The Life and Death of King Richard III (1912)

Richard III (1912) is a 55-minute film adaptation of Shakespeare's play, starring Frederick Warde as the title character. The film, a French/U.S. coproduction, was produced by Film d'Art and released through the independent states rights film distribution system. The film was co-directed by French film director André Calmettes, who had previously directed the films The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1908), La Tosca (1909 - based on the play by Victorien Sardou), and La Dame aux Camélias (1910) with Sarah Bernhardt. Richard III was adapted from Shakespeare's original and Colley Cibber's 1699 adaptation by playwright James Keane, who also served as co-director and actor (playing Richmond).

It is the oldest surviving American feature-length film, and is also thought to be the first feature-length Shakespearean adaptation ever made. As early as 1922, the film was thought lost. It was not until 1996 that a print was discovered, when William Buffum, former projectionist at the Bluebird Theatre in Portland, Oregon, donated his copy to the AFI. The AFI restored the print, transferring it from its nitrate film stock and retouching the hand tinting effect used in the original 1912 release.

When the film was released in the US, actor Frederick Warde would often appear at screenings, giving a short lecture, and then reading extracts from the play during the changing of the reels. The film itself begins with Warde, in modern dress, emerging from behind a theatrical curtain and bowing, and concludes with him bowing again, and returning behind the curtain. The film also features two scenes from 3 Henry VI (the murder of Prince Edward and Richard's murder of Henry VI).

On June 26, 2001, Kino International released the film on DVD, with a newly composed score by Ennio Morricone, and a 17-minute documentary film "Rediscovering Richard: Looking Back on a Forgotten Classic".

Synopsis

Cette volonté de pouvoir ne fait pas de Richard l'incarnation du Diable que l'on a souvent décrite : elle naît plutôt d'un désir de revanche sur la Nature qui l'a fait difforme et sur la société entière, sur ceux qu'il a aidés à prendre le pouvoir et qui le rejettent une fois que ses mains sont salies (c'est lui qui a tué Henry VI et ainsi permis à Edouard de monter sur le trône).

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