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Directed by | |||
| Laurence Olivier | |||
Writing credits | ||
| William Shakespeare | (play "Henry V") | |
| Dallas Bower | uncredited | |
| Alan Dent | uncredited | |
| Laurence Olivier | uncredited | |
Produced by | |||
| Dallas Bower | .... | associate producer | |
| Laurence Olivier | .... | producer | |
| Filippo Del Giudice | .... | producer (uncredited) | |
| Herbert Smith | .... | executive producer in charge of production (uncredited) | |
Original Music by | |||
| William Walton | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Robert Krasker | |||
| Jack Hildyard | (uncredited) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Reginald Beck | |||
Casting by | |||
| Irene Howard | (uncredited) | ||
Art Direction by | |||
| Paul Sheriff | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Roger K. Furse | (as Roger Furse) | ||
Makeup Department | |||
| Tony Sforzini | .... | makeup artist | |
| Vivienne Walker | .... | hairdressing | |
| Marjorie Whittle | .... | assistant hair stylist (uncredited) | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| Pat MacDonnell | .... | third assistant director | |
| Vincent Permane | .... | assistant director | |
| John Paddy Carstairs | .... | first assistant director (uncredited) | |
Art Department | |||
| Carmen Dillon | .... | art director assistant | |
| E. Lindegaard | .... | scenic artist | |
| William Bowden | .... | draughtsman (uncredited) | |
| Betty Pierce | .... | draughtsman (uncredited) | |
Sound Department | |||
| John Dennis | .... | sound recordist | |
| Desmond Dew | .... | sound recordist | |
| Walter R. Day | .... | sound maintenance assistant (uncredited) | |
| Stanley Lambourne | .... | boom operator (uncredited) | |
| Harry Miller | .... | dubbing editor (uncredited) | |
Special Effects by | |||
| W. Percy Day | .... | special effects (as Percy Day) | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| George Blackwell | .... | matte shots (uncredited) | |
| W. Percy Day | .... | matte painter (uncredited) | |
| Henry Harris | .... | matte shots (uncredited) | |
| Charles Staffell | .... | back projection (uncredited) | |
Stunts | |||
| Kid Berg | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
| Nosher Powell | .... | stunts (uncredited) | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Jack Hildyard | .... | camera operator | |
| Bill Wall | .... | chief electrician (as W. Wall) | |
| Jim Body | .... | clapper loader (uncredited) | |
| Norman Foley | .... | assistant camera (uncredited) | |
| Freddie Ford Jr. | .... | focus puller: second unit (uncredited) | |
| Wilfrid Newton | .... | still photographer (uncredited) | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Margaret Furse | .... | assistant to costume designer | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Anne Barker | .... | assistant editor (uncredited) | |
| Gordon Hales | .... | assembly cutter (uncredited) | |
| Bill Lenny | .... | second assistant editor (uncredited) | |
| George Minassian | .... | color technician: Technicolor (uncredited) | |
Music Department | |||
| Muir Mathieson | .... | conductor | |
| Roy Douglas | .... | orchestrator (uncredited) | |
| Muir Mathieson | .... | musical director (uncredited) | |
Other crew | |||
| P.G. Bangs | .... | production unit | |
| Joan Barry | .... | continuity | |
| Alan Dent | .... | text editor | |
| Laurence Evans | .... | production unit | |
| Alec Hayes | .... | production unit | |
| John White | .... | horse master | |
| Leonard Marlow | .... | accountant (uncredited) | |
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| Henry V | Henry V | Henry V | The Life of Henry the Fift | Henry V |
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I have never really considered "Henry V" to be one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. It lacks the philosophical depth and emotional power of the great tragedies or even of some of the other history plays, such as "Richard III". It is a play which mythologises an English king whose main achievement was to start an unnecessary war with France. As Shakespeare knew well, Agincourt was a great victory in the short term but a futile one in the long term. Henry's early death meant that his great ambition of uniting the French and English crowns was never realised; the United Kingdom of England and France remains one of the great might-have-beens of world history. Moreover, modern audiences might have another problem with this play. By modern standards (which were not necessarily the standards of either Shakespeare's day or of Henry's) the English were the aggressors in the Hundred Years War; even by mediaeval standards, Henry's claim to the French throne was by no means as clear-cut as Shakespeare imagined.
Despite these difficulties, "Henry V" has been the subject of two of the greatest cinematic Shakespeare adaptations, this one and Kenneth Branagh's version from 1989. One reason is that it contains some of Shakespeare's most magnificent poetry and some of his greatest set-piece speeches, mostly put into the mouth of Henry himself. It is therefore a very tempting role for Shakespearean actors, especially those who can speak blank verse as naturally as Olivier or Branagh.
The two films are very different in style. Branagh's naturalistic film emphasises the bloodshed and squalor of war; contrary to what is sometimes thought, mediaeval warfare was not necessarily more chivalrous, or even less bloody, than the modern version. (The bloodiest day in British military history, when some 26,000 were killed, was 29th March 1461, the date of the Battle of Towton during the Wars of the Roses). Olivier's film is highly stylised rather than naturalistic. The scenes set in England are presented as a re-enactment of how the play might have been performed at the Globe theatre during Shakespeare's own lifetime. The French scenes were shot against sets based upon paintings from the early fifteenth century, especially the work of the Limbourg brothers. The battle scenes are more realistic, but even these play down the elements of blood and cruelty.
Olivier's film- the first which he directed- was commissioned by the British Government as a patriotic morale-booster during the Second World War. The decision to portray war as something glorious rather than bloody was therefore a quite deliberate one. A sharp contrast is drawn between the heroic Henry and his French counterparts. Those parts of Shakespeare's play which show Henry in a less favourable light, such as his order to kill the French prisoners, are omitted, apparently on the instructions of Churchill, who did not want the film's patriotic message to be clouded by moral ambiguities. The French King, Charles VI, is portrayed as a senile old fool, and his son the Dauphin Louis as not only an arrogant popinjay but also a sadistic brute who slaughters non-combatants such as the young boys in the English baggage train. Stress is placed on those scenes which show the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish captains fighting together against a common enemy. (Shakespeare was probably looking ahead to the unification of the English and Scottish crowns under James I and VI, which was to take place a few years after his play was written; it is perhaps no accident that the Scottish captain is called Jamie).
Of the two films I would- marginally- prefer Branagh's, which seems more relevant to a modern audience. Yet there is much about the earlier film which is of value even today. Some of the supporting performances are very good, especially from Harcourt Williams as the mad old Charles, Max Adrian as the Dauphin and Leslie Banks as the Chorus (who speaks some of the most poetic speeches not given to Henry). This is one of the few British films of the early forties shot in colour, and the colours are particularly vivid and jewel-like, making the film far more visually spectacular than Branagh's. Above all, this film gives the chance to later generations to see one of Britain's finest classical actors, at the peak of his powers, taking the leading role in a Shakespearean drama. 8/10