Othello is a 1965 film based on the Shakespeare play Othello; starring Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman. It was simply a filmed version of a performance by the actors for the National Theatre, staged by John Dexter, from 1964-66. It even used enlarged duplicates of the original stage settings, rather than having elaborate new and different sets built specifically for the film. Olivier's former backers for his Shakesp...
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Othello is a 1965 film based on the Shakespeare play Othello; starring Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman. It was simply a filmed version of a performance by the actors for the National Theatre, staged by John Dexter, from 1964-66. It even used enlarged duplicates of the original stage settings, rather than having elaborate new and different sets built specifically for the film. Olivier's former backers for his Shakespeare films were all dead by 1965, and he was not able to raise the money to do a real film version. Olivier had in fact been planning on doing Macbeth, but the film's main backer, Alexander Korda, died a year after the release of Richard III. In the U.S., it did not play the usual several-week run given to most films; instead, it played for only two days. The film was exhibited as a roadshow presentation.
The Olivier Othello is the first filmed version of the play in English that was made in Technicolor and widescreen. It is the only...
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