A Midsummer Night's Dream
About A Midsummer Night's Dream
Theseus orders Hermia to marry Demetrius instead of Lysander. She and Lysander elope into the woods, followed by Demetrius and Helena. Townspeople rehearsing a wedding play are in the same woods, where Puck's herb tangles the lovers and transforms Bottom. The spell is lifted, Lysander loves Hermia again, Demetrius is left in love with Helena, and the Duke finds them on a morning hunt. The next day there are three weddings, and the tradesmen give their play.
Cast & crew
More about A Midsummer Night's Dream
J. Stuart Blackton and Charles Kent directed Eugene Mullin's scenario of Shakespeare's play. Vitagraph shot it in the summer of 1909 and released the one-reeler, 991 feet, on December 25, 1909. A Moving Picture World advertisement that day called it a Vitagraph film-de-luxe, gorgeously costumed and elaborately staged.
Themes
Preservation
A 35mm positive print is at the George Eastman Museum. The AFI Catalog lists the film as extant.
Notes
- Maurice Costello plays Lysander, Rose Tapley Hermia, Walter Ackerman Demetrius, Julia Swayne Gordon Helena, and William V. Ranous Bottom.
- Gladys Hulette plays Puck. Dolores Costello and Helene Costello play fairies. Florence Turner plays Titania.
- The AFI Catalog calls this the earliest American film of the play.
- A 35mm positive is at the George Eastman Museum.
Scenes
- Puck is sent into the woods with the magic herb.
- The tradesmen perform their play at the triple wedding.
Influenced by
- William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons
- George Eastman Museum
