Hamlet at Elsinore
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StatusEnded
Filming LocationsHelsingør, Denmark
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This TV Show Is About.
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Hamlet at Elsinore is a 1964 television version of the c. 1600 play by William Shakespeare. Produced by the BBC in association with Danish Radio, it was shown in the U.S. on NET. Winning wide acclaim both for its performances and for being shot entirely at Helsingør (Elsinore in English), in the castle in which the play is set. It is the only version (with sound) of the play to have actually been shot at Elsinore Castle. This programme was recorded and edited on video tape (2" quadruplex) and not 'filmed'. The director was Philip Saville. It was the longest version of the play telecast in one evening up to that time, running nearly three hours. A 1947 telecast of the play had split it up into two ninety-minute halves over two weeks.The Canadian actor Christopher Plummer took the lead role as Hamlet and earned an Emmy Award nomination for his performance. Also appearing were Robert Shaw as Claudius, Alec Clunes as Polonius, June Tobin as Gertrude, Jo Maxwell Muller as Ophelia and Michael Caine, in his only Shakespearean performance, as Horatio. In supporting roles were Roy Kinnear as the Gravedigger, Steven Berkoff as Lucianus and Donald Sutherland as Fortinbras. The music was composed by Richard Rodney Bennett.
Clips of the programme are very rarely shown on television, and Plummer himself expressed a wish for it to be commercially available. It was released on Region 1 DVD by the BBC and Warner on 25 October 2011. The full play was shown in the UK on BBC Four on 5th November 2023 along with a 15 minute programme with Berkoff relating his experiences working on the production.