A Midsummer Night’s Dream **** (1935, James Cagney, Dick Powell, Jean Muir, Olivia de Havilland, Joe E Brown, Mickey Rooney, Victor Jory) – Classic Movie Review 7833

Warner Brothers bring Max Reinhardt’s Hollywood Bowl and Broadway production of the William Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the screen with mixed results but definite success. It won two Oscars – for Best Cinematography (Hal Mohr) and Best Film Editing (Ralph Dawson) – and was also a nominee for Best Picture and Best Assistant Director (Sherry Shourds). It was advertised rather modestly as ‘A New Triumph in Movie History’.

The 11-year-old Mickey Rooney (as Puck), James Cagney (Bottom), Victor Jory (Oberon) and Louise (Titania) keep the show triumphantly on the road, but Dick Powell (Lysander) and a film debuting Olivia de Havilland (Hermia) seem at a loss without their usual movie co-starring partners, Ruby Keeler and Errol Flynn.

No one bothers with the Shakespearean verse, which is cut up by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s attractive music. But the film looks quite magical, thanks to production designer Anton Grot’s marvellous sets, beautiful costumes (designed by Max Rée) and Hal Mohr’s luminous black and white photography, which won the 1936 Best Cinematography Oscar.

The music is by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Erich Wolfgang Korngold is the music arranger, composer of additional music for the bridging scenes, and the conductor. And Leo F Forbstein is the musical director.

Kenneth Anger, the author of the infamous gossip scandal book Hollywood Babylon, plays one of the Changeline Princes.

Also in the cast are Jean Muir, Ross Alexander, Joe E Brown, Hugh Herbert, Arthur Treacher, Frank McHugh, Otis Harlan, Verree Teasdale, Anita Louise, Grant Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Hobart Cavanaugh, Dewey Robinson, Nini Theilade, Billy Barty, Sheila Brown, Katherine Frey, Shep Houghton, Angelo Rossitto, Fred Sale and Helen Westcott.

Verree Teasdale plays Hippolyta Queen of the Amazons, who is betrothed to Theseus, Dick Powell plays Lysander, who is in love with Hermia (Olivia de Havilland), Ross Alexander plays Demetrius, who is in love with Hermia, and Jean Muir plays Helena, who is in love with Demetrius.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, runs 133 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is arranged for the screen by Charles Kenyon and Mary C McCall Jr, based on the play by William Shakespeare, is shot in black and white by Hal Mohr, with Fred Jackman, Byron Haskin, Hans Koenekamp and William Alexander, is produced by Hal B Wallis, Jack L Warner and Max Reinhardt, is scored by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Erich Wolfgang Korngold (music arranger) and Leo F Forbstein (musical director), is choreographed by Bronislaw Nijinska and is designed by Anton Grot.

It is followed by A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968) directed by Peter Hall, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1985) directed by Celestino Coronada, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) directed by Michael Hoffman.

Among many other versions are the BBC TV Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1981),  A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2014) directed by Julie Taymor, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017) directed by Casey Wilder Mott.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7833

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