Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.
Acting
Olivier's voice could make a grocery list sound haunted.
Cinematography
Deep-focus staircases that swallow souls whole.
Direction
Olivier directs himself being extra. It works.
Director
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Hamlet - Prince of Denmark / Voice of Ghost
Basil Sydney
Claudius - The King
Eileen Herlie
Gertrude - The Queen
Norman Wooland
Horatio - His Friend
Felix Aylmer
Polonius - Lord Chamberlain
Jean Simmons
Ophelia
Terence Morgan
Laertes
Peter Cushing
Osric
Stanley Holloway
Gravedigger
Russell Thorndike
Priest
John Laurie
Francisco
Esmond Knight
Bernardo
Anthony Quayle
Marcellus
Harcourt Williams
First Player
Patrick Troughton
Player King
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Olivier was only 41 playing the student prince; Eileen Herlie, his mother Gertrude, was 13 years younger than him in real life.
This was the first non-American film to win Best Picture, and Olivier remains the only person to direct himself to a Best Actor Oscar.
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