A Bushel of the Bard - the Histories

As there is a brief pause in the rugby union visualisations, I thought it was a good time for the next in this series.

After the first post in this series, I received complaints about the Merchant of Venice being included in the comedies.  I told L that if he wanted to shout at someone, he should shout at 400 years of classification.  On the other hand, I agree that Merchant of Venice is not funny (most especially not Launcelot Gobbo).  But it does have a wedding.

That sort of historical classification is also why Julius Caesar, play about a famous, real, historical even in Shakespeare's day person is in the tragedies, not in the historicals.

Richard II - You know how you never see the Charlton Heston Ben Hur in the right order?  I have never seen Richard II in the right order.  I have seen the end, beginning and middle of completely different productions, unfortunately in that order.  (Although L took me to see the Wilton diptych, so I see why they go with white and gold for Richard - https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/english-or-french-the-wilton-diptych)

Henry IV (or IVa and Ivb) - In the right order, only ever the Jonathan Firth version (or David Calder version, depending if you describe it by Hal or by Falstaff, Rufus Sewell version if you go by Hotspur.  Mumblety but greater than 25 years later, I still remember the Radio Times picture of Rufus Sewell as Hotspur).  Various liberties are taken with the order of scenes in this version, which even my mother has no objections to.  Them making John the nice Lancaster we all take grievous objection to (they remove the bits where he sneaks mightily and underhandedly).  Them playing up the poisonousness of Hal, my mother objects to also.

On the other hand, David Calder is still my Falstaff, the Falstaff all others will be measured by (and frequently found wanting).  It's the scene with him and Justice Shallow and Paul Eddington and David Calder just knocking that straight out of the park.

Henry V - There's going to be a whole bit about "I don't have a Hamlet problem".  In much the same way, my Mum doesn't have a Henry V problem, she only has 3 versions at home (I have the family copy of the Hollow Crown version, which one day I will watch, properly).

I'm going to go with the obvious, and go with the Branagh version as my favourite, all mud and blood and Non Nobis Domine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13FrLGB_oK8).  However, I've yet to see a version where there wasn't something I liked.

I love the surround for the Olivier version, and the BBC version gives me most of Act 3 scene 7 and Julian Glover's Constable.  Even the recent(ish) Globe version with Jamie Parker as Henry V that I otherwise disliked had an adorable "Kiss me Kate", although when the "Kiss me Kate" is the highlight of a version, it says things.

Richard III - Antony Sher, but not like that.  Once again, the Animated Tales has weaved it's spell on me, and he is Tricky Dicky in that one.  It's the artwork and the ghosts, oh the ghosts.  The other version I have watched all the way through, in the right order, is the Laurence Olivier version, which works well and has that moment where Buckingham realises what he's released.