Henry V [Criterion Collection]

Director: Laurence Olivier, Reginald Beck

Overview

"Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, the DVD version is derived from a 35 mm internegative made from masters in England. Film historian Bruce Eder provides a detailed and extensive commentary on the history and making of the film. Other special

Product Details

Release Date:	06/22/1999
UPC:	0037429128527
Original Release:	1944
Source:	CRITERION
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Full Frame]
Sound:	[monaural, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	2:17:00
Sales rank:	18,452

Special Features

Audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder; Theatrical trailer; "Shakespearean Royalty," a chronology of England's rulers; Stills galleries: the "Book of Hours" and production photos; Subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired; Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Laurence Olivier	King Henry V
Harcourt Williams	King Charles VI
Renee Asherson	Princess Katherine
Janet Burnell	Queen Isabel of France
Robert Newton	Ancient Pistol
Leslie Banks	Chorus
Griffith Jones	Earl of Salisbury
Esmond Knight	Fluellen
Leo Genn	Constable of France
Felix Aylmer	Archbishop of Canterbury
Ralph Truman	Mountjoy
Ivy St. Helier	Alice. Lady in Waiting
Ernest Thesiger	Duke of Berri,Duke of Berri
Max Adrian	The Dauphin
Francis Lister	Duke of Orleans
Valentine Dyall	Duke of Burgundy
Russell Thorndike	Duke of Bourbon
Michael Shepley	Capt. Gower
Morland Graham	Sir Thomas Erpingham
Gerald Case	Earl of Westmoreland
Nicholas Hannen	Duke of Exeter
Robert Helpmann	Bishop of Ely
Freda Jackson	Mistress Quickly
Jimmy Hanley	Williams
John Laurie	Capt. Jamie
Niall MacGinnis	Capt. MacMorris
George Robey	Sir John Falstaff
Roy Emerton	Lt. Bardolph
Arthur Hambling	Bates
Frederick Cooper	Cpl. Nym
Michael Warre	Duke of Gloucester
Brian Nissen	Court
Frank Tickle	Governor of Harfleur
George Cole	Boy
Jonathan Field	French Messenger
Vernon Greeves	English Herald
Ernest Hare	Priest
Ren?e Ashershon	Princess Katharine
Ken Richmond	Actor
William Walton	Composer

Technical Credits

Laurence Olivier

Alan Dent

Dallas Bower

Laurence Olivier	Screenwriter,Producer
Alan Dent	Screenwriter
Dallas Bower	Screenwriter
William Shakespeare	Playwright
Filippo Del Giudice	Producer

Scene Index

Side #1
0. Chapters
1. Logos [:29]
2. Opening Credits [:35]
3. Stratford-on-Avon [1:54]
4. The Globe Playhouse [1:58]
5. Curtain up: "O for a muse of fire..." [2:25]
6. "The king is full of grace and fair regard" [4:09]
7. Backstage at the Globe [:54]
8. Enter King Henry V [:57]
9. Henry's claim on France [4:34]
10. The clergy's promise [:44]
11. "This mock of his hath turned these balls to gun stones!" [4:01]
12. Chorus: "Now all the youth of England are on fire..." [1:15]
13. The Boar's Head-Ancient Pistol [5:09]
14. Chorus: "Unto Southampton do we change our scene" [:07]
15. "The signs of war advance-no King of England, if not King of France!" [1:16]
16. The death of Falstaff [1:03]
17. Chorus: "Suppose that you have seen a well-appointed king..." [7:04]
18. The court of France [1:01]
19. A message from Henry [3:37]
20. Chorus: "Work, work your thoughts and therein see a sea" [2:33]
21. "Once more unto the breach!" [:26]
22. The four captains [3:02]
23. Henry's conquest [4:19]
24. Katherine learns English [1:24]
25. The French war council [5:20]
26. Mountjoy's warning to Henry [:32]
27. Chorus: "Now entertain conjecture of a time..." [1:48]
28. Dauphin's horse and armor [3:04]
29. "A little touch of Harry in the night" [1:23]
30. St. Crispin's Day: "Come come, away-the sun is high" [4:37]
31. "If we are mark'd to die we are enow to do our country loss" [16:49]
32. "...they shall have none, I swear, but these my bones..." [1:13]
33. The battle of Agincourt [2:36]
34. "I was not angry since I came to France, until this instant" [4:31]
35. Henry's victory: The Agincourt Song [7:24]
36. "O God, Thy arm was here" [2:43]
37. Pistol's exit [1:40]
38. Sealing peace with the French [1:59]
39. Henry woos Katherine [5:16]
40. The marriage of two kingdoms [1:10]
41. Chorus: "...this star of England..." [4:14]
42. End Credits [9:47]

Menu

Side #1
Play the Movie
Commentary
Introduction
An overview
HENRY'S Structure
The language barrier
The play-within-a-film
Flesh and blood Shakespeare
Backstage at the Globe Playhouse
Taking the stage
Strategic flubs and foibles
The 16th's Century's vision of 15th-Century hero
An Elizabethan consciousness
Leslie Banks/The Globe's reality
Robert Newton and Ancient Pistol
The film opens up
Cuts in the play, Part One
Falstaff, Oldcastle, and Fastolf
Les Trés Riches Hueres Du Duc De Berry
The Court of England vs. The Court of France
Recreating 15th-century art on film
A famous speech
Bravery on a low budget
The Gaelic Portrayals
Cuts in the play, part two
Vivien Leigh and Renee Asherson
A 15-century film
The realistic segments
The movie's origins-the BBC
The struggle to make Henry V
Elizabethan ideals/Photographing Henry V
French bravado
The Eisenstein connection/Henry's courage
Shooting a heroic speech
Shooting a battle
Chivalry violated, knighthood destroyed
Sir William Walton and the music
Music, part two
Cuts in the play, part three
Artists and designers
The Shakespearean chronology
HENRY V's Influence
The finale
End Credits
Shakespearean Royalty
"Book of Hours"
Production Photos
Theatrical Trailer
Color Bars

Editorial Reviews

Laurence Olivier's Henry V confounded almost every assumption about bringing Shakespeare's work to the screen. In contrast to previous Shakespeare adaptations, it was fresh and lively -- even challenging and daring -- in its presentation and structure; it had fun with its subject, while other versions had been reverent and respectful; and it delighted audiences, scholars, and critics alike, becoming the first screen adaptation of a Shakespeare play to receive mostly enthusiastic reviews and turn a profit. Olivier made his movie in the middle of World War II, convincing the British government of the morale-boosting potential and propaganda uses of a good adaptation of the original play, about an English invasion of France in the 15th century; he then took off for the neutral wide-open spaces of Ireland with the best cast he could assemble from actors too old to be in uniform, a handful of actors borrowed from the armed services, highly sought-after Technicolor cameras, and a script that kept intact the core of Shakespeare's play. The movie earned him a special Academy Award. Equally important in broader historical terms, Henry V paved the way for all other Shakespeare films, from Olivier's versions of Hamlet, Richard III, and Othello through to Kenneth Branagh's more contemporary adaptations.