlet

Some discard items appeared at another local library.  One of the items drew my attention.  It was a two-CD set entitled Shakespeare:  His Life & Work.  I was able to pick it up free of charge.  (Thanks, Kathy!)

The work is a 150-minute biography and retrospective of Shakespeare's work.  Interspersed within the oral biography is a chronological treatment of Shakespeare's works, performed by Judi Dench and Timothy West.  As frequent guests of this site might guess, immediately I skipped to the fourth track on the second disc.  That is the Hamlet excerpt.  The biography sets the scene for Shakespeare writing the play.  While he was working on it in 1601, his father, John, died.  The inference is that the death of Shakespeare's father impacted his contemporary work.  There follows a very condensed plot summary.  The producers included one complete soliloquy as representative of the play.  Guess which.

A brief Hamlet (4:30), and an equally brief post.  The length of the set does give me incentive to undertake the remainder at some future point.

Hamlet Lives...Briefly

A local library offloading its supply of old LP's led to a find for the Hamlet collection.  The acquisition is a 1961 work entitled "Living Shakespeare:  Hamlet."  It is a strange piece.  As the editor, Bernard Grebanier, states in the written introduction to the LP, "Indeed, many advantages accrue from listening to this play."  With that sentiment, I can agree.  One too often misses the beauty of Shakespeare's language when it is buried underneath layers of stage action and directorial license.

The oddity here, though, is the inability of the listener to listen to Shakespeare's words.  The play has been drastically edited to fit onto one double-sided LP.  The running time for the entire work is approximately 60 minutes.  That is barely enough time to get the gist of the story, which is why Mr. Grebanier advises the listener to read the entire work prior to listening.  (A full written text of the play accompanies the LP.)  The plot here has been reduced to the main action of the story, with all subplots and many side characters removed.  A narrator serves occasionally to fill the gaps with voice-overs of what was eliminated.

The sound quality of the recording was good.  As one might expect of a disc of that age, there were occasional skips.  It was in excellent condition otherwise, and it did justice to Michael Redgrave in the title role.  His was the one name that I recognized, having seen him in the film, The Dam Busters.  Hearing him on the LP made me wish that it were a fuller, video presentation of the play.

The LP came with a script to follow the words.  Problematically, in places it did not match the action on the recording.  For instance, there is an extended stage direction describing the dumb show, which is not presented at all.  At least the script provided something to hold my attention while listening to the words.  It was strange, though, to read a stage direction, "They play" while hearing the metallic clanging of rapiers.

I suppose that this might be useful in a classroom setting, but I wonder why anyone might choose this instead of a legitimate, full version of the play.  Well intentioned, it is just a bizarre and rather pointless work.

The Bleak Midwinter

While watching one of the special feature interviews on the DVD of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, the director mentioned one of his other works, entitled In the Bleak Midwinter.  It sounded interesting enough to warrant further investigation.  Searches of DVD copies of that title yielded nothing.  Then I discovered that the film was released under a different title.  Thus, it became A Midwinter's Tale.  Copies were available for purchase online, so I ordered one.  The title is produced on demand by Warner Archive.  Fortunately, the DVD-R edition plays just as a normal DVD would.

The film itself is a charming comedy about a troupe producing a version of Hamlet.  The director is an out-of-work actor.  His sister's church is closing, so the venture is intended to save it.  There is no money available, so the play becomes a profit-sharing venture among the principals.  It is set to open on Christmas Eve.  What could possibly go wrong?

The actors who are enlisted are the best of a bad lot.  An early scene shows the open auditions.  A ventriloquist and dummy, an actress with finger puppets, an actor unable to do anything but a badly humpbacked Scottish king--they are some who do not make the cut.  Those who do bring their own issues:  alcohol, family troubles, sexual identity issues, depression, myopia.  Add to that a slightly deranged designer named Faj.  (It might be spelled with a soft "g" at the end instead.)  It is a motley assortment.

During the auditions, the actor chosen to play Laertes (and numerous other roles) gives his ideas on Hamlet.

"Hamlet isn't just Hamlet....  Hamlet is me.  Hamlet is Bosnia.  Hamlet is this desk.  Hamlet is the air.  Hamlet is my grandmother.  Hamlet is everything you've ever thought about sex, about geology...in a very loose sense, of course."

Of course.

During the course of the rehearsals, the actors go from not knowing much of each other to becoming, as "Ophelia" puts it, a family.  They make it to opening night, although not without considerable difficulties and the loss of their star.  A recurring theme is Noel Coward's "Why Must the Show Go On?"  When the curtain rises, though, all is right with the world.  The audience, at least the ones who are not cardboard cutouts designed by Faj, cheer wildly.  In fact, it's the most raucous fencing scene I have seen.  It led me to wonder if original Globe productions might have elicited oohs and aahs.

It was not all that bleak of a winter in these parts.  The worst weather day was the one that found me holed up watching Branagh do Hamlet.  As spring seems about to burst through, this Christmas tale was a pleasant way to spend an evening and a welcome addition to the collection.  It may not be an easy title to find, but for a Hamlet fan, it's worth the time and effort.

A Seussical Hamlet

This week's entry is an example of a Google search gone crazy, with happy consequences.  As I was polishing up the entry on Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (see 2/22/16 post), I needed an image of the DVD cover for the end of the post.  I searched "Branagh Hamlet DVD" and then headed to the returned images.  The desired shot came up near the top, but another image further down piqued my curiosity.  It appeared to be a movie poster with the title Green Eggs and Hamlet.  My first thought--WTF?

The link from the image led me to the page for Rock's Eye Productions.  The first offering of the self-described "small, low budget video Production Company" was the aforementioned Green Eggs and Hamlet.  The film is described on the website.  Made for $4000, it covers the Shakespearean work "of almost the same name, but the annoying iambic pentameter has been replaced by a more accessible Dr. Seuss style rhyme."  The film also introduces a brand new character:  SamIamlet.  (Well, nothing much rhymes with Hamlet, I guess.)  The description was enough to entice me to purchase the DVD.

This is by no means a major Hollywood studio production.  In fact, if one considers Branagh's version that led me to it, this is the exact opposite--short, edited, very low budget.  According to the closing credits, it was filmed at various locations in California, including Cal Tech, the director's back yard, SamIamlet's driveway, and "some beach somewhere."  The video quality is rough, and during "The Mousetrap" the audio becomes indecipherable over wind and the musical score.  The production style actually makes this a very charming production, though.  Amateur, yes, but considerable fun.

What about the film itself?  It's actually quite a hoot.  Almost the entire plot of Hamlet is treated in the 77-minute work.  Those well-versed in Shakespeare's original will recognize everything here, even if some of the usual action has been adapted.  For instance, the weapon that knocks Polonius from his treetop perch (replacing the traditional arras) is an airborne can of Spam.  Those unfamiliar with Hamlet also will be able to follow the action and to appreciate the story.  The bonus is that not only is this Hamlet, it's also the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham.  Could you, would you, in a box?  Could you, would you, with a fox?  Maybe in a moat?  Perhaps with a goat?  One might think that these two seminal works of literature could not possibly fit together.  As this film proves, such doubters would be wrong!

Then, there's the dialogue.  Turning Hamlet into a sing-songy rhyme actually seems to work!  Considering that the source material was metrical and at times rhymed, the writers had some help from the playwright.  Some of the rhyme here is, as the viewer is warned on the DVD case, overdone.  See if you can finish this line from Gertrude:  "Hamlet has been quite felonius, for you see...."  Many of the lines are laugh out loud funny.  Take this exchange, from the chamber scene:  "Hamlet, there's no need to shout.  (Insert line from Cleavon Little a la Blazing Saddles.)"  Or this one, courtesy of Claudius and Hamlet at the play:  "What do you call this piece of crap?  The name of it is 'The Mousetrap.'"

Ophelia's madness scene represented a terrific comic reversal.  As her original song was reasonably rhymed, what to do here?  She wandered the stage mumbling lines that did not rhyme at all, which led Claudius to ask, "What the hell was that?"

The duel scene was completely ludicrous.  Instead of sword and rapier, Hamlet and Laertes squared off first with baguettes and then with giant wooden spoons.  Laertes had a trick up his sleeve, though.  As Hamlet chastised him, "'Tis not a spoon you wretched dork!  You have stabbed me with a spork."  With so many bodies lying on stage, all that remained was for Fortinbras and his "Fokken Fearless Forces" to enter amid the end credits.  Be sure not to shut down the DVD player at this point, though.  In a tribute to the credits of Airplane and The Naked Gun series, more jokes abound.

To summarize the post this week,
I will conclude with tongue in cheek.
The title made me look askance, but I did give this film a glance.
Made for just a little money, the end result is truly funny.
Full of laughs and humor wry, you really must give it a try.
It's worth the dollars and time you'll spend.
Green Eggs and Hamlet I recommend!

P.S.  Still wondering what Google was thinking?  On the cover of the DVD case is one review:  "Very Imaginative and very funny"--Kenneth Branagh.

P.P.S.  Hamlet made this morning's New York Times Crossword.  The clue, "Happy Malcontent," was actually the answer in the grid.  The answer to the clue is hidden within the clue/answer itself.  Clever!