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Henry V (1944 film)

Henry V
Henry V – 1944 UK film poster.jpg
British film poster
Directed by Laurence Olivier
Produced by Filippo Del Giudice
Laurence Olivier
Written by William Shakespeare (Play),
Dallas Bower,
Alan Dent,
Laurence Olivier
Starring Laurence Olivier
Renée Asherson
Robert Newton
Leslie Banks
Music by William Walton
Cinematography Jack Hildyard
Robert Krasker
Edited by Reginald Beck
Production
company
Distributed by Eagle-Lion Distributors Limited
Release date
  • 22 November 1944 (1944-11-22)
Running time
136 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £475,708 (or $2 million)
Box office over $2 million

Henry V is a 1944 British Technicolor film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The on-screen title is The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France (the title of the 1600 quarto edition of the play). It stars Laurence Olivier, who also directed. The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier, Dallas Bower, and Alan Dent. The score is by William Walton.

The film begins as a recreation of a stage production of the play in the Globe Theatre, then gradually turns into a stylised cinematic rendition of the play, with sets reminiscent of a medieval Book of Hours. It follows the overall pattern of Shakespeare's play, depicting Henry's campaign in France, through the siege of Harfleur. The film then shows the Battle of Agincourt in a real setting, after which the film quickly begins to revert to backdrops that are once again more and more like medieval illuminated manuscripts. We then see the negotiations for Treaty of Troyes and Henry's courtship of Princess Katherine followed by their marriage. At the end of the scene, the setting reverts to the Globe Playhouse and the audience applauding.

The film was made near the end of World War II and was intended as a morale booster for Britain. Consequently, the film was partly funded by the British government. The film was originally "dedicated to the ‘Commandos and Airborne Troops of Great Britain the spirit of whose ancestors it has been humbly attempted to recapture.’" The movie won Olivier an Academy Honorary Award for "his Outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director in bringing Henry V to the screen."

Olivier's Henry V is widely considered the first Shakespeare film to be both artistically and commercially successful.


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