At the turn of the 20th century the film industry sought to elevate its lowbrow status by imitating the theatre. While cinemas decked themselves out like theatres filmmakers signed up stage stars and turned to the classics. Shakespeare provided the greatest challenge especially since many of the films made before the First World War were only one or two reels long.
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Seven short films, taken from the National Film and Television Archive Collection, which provide the first attempts to bring Shakespeare to the big screen. The earliest film is 'King John' (1899), made by the great actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as a promo for his stage version of the same play. Also featured are 'The Tempest' (1908), 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1909), 'King Lear' (1910), 'Twelfth Night' (1910), 'The Merchant of Venice (1910) and 'Richard III' (1911).
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