The Stratford Adventure
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Stratford Adventure |
| Country of production | Canada |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1954 |
| length | 39 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Morten Parker |
| script | Gudrun Parker |
| production | Guy Glover |
| music | Lou Applebaum |
| camera | Donald Wilder |
| cut | Douglas Tunstell |
| occupation | |
| |
The Stratford Adventure is a Canadian documentary - short film by Morten Parker from 1954, with the producer Guy Glover for an Oscar nominee.
content
In Stratford -born journalist Tom Patterson worked on the documentary about the Shakespeare festival in his on the banks of the Avon River in Ontario in Canada with nearby hometown, in July 1953, a performance of William Shakespeare's drama Richard III. with Alec Guinness in the title role. The National Film Board of Canada asked for this event to be documented for posterity.
The film tells how the idea of founding your own Shakespeare theater grew, how a major British director and international actor could be won over to the festival, and how Canadian actors were able to contribute their talent. The construction progress of the theater is illustrated, interrupted by discussions with people who are responsible for the idea and design of the festival. The whole thing is rounded off with recordings of the rehearsals for the Shakespeare play as well as landscape shots in and around Stratford, which complete the film
production
Production notes
The recordings were made at the Festival Theater in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. The film was produced and presented by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). In Canada it was distributed by Columbia Pictures and in the USA by Continental Distributing.
Alec Guinness was in Stratford in 1953 as Richard III. occupied. However, his film contract forbade it to use recordings of him during rehearsals in this documentary, so Douglas Rain stepped in. Since festival director Dr. Tyrone Guthrie did not allow the real samples to be disrupted by filming, these had to be recreated as well. This additional filming drove up the film budget, which was now twice as high as originally planned.
As the decision to shoot the film through the festival was made relatively late, director Morten Parker and his wife Gudrun tried to prepare a script, while at the same time taking care of the sequence of the tent construction and the making of the costumes that were in preparation. Since the starting shot for the film was so late, the Parkers had to re-enact a number of major events, such as the first meeting of festival director Guthrie and the citizens to discuss how the festival came about.
The idea behind the film was to show the world that Canada is not only a country with beautiful landscapes, but is also capable of creating a cultural event to be proud of. The idea of founding this festival goes back to Tom Patterson. He wanted to revive Stratford with a theater festival dedicated to the works of Shakespeare , as the city bears the name of the place where the great writer was born: Stratford-upon-Avon in England.
At the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the National Film Board thanked the people of Stratford for their interest, support, and help in making this film.
publication
In the USA the film was released on August 2, 1954 in New York, in Canada the English version was also released in 1954. The French language version was shown from 1955, with the alternative title of this version L'an un d'un festival read. The full English title is The Stratford Adventure: The Story Behind a Festival .
reception
criticism
Albert Ohayon wrote on the NFB Blog that Gudrun Parker's script captured the idyllic town of Stratford and the excitement the festival caused very well. The decision to shoot the film in 35 mm and in color contributes significantly to the beauty of the recordings. The film also has a certain innocence. The Parkers deserved praise for sticking through this difficult project.
Awards
- Nomination for Guy Glover in the category “Best Documentary” (long form) . However, the Oscar went to James Algar and Walt Disney and the film Miracles of the Prairie .
Canadian Film Awards 1955.
- Received the Canadian Film Award for Morten Parker in the category "Film of the Year"
Web links
- The Stratford Adventure in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Stratford Adventure see page canadianshakespeares.ca (English)
- The Stratford Adventure see page nfb.ca (including the full English original film)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The 27th Academy Awards | 1955 see page oscars.org (English).
- ↑ a b c d Adventure Capturing a historical event with no help form the organziers see page blog.nfb.ca (English). Retrieved February 7, 2020.