A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935 film)
It is directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, produced by Warner Bros., and stars James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Olivia de Havilland (in her film debut), Jean Muir, Joe E. Brown, Dick Powell, Ross Alexander, Anita Louise, Victor Jory and Ian Hunter.The screenplay, written by Charles Kenyon and Mary C. McCall Jr., is adapted from Reinhardt's Hollywood Bowl production of the play from the previous year.Meanwhile, Peter Quince and his fellow players gather to produce a stage play about the cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe in honor of the Duke and his upcoming marriage to Hippolyta.Wanting to punish Titania's disobedience, Oberon instructs his mischievous court jester Puck to retrieve a flower called "love-in-idleness".Following Oberon's instructions, Puck removes the donkey's head from Bottom, and arranges everything so that Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena all believe that they have been dreaming when they awaken.The Athenian Court The Players The Fairies At the time of production, legendary avante garde stage director Max Reinhardt had just arrived in the United States as a refugee from the imminent Nazi takeover of Austria.His arrival in America followed a long and distinguished career, "inspired by the example of social participation in the ancient Greek and Medieval theatres", of seeking "to bridge the separation between actors and audiences".The production utilized Felix Mendelssohn's music composed for the play, with ballet sequences choreographed by Theodore Kosloff and Nini Theilade.The opening cast featured Mickey Rooney (Puck), Olivia de Havilland (Hermia), David Lawrence (Theseus), Ingeborg Tillish (Hippolyta), Hollis Davenny (Egeus), Richard Stark (Lysander), George Walcott (Demetrius), Marion Shilling (Helena), and Leif Erickson (Oberon).[7] Although the cast of the stage play was mostly replaced by Warner Brothers contract players, de Havilland and Mickey Rooney were chosen to reprise their original roles.He instead gave orders to the actors and crew in Austrian German while fellow refugee and longtime Reinhardt collaborator William Dieterle acted as his interpreter.The film failed at the box office and received mixed reviews, with the cinematography, the use of Mendelssohn's music, and the dance sequences being highly praised.Although James Cagney was acclaimed for his performance, Warner Bros. was criticized by film critic Richard Watts, Jr. for "weakening" enough to cast an actor "whose performance is not much short of fatal", referring to box-office favorite Dick Powell, then in his "Hollywood crooner" phase, who reportedly realized he was completely wrong for the role of Lysander and asked to be taken off the film, to no avail.His clear, distinct diction indicates what can be done by careful recitation and good recording; Olivia de Havilland, as Hermia, is a fine artist here; others are Jean Muir, Verree Teasdale and Anita Louise, the latter beautiful as Titania but occasionally indistinct in her lines."He praised Korngold's "magnificent" score and Dieterle's direction as "enormously skillful in executing a narrative counterpoint for the four distinct situations," but was critical of the ballets, the goblins, and the "clever mechanical tricks" such as the visible wire suspending Puck in space."Rooney's "remarkable" puck was "one of the major delights of the work," but Cagney was "too dynamic" to play the "dullard" Bottom, and the "earnest sobriety" of Jory's Oberon "scarcely seems appropriate" to the "antic" fairy king."Real" characters in the cast include Jack Warner, Max Reinhardt, Will Hays, Joe E. Brown, and Jimmy Cagney.[20] "When the enchantment of the silver screen meets the magic of Fairyland, all merry hell breaks loose, and we are treated to transformations, chase scenes, and the kind of havoc that only that certain love-juice can wreak.
Max ReinhardtWilliam DieterleCharles KenyonMary C. McCall Jr.A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam ShakespeareHenry BlankeJames CagneyJoe E. BrownDick PowellJean MuirVictor JoryVerree TeasdaleHugh HerbertAnita LouiseFrank McHughRoss AlexanderIan HunterMickey RooneyOlivia de HavillandHobart CavanaughGrant MitchellHal MohrRalph DawsonFelix MendelssohnErich Wolfgang KorngoldWarner Bros. PicturesShakespearean play of the same nameWarner Bros.Hollywood BowlBallets RussesBronislava NijinskaPyramus and Thisbechangelinglove potionTheseusHippolytaLysanderHermiaHelenaDewey RobinsonBottomOtis HarlanArthur TreacherOberonTitaniaNini TheiladeHelen WestcottBilly BartyMargaret Kerryavante gardeUnited StatesrefugeeNazi takeover of Austriaancient GreekMedieval theatresseparationLos Angeles TimesCalabasasTheodore KosloffMax RéeGeorge WalcottMarion ShillingLeif EricksonGloria StuartWarner BrothersKenneth AngerHollywood Babylon IIouttakeAustrian GermanBig Pines, CaliforniaJack L. WarnercellophaneMinistry of Propagandacensorship in Nazi GermanyJoseph GoebbelsGerman expressionist cinemadegenerate artClassical musicFelix Mendelsohndegenerate musicVarietyThe New York TimesAndre SennwaldThe SpectatorGraham Greenethe playAcademy AwardsBest CinematographyBest Film EditingSherry ShourdsAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesincidental musicSymphony No. 3 ScottishSymphony No. 4 ItalianSongs without WordsRoyal Shakespeare CompanyKen Ludwigworld premiereArena StageHelen Hayes AwardJack WarnerWill HaysJimmy CagneyRonald BerganGreene, GrahamTaylor, John RussellRotten TomatoesThe Moving Image: The Journal of the Association of Moving Image ArchivistsUniversity of Minnesota PressTCM Movie DatabaseAFI Catalog of Feature FilmsMan by the WaysideBehind the AltarThe Saint and Her FoolSex in ChainsRustle of SpringLudwig II, King of BavariaTriumph of LoveThe Brandenburg ArchSilence in the ForestThe Dance Goes OnDemon of the SeaOne Hour of HappinessThe Sacred FlameThe Last Flight