Hamlet

Time Out by

Despite winning several Oscars, Olivier's (condensed) version of Shakespeare's masterpiece makes for frustrating viewing: for all its 'cinematic' ambitions (the camera prowling pointlessly along the gloomy corridors of Elsinore), it's basically a stagy showcase for the mannered performance of the director in the lead role (though he's ably supported by a number of British theatrical stalwarts).

The New York Times by Bosley Crowther

The filmed Hamlet of Laurence Olivier gives absolute proof that these classics are magnificently suited to the screen.

Chicago Reader by Dave Kehr

Laurence Olivier's famous 1948 interpretation of Shakespeare's play suffers slightly from his pop-Freud approach to the character and from some excessively flashy, wrongheaded camera work—including the notorious moment when Hamlet begins the soliloquy and the camera begins to track back.

Empire by David Parkinson

Olivier's classic and personalised version of the troubled Prince of Denmark is still highly atmospheric and intriguing.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Considering that 90% of those seeing any production of Hamlet will know the story at the outset, the key to an adaptation's success is what the director does beyond the dialogue. That's one area in which Olivier's 1948 version excels.

New York Daily News by Kate Cameron

A brilliant, thrilling, vital transference of the play to the screen.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington

It's as impressive for the near-flawless performances of its deep cast of British film and theatrical stars (including Jean Simmons as Ophelia, Eileen Herlie as Gertrude and John Gielgud as the voice of Hamlet's father's ghost) as it is for its director's surprisingly rich and baroque visual style. [04 Aug 2006, p.C8]

The New Yorker by Pauline Kael

Whatever the omissions, the mutilations, the mistakes, this is very likely the most exciting and most alive production of Hamlet you will ever see on the screen.