Selected Film Adaptations of Plays by William Shakespeare
 

• Hamlet  (1948; dir. Laurence Olivier) w/ Laurence Olivier, Eileen Herlie
• Hamlet  (1964-Russian; dir. Grigori Kozintsev) w/ Innocenti Smoktunovski
• Hamlet  (1969; dir. Tony Richardson) w/ Nicol Williamson, Anthony Hopkins
• Hamlet  (1990; dir. Franco Zefferelli) w/ Mel Gibson, Glenn Close
• Hamlet   (1996; dir. Kenneth Branagh), w/ Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi
• Hamlet  (2000; dir. Michael Almereyda), w/ Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Julia Stiles (Modern setting)

• The Bad Sleep Well  (1960-Japanese; dir. Akira Kurosawa), w/ Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori
  

• Macbeth  (1948; dir. Orson Welles) w/ Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan
• Macbeth  (1960; dir. George Schaefer) w/ Maurice Evans, Judith Anderson
• Macbeth  (1971; dir. Roman Polanski) w/ Jon Finch, Francesca Annis
• Throne of Blood  (1957-Japanese; dir. Akira Kurosawa) w/ Toshiro Mifune
• Joe Macbeth  (1955; dir. Ken Hughes) w/ Paul Douglas, Ruth Roman  (Gangster version)
• Men of Respect (1991; dir. William Reilly) w/ John Turturro, Katherine Borowitz (Mobsters)
• Scotland, PA (2001; dir. Billy Morrisette) w/ James LeGros, Maura Tierney, Christopher Walken

• Romeo and Juliet  (1936; dir. George Cukor) w/ Leslie Howard, Norma Shearer, John Barrymore
• Romeo and Juliet  (1954; Renato Castellani) Laurence Harvey, Susan Shentall
• Romeo and Juliet  (1968; Franco Zefferelli) Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, Michael York
• Romeo and Juliet  (1996; dir. Baz Luhrmann) w/ Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes
• West Side Story  (1961; dir. Robert Wise. Leonard Bernstein musical) w/ Natalie Wood

• Julius Caesar  (1953; dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz) Marlon Brando, James Mason
• Julius Caesar  (1970; dir. Stuart Burge) w/ Charlton Heston, Jason Robards

• Othello  (1952; dir. Orson Welles) w/ Orson Welles, Michael MacLiammoir, Suzanne Cloutier
• Othello  (1965; dir. Stuart Burge) w/ Laurence Olivier, Frank Finlay, Maggie Smith
• Otello  (1986; by Verdi, dir. Franco Zefferelli) w/ Placido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli (Opera)
• Othello  (1995; dir. Oliver Parker) w/ Laurence Fishbourne, Kenneth Branagh
• O (2001; dir. Tim Blake Nelson) w/ Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, Josh Hartnett (Modern retelling)
• A Double Life  (1947; dir. George Cukor) w/ Ronald Colman, Signe Hasso (Modern version)
• Jubal  (1956; dir. Delmer Daves) w/ Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger (Western)

• King Lear  (1971; dir. Peter Brook) w/ Paul Scofield
• King Lear  (1965-Russian; dir. Grigori Kozintsev)
• King Lear  (1983-Television version) w/ Laurence Olivier
• Ran  (1985-Japanese; dir. Akira Kurosawa) w/ Tatsuya Nakadai
• Broken Lance  (1954; dir. Edward Dmytryk) w/ Spencer Tracy (Western version)
• King of Texas (2001-Television western version, dir. Uli Edel) w/ Patrick Stewart, Marcia Gay Harden

• Henry V  (1945; dir. Laurence Olivier) w/ Laurence Olivier
• Henry V  (1989; dir. Kenneth Branagh) w/ Kenneth Branagh
• Chimes at Midnight (Falstaff)  (1967; dir. Orson Welles) w/ Orson Welles
• My Own Private Idaho  (1992; dir. Gus Van Sant) based on Henry IV

• Richard III  (1955; dir. Laurence Olivier) w/ Olivier, Claire Bloom, John Gielgud
• Richard III  (1995; dir. Richard Loncraine ) w/ Ian McKellen, Kristin Scott Thomas
• Looking for Richard (1996; dir. Al Pacino) w/ Pacino, Winona Ryder, Kevin Spacey
• King Rikki (The Street King) (2003; dir. James Gavin Bedford) w/ Jon Seda, Mario Lopez (1990's barrio)

• The Taming of the Shrew  (1929; Sam Taylor) Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford
• The Taming of the Shrew  (1967; Franco Zefferelli) w/ Burton & Taylor
• Kiss Me Kate  (1953; dir. George Sidney) (Cole Porter musical based on play)
• 10 Things I Hate About You (1999; dir. Gil Junger) w/ Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles (Teen comedy)

• The Boys From Syracuse  (1940; by Rodgers & Hart; dir. A. E. Sutherland) Broadway Comedy of Errors
• Much Ado About Nothing  (1993; dir. Kenneth Branagh) w/ Branagh, Emma Thompson
• Twelfth Night  (1996; dir. Trevor Nunn) w/ Imogen Stubbs, Helena Bonham Carter, Toby Stephens
• Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000; dir. Kenneth Branagh) w/ Branagh, Alicia Silverstone, Natascha McElhone, Nathan Lane, Richard Briers

• A Midsummer's Night's Dream  (1935; dir. Max Reinhardt, William Dieterle) w/ James Cagney, Olivia deHavilland
• A Midsummer's Night's Dream  (1968; dir. Peter Hall) w/ Diana Rigg, David Warner
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999; dir. Michael Hoffman) w/ Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci, Calista Flockhart

• Tempest  (1982; dir. Paul Mazursky) w/ John Cassavettes (Modern version)
• Forbidden Planet  (1956; dir. Fred Macleod Wilcox) (science-fiction version)
• Prospero's Book  (1991; dir. Peter Greenaway) w/ John Gielgud

• Titus (1999; dir. Julie Taymor) w/ Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Colm Feore, Harry J. Lennix (Based on Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare)

Websites on the Globe Theatre

The Clemson University Virtual Reality Globe Theater

Shakespeare's Globe Research Database

Image Map of the New Globe

17th Century Drawing of the Globe

Shakespeare Resource Center: The Globe

Back to Resources Page