Silent Shakespeare

Seven short films, taken from the National Film and Television Archive Collection, which provide the first attempts to bring Shakespeare to the big screen. The earliest film is 'King John' (1899), made by the great actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as a promo for his stage version of the same play. Also featured are 'The Tempest' (1908), 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1909), 'King Lear' (1910), 'Twelfth Night' (1910), 'The Merchant of Venice (1910) and 'Richard III' (1911).