| Shakespeare's Henry V (Act I, scene 2) by Laurence Olivier King Henry listens to Canterbury's arguments for the claim on French dukedoms, then receives tennis balls from the French Ambassador. This selection ends with Chorus' bit (with some lines cut, as in scene above) at start of Act 2 (Arden edition) Laurence Olivier ... King Henry V Nicholas Hannen ... Duke of Exeter Gerald Case ... Earl of Westmoreland Felix Aylmer ... Archbishop of Canterbury Ernest Thesiger ... The French Ambassador Leslie Banks ... Chorus From the film "The Chronicle Historie of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France" (1944) directed by Lord Olivier...Fine music by William Walton. words by William Shakespeare James Agee writes: ..Some people, using I wonder what kind of dry ice for comfort, like to insist that "Henry V" is relatively uninteresting Shakespeare. This uninteresting poetry is such that after hearing it, in this production, I find it as hard to judge fairly even the best writing since Shakespeare as it is to see the objects in a room after looking into the sun. The one great glory of the film is this language. The greatest credit I can assign to those who made the film is that they have loved and served the language so well. I don't feel that much of the delivery is inspired; it is merely so good, so right, that the words set loose in the graciously designed world of the screen, like so many uncaged birds, fully enjoy and take care of themselves... Tags: Laurence-Olivier Shakespeare Henry-V fifth Felix-Aylmer William-Walton play theatre performing arts |