Hamlet

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.

Film Info

  • United Kingdom
  • 1948
  • 153 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • English
  • Spine #82

Special Features

  • Beautiful digital transfer, with restored image and sound
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

New cover by Gordon Reynolds

Purchase Options

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

Olivier’s Shakespeare

Olivier’s Shakespeare

DVD Box Set

4 Discs

$55.96

Out Of Print

Special Features

  • Beautiful digital transfer, with restored image and sound
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

New cover by Gordon Reynolds

Hamlet
Cast
Laurence Olivier
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Leslie Banks
Chorus
Basil Sydney
Claudius, the King
Eileen Herlie
Gertrude, the Queen
Norman Wooland
Horatio
Felix Aylmer
Polonius
Peter Cushing
Osiric
Stanley Holloway
Gravedigger
Terence Morgan
Laertes
Jean Simmons
Ophelia
Anthony Quayle
Marcellus
Esmond Knight
Bernardo
Russell Thorndike
Priest
Credits
Director
Laurence Olivier
Designer
Roger Furse
Associate producer
Reginald Beck
Cinematography
Desmond Dickinson
Art direction
Carmen Dillon
Text editor
Alan Dent
Editing
Helga Cranston
Music
William Walton

Current

Hamlet
Hamlet
Reviewing Laurence Olivier’s 1948 film of Hamlet, James Agee—then a critic at Time—wrote: “The man who brings Hamlet, his friends, and his antagonists to life has tackled one of the most fascinating and most thankless tasks in show business. …

By Terrence Rafferty

Laurence Olivier: The Tragic Comedian
Laurence Olivier: The Tragic Comedian

Working from the outside in, one of the most celebrated actors of his generation infused his majestic, deeply dramatic performances with touches of humor that illuminated his characters’ humanity.

By ​Pamela Hutchinson

On Set With Olivier

Flashbacks

On Set With Olivier

The author’s recollections of the great English actor.

By Peter Cowie