Richard III (1955) - film review

England, 1461.  The rivalry between the royal houses of York and Lancaster that has resulted in bloody civil wars appears to be at an end when Edward IV is crowned king of England.  But Edward’s brother, Richard Duke of Gloucester scorns this new-found peace and secretly covets the crown.  Resolving to succeed Edward, Richard sets his mind to removing the obstacles that stand between him and the throne.  The first to die is his brother, the Duke of Clarence.  How easy it is to convince the king that Clarence is a traitor, to have him arrested and killed, drowned in a butt of Malmsey.  When Edward himself dies from exhaustion, Richard wastes no time in spreading rumours that his heir, the child Prince Edward, is illegitimate.  Thanks to some good P.R. and help from his image consultants, the Duke of Gloucester becomes the people’s favourite and he is crowned  Richard III.   Realising that the deposed Edward is still a threat, Richard has him and his younger brother murdered.  Alas, Richard’s popularity soon begins to wane and his once-loyal supporters desert him in droves, lending their support to his enemies.  When Henry of Richmond arrives in England with an army, Richard knows that his number is up.  But he isn’t about to go without a fight...

Of the three Shakespearean films that Laurence Olivier directed, Richard III is now considered to be the finest, although it was the least successful when it was first released.  Lacking the grand cinematic bravado of Henry V (1944) and the brooding stylisation of Hamlet (1948), Olivier’s Richard III is much closer to a traditional stage production of the play, although the camera is used very effectively to bring the audience over to the side of the evil protagonist.  What makes it the best of the three films are the exceptional performances from a legendary cast comprising some of England’s greatest actors.

At the height of his powers, Olivier gives what is regarded the definitive portrayal of Richard III, convincingly portraying a man who has become consumed by political ambition and lacks any vestige of humanity.  It is a towering performance that has daunted every actor who has played the part since.  The famous limp that Olivier adopts for the film was the result of an injury he sustained in Spain during the location shoot of the final battle scenes: the actor was accidentally struck by an arrow intended for a horse.  Olivier’s co-stars, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwicke and John Gielgud, are almost as impressive, and so well-constructed is the film that you hardly notice that a third of the play has been excised.  

When the film failed to make a profit in the UK in 1955, producer Alexander Korda entered into an agreement with NBC to broadcast the film on US television in 1956, coinciding with the film’s American release.  Although the film attracted a huge TV audience (estimated to be in the region of 30 million), it again failed at the box office.  This dismal outcome, together with Korda’s death in 1956, scuppered Olivier’s plans to make a film adaptation of Macbeth, in which Vivien Leigh was to have played Lady Macbeth.

© James Travers 2009

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