Richard III

17th April 1455

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

Laurence Oliver as King Richard III

          Here we have an other adaptation of Shakespeare's historical play, Richard III. Directed and produced by Laurence Oliver, the king is played by himself.

Richard &
Lady Anne Neville

          There some elements from Henri VI, Part 3, made to set the plot. The movie shows Richard, Duke of Gloucester plotting and conspiring to graps to the throne from his brother King Edward IV, played by Cedric Hardwicke.

          When Edward is crowned, Richard looks the throne, before advancing towards the audience and then addressing them, delivering a speech that outlines his physical deformities, including a hunched back and a withered arm. He goes on to describe his jealousy over his brother's rise to power in contrast to his lowly position.

          He dedicates himself to task and plans to frame his brother, George, Duke of Clarence, played by John Gielgud, for conspiring to kill our beloved and greatest King Edward IV, and to have George sent to the Tower of London, by claiming George will murder Edward's heirs. George is murdered, drowned in a butt of wine... Though Edward had sent a pardon to Richard, Richard stopped it passing. Richard goes on to woo and seduce the Lady Anne, played by Claire Bloom, and though she hates him for killing her charming husband and beloved father, she cannot resist and ends up marrying him.

Not a Fabulous Death...

          To make his way to the throne, he murdered his nephews after their father's death, Lord Hastings, Buckingham because he didn't killed the princes and Richard shouted "I am not in the giving vein today!" Buckingham then feared for his life and joined the opposition against Richard's rule.

          During the Battle of Borsworth, we heard Richard cried out:  "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!", quite ridiculous... Richard then spots Lord Stanley, and engages him in single combat. Before a victor can emerge, the Lancastarian troops charge Richard, and fatally wound him. Richard convulses in several spasms and offers his sword to the sky before dying. Stanley orders Richard's body to be taken away, and then finds Richard's crown in a thorn bush. He then proceeds to offer it to Henry, leaving the crown of England in safe hands once again.

          Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip watched the movie yesterday in premiere on 16 April. Did she like it? And you?

ஜ۩۞۩ஜ