Othello

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

2h 15m

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is a television adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy about a Moorish general in Venice who is manipulated by his ensign Iago into believing his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. The production was broadcast live in 1950 and features André Morell in the title role.

dramaticintimateformalstagedclassicalrestrainedtheatrical

What happens

Othello is a British television play, produced by the BBC and first broadcast live on Sunday, April 23, 1950. It is an adaptation of the tragedy of the same name by William Shakespeare. The production ran as part of the BBC's Sunday Night Theatre series. A second live performance took place the following Thursday, April 27. Actor and Shakespearean scholar George Skillan penned the adaptation for television, which was directed by Kevin Sheldon. The play was produced by George More O’Ferrall for the BBC with Sheldon additionally serving as associate producer. Music was composed by Clifton Parker, with art direction by Barry Learoyd. The production is notable for being one of the earliest major televised versions of the play in the United Kingdom, featuring André Morell in the title role. Additionally, it is the television debut of Joan Hopkins. A preview of the production in Radio Times noted, "we spent an hour the other day watching George More O’Ferrall rehearse a distinguished cast in Othello," going on to say that O’Ferrall made advantageous use of the intimacy of the television medium when handling Iago’s reflective soliloquies: "by allowing the actor to speak softly he gives an impression of musing aloud that could hardly be achieved if the voice had to carry through a theatre." The production received mixed reviews; Manchester Evening News called it "brilliant" while The Observer called it "dull as a duster". Lionel Hale, television drama critic for Radio Times, found "Andre Morrell’s Othello himself too much confined, too conversational, in this production ... Stephen Murray’s Iago, though missing all the sergeant-major quality of the part, substituted a mastery of its own; and, throughout, the production elucidated the play with a magnificent command of both meaning and movement." He ended the review, "I confess to having found Othello enthralling." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Othello (1955)
• Othello (1953)
• Othello (1964)
• Macbeth (1954)
• Merchant of Venice (1980)
• Otello (1914)
• Othello (1969)
• The Merchant of Venice (1961)