The trailers for this film showed a lot of stills with flashing swords and dramatic poses. It touted the "electrovision" technique. In retrospect, this probably means they were using videotape or something, but at the time, they made it sound really revolutionary and many people thought the series of stills was actually what the movie would look like (I know I did). At the time, movie tickets were ridiculously inexpensive (still fighting for dominance with free television) and you could see a film for a couple of dollars with your best girl. My mom and dad went to see it. I could hardly wait to hear from them what in God's name Electrovision was. Disappointingly, they didn't know. It looked like any other movie to them. Except that a lot of the actors were not fully costumed. Some were in street clothes. Some were fully costumed, and others were wearing modern shirts with tights and pantaloons--a really odd and off-putting mix, according to them. How old was Hamlet supposed to be? He was away at college, right? Richard Burton was pushing middle age, or dragging it, one or the other. In fact, I've rarely seen a callow, melancholy Dane in the role. Alert to film school grads: consider making Hamlet with kids in the roles. Zefferelli did Romeo and Juliet with teenagers and it was unforgettable. So those are my memories of the movie--I never saw it, never had the urge to, but my parents saw it and that was their response. If you want to see someone do the dog out of Hamlet, get the Olivier version. Jean Simmons as Ophelia. Black and white, complete with the perfect lighting they knew how to use with that incredible medium. If you want to see something really unusual, see Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990). The only Richard Burton film I can heartily recommend is Candy, also written by Tom Stoppard. There's a great scene (filmed through the floor of a limo) of Sir Richard sucking scotch out of the carpet. The king in his greatest role.
Oh, and Hamlet ends with a swordfight in which Hamlet is skewered like a kabob.
Oh, and Hamlet ends with a swordfight in which Hamlet is skewered like a kabob.