Shakespeare in Performance: Film
Twelfth Night: or, What You Will (1949, Luis Lucia)
| Title | Twelfth Night: or, What You Will |
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| Year | 1949 |
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| Release Locations | USA
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| Director | Luis Lucia |
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| Medium | Black & white video |
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| Length | 1 hrs |
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| Languages | English |
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| Audience | professional
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| Play Connections | Twelfth Night (abridgment)
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| Series | The Philco Television Playhouse
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Description
Of historical significance because it is probably the first transmission by a major studio of non-operatic Shakespeare on television in North America. Even before WWII, the British as early as 1937 (see 35) had carried Shakespeare on the BBC. If a record of this 1949 production does remain, it is probably a blurry "Kinescope." It was a joint venture of the Actors Equity and Philco Playhouse. (Earlier, in 1948, Verdi's Otello had been televised from the New York Metropolitan Opera (http://isebeta.uvic.ca/Theater/sip/production/recorded/448/) but the compelling interest in that instance was doubtless more in the opera than in its source.)
Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14
Cast Overview
Production Team and Crew Overview
Company Overview
Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell