Customer Reviews

John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in "Hamlet"

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This is a gem of a book for anyone with an interest in Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor or American theatre in the 60's. Burton played Hamlet in Canada and at the Lunt-Fontaine theatre in NYC in 1964. It was like Beatlemania with Liz and Richard walking to their waiting limo after each performance. Those were the days of Liz and Dick hysteria! This film was thought to be lost, but was thankfully unearthed in a loft at Burton's Celigny, Switzerland home. It's impossible to give this book 5 stars only because author Sterne focuses a trifle too much on Gielgud and Hume Cronyn. But when he turns his attention to Burton and Taylor, watch out! There is some wonderfully revealing anecdotes about them both, still in the honeymoon stage of their marriage.

The material on Burton is fabulous. He brought an earthy, reckless, sexy quality to the brooding Hamlet and he was phenomenal in the role. He absolutely owned the stage with this performance, completely eclipsing the supporting cast, with the exception of Hume Cronyn. The modern-day street clothes were not a distraction and Burton looked magnificent in his dark blue turtleneck sweater. Sterne focuses several chapters on the Welsh genius and includes some stories I've never seen anywhere else.

Despite the uneven writing quality, this is still worth owning if you are a fan of Burton or Shakespeare. This is the most masculine and dynamic performance of Hamlet of the past 40 years and this book explains how the performance evolved and was realized on the stage.