Synopsis
The opening scene is in Elsinore, where a ghost is seen by the sentinels keeping guard on the battlements of the castle. This is related to Hamlet by his friend Horatio, who describes the spirit as much resembling the late King of Denmark, his deceased father, whom his Uncle Claudius is suspected to have murdered in order that the latter might usurp his throne. Uncle Claudius also married the queen, the mother of Hamlet, within a month after. Hamlet, moved by the narration of Horatio, determines to watch for the next appearance of the ghost. It is seen again at midnight, discloses itself to Hamlet as his murdered parent and relates to him the cruel circumstances of his cruel murder by the king, his uncle, and calls upon Hamlet to avenge it. In order to accomplish this purpose, Hamlet feigns madness, especially in his conduct towards Ophelia, daughter of Polonius, with whom he is enamored. Hamlet engages some players who enact a scene in the presence of the king and queen which displays the murder of his father, purposely to try the king. Claudius, on beholding this, stung by his conscious guilt and fearful of some outward event, determines to rid himself of his nephew by sending him to England. This project is aided by Hamlet, killing Polonius. whom he mistakes for the king and who was concealed behind the arras to listen to the conversation between the queen and her son, who had demanded an interview, Hamlet is by an accident made prisoner by some pirates as he is on his…
Synopsis from OMDb
Details
- Director
- Hay Plumb
- Studio
- Hepworth
- Released
- 1913-09-22
- Running time
- 19 minutes
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Silent Films, Feature Films
Cast & crew
- Hay Plumb Director
- Johnston Forbes-Robertson
- Walter Ringham
- S.A. Cookson
- J.H. Barnes
- Alex Scott-Gatty
- Percy Rhodes
- Grendon Bentley
- Montagu Rutherford
Reviews on the Internet Archive
★★★ · Wrong Info · Flubly · 2024-01-27
This is an excerpt from the 1921 German adaptation starring actress Asta Nielsen and directed by Svend Gade. This is not the 1913 version directed by Hay Plumb, which is a British production and stars male actor Johnston Forbes-Robertson.