Shakespeare in Performance: Film
The Merchant of Venice (1916, Walter West)
| Title | The Merchant of Venice |
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| Year | 1916 |
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| Release Locations | GB
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| Director | Walter West |
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| Medium | Black & white video |
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| Length | 21 mins |
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| Languages | English |
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| Audience | general public
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| Play Connections | The Merchant of Venice (abridgment)
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Description
"Typical" of British silent film in the sense that it leaned heavily on the London theatre. The entire cast of the St. James Theatre production was persuaded by the Broadwest Film Company to allow the production to be photographed pretty much "as is." The print at the Folger is incomplete (there may not be a complete print anywhere). It abuptly ends as the trial scene begins with Portia's query: "Is your name Shylock?" It further shows the vogue for putting the Merchant of Venice on screen in an era that was still innocent of the virulent anti-Semitism of Hitler's Europe
Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14
Cast Overview
Production Team and Crew Overview
Company Overview
Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell