King John

Starring: Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Dora Tulloch
Directed by: Walter Pfeffier Dando, William K.L. Dickson, Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Drama, Short
Length: 1 minute
1899

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: King John slowly dies on his throne.

Review:

Tim: 1899's King John is noteworthy because it's the earliest film adaptation of a William Shakespeare play. Unfortunately, out of the 4 scenes shot, only 1 still exists. The existing scene is the third one, where King John is sitting on his throne, writhing in his death throes.

The scene is well shot, with King John in the middle, wearing white, while the other characters are more darkly clothed. This brings our eye and our attention to the dying monarch. He moves, twists in pain, and even the supporting characters are leaning in to watch. The whole shot is designed to keep us focused on John. He reaches for a hand, pulls away in agony. He musters his strength and sits up, saying something. It's kind of sad to think we'll never know what he utters (I guess unless you go read the Shakespeare play and you can probably figure it out).

Herbert Beerbohm Tree does a good job as John, as far as I can tell in 1:17 of film. His movements are a bit theatrical but believable. He does a good job of commanding our presence, and whenever I think about this short film, it's his image I see. Everyone else fades into the background.

I suppose I enjoyed this short film because it left me wanting more. I wish the other three scenes of this first Shakespeare film adaptation existed. As is, this is just a tantalizing look at an extremely early film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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