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A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909 film)

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For other uses, see A Midsummer Night's Dream (disambiguation).
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Directed byCharles Kent
J. Stuart Blackton (co-director)
Written by
Produced byJ. Stuart Blackton
StarringWalter Ackerman
Charles Chapman
Dolores Costello
Helene Costello
Distributed byVitagraph Studios
Release date
  • December 25, 1909 (1909-12-25)
Running time
1 reel
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent film

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 1909 American film directed by Charles Kent and J. Stuart Blackton, and starring Walter Ackerman and Charles Chapman.[2] It was the first film adaptation of the eponymous play by William Shakespeare.[citation needed] The movie was made during summer 1909, but not released until 25 December.[3]

Plot

The Duke of Athens decrees that Hermia (Rose Tapley) shall forsake Lysander (Maurice Costello) in favour of her father's choice, Demetrius (Walter Ackerman). The lovers elope into the woods, quickly followed by Demetrius and his love, Helena (Julia Swayne Gordon). The town tradesmen, meanwhile, rehearse a play in honour of the duke's betrothal to Hippolyta. Back in the forest, Titania, Queen of Fairies (Florence Turner), quarrels with Penelope, who avenges herself by sending Puck (Gladys Hulette) away with a magic herb, which, dabbed on the eyes of a sleeping person, shall make the "victim" fall in love with the first person to appear after awakening. Soon, Lysander and Demetrius are smitten with the wrong girls and Titania has fallen in love with Bottom, the egotistical leader of the tradesmen, whom Puck has turned into an ass (donkey). When Penelope discovers all this mischief, she lifts the spell and the wedding of the duke and Hippolyta can proceed.

Cast

References

  1. ^ a b c Buchanan 2009, pp. 130–131.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j BFI: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909) n.d.
  3. ^ a b Ball 1968, pp. 52–56.

Additional sources

  • Ball, Robert Hamilton (2013) [first published 1968]. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. Routledge Library Editions: Film and Literature. Routledge. ISBN 9781134980987.
  • "A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909)". Film Forever. British Film Institute. n.d. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  • Buchanan, Judith (2009). Shakespeare on Silent Film: An Excellent Dumb Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521871990. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

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