charlesem The spirit that animates this version of the play is not that of William Shakespeare but Felix Mendelssohn. Shakespeare's text has been trimmed to a nubbin and hashed up by the "arrangers," Charles Kenyon and Mary C. McCall Jr., and it's gabbled by the all-star cast. Strangely, Olivia de Havilland as Hermia and Mickey Rooney as Puck are the worst offenders, and they are the only members of the cast of Max Reinhardt's celebrated 1934 Hollywood Bowl production, which inspired Warner Bros. to film the play, who made it into the movie. De Havilland delivers her lines with heavy emphasis on seemingly random words and with odd pauses, while Rooney punctuates every line with giggles, chortles, and shrieks that affect some viewers like fingernails on a chalkboard. Nobody in the cast seems to be aware that they're speaking verse. Fortunately, the decision was made to use the Mendelssohn overture and incidental music (along with snippets of other works by Mendelssohn), and to have it orchestrated by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The result is an opulently balletic version of the play, taking advantage of what can be done in movies that can't be done on stage. Is it good? Maybe not, but it's much more fun than the stodgily reverent version of Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor, 1936) that MGM came up with the following year. Casting James Cagney as Bottom/Pyramus and Joe E. Brown as Flute/Thisby was a masterstroke, and if they had been directed by someone with a surer sense of American comic idiom than Reinhardt, the Viennese refugee from Hitler who spoke very little English (Dieterle acted as interpreter), the results would have been classic -- as it is, they're just bumptious fun. Much of the movie is sheer camp, reminiscent of the twee illustrations for children's books in the early 20th century. But there is a spectacular moment in the film when Oberon (Victor Jory) gathers the fairies, gnomes, and bat- winged sprites to depart, under a billowing black train that sometimes resembles smoke. The cinematography by Hal Mohr won the only write-in Oscar ever granted by the Academy. (charlesmatthews.blogspot.com)

SimonJack All playwrights are confined to the physical restrictions of the stage to bring their works to life. But, surely, in dreaming up their stories, their imaginations are not so constricted. If William Shakespeare had lived to see this movie in 1935, I think he would have said that Max Reinhardt had captured "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on film – just as he had imagined it when penning the play in the 16th century. Indeed, the technical and production achievements in this film -- from the early years of talking movies, are so great that no one has ever made another movie of the story to rival it. And, there have been more than 40 silver screen and TV productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as of the early 21st century. Shakespeare's comedy fable of romance, love, mythology and early stage life comes alive in this film with lavish sets, marvelous costumes, outstanding special effects and superb cinematography, direction, and editing. Of course, this is to take nothing away from a stellar cast that included some of the best actors and up-and-coming performers of the day. The film won two Oscars, for cinematography and best film editing. It was nominated for best picture and best assistant director. Mickey Rooney is fantastic as Puck, the fairy servant to Oberon. Rooney was just 15 when the movie came out, and had been a child actor since age six – appearing in nearly 100 film shorts and pictures before this time. This was the third film of Olivia de Havilland's debut year in Hollywood, and her portrayal of Hermia put her on the road to star status. Bigger name stars of the time gave superb performances. Dick Powell plays Lysander, James Cagney is Bottom, Joe E. Brown is Flute, Victor Jory is Oberon, Ian Hunter is Theseus, Jean Muir is Helena, Grant Mitchell is Egeus, Anita Louise is Titania, and Frank McHugh is Quince. The quality and technical achievements in this film were so great that it was many years before anyone even tried it again, beyond the stage. The first TV movie rendition came 24 years later -- in 1959, and the next silver screen rendition came out in 1968 – 33 years after this films. This 1935 film is the benchmark for Shakespeare's great comedy on the silver screen. It's one that's not likely ever to be equaled or bettered. The bard's comedy is there in any good stage production, but this film adds the wonderment of fantasy. The audience sees the spectacle in the sky with fairies that fly. And nowhere is there a wire to be seen or a support revealed. It's as much fun watching this film for the technical and "magical" aspects as for the story itself.The 2007 Warner Brothers DVD of this film has a "Vintage Featurette" short that IMDb doesn't have in its vast array of all things film and video. "A Dream Comes True – The Making of a Classical Motion Picture" is a Vitaphone short of 1935 that runs seven minutes. It has scenes of celebs attending the Hollywood premiere of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and background on the making of the movie. To build the giant forest on a huge sound stage, studio technicians roamed the countryside for trees of unusual shapes. They added waterfalls and rivulets for reality, and brought in birds and animals. The short runs through the casting selection of 20 prominent actors cast in lead roles. Rex Reinhardt, the renowned stage producer and director had put the play on in the Hollywood Bowl the year before. It was a huge success, and Warner Brothers signed him to produce and direct the movie. Reinhardt brought Wolfgang Korngold from Vienna to arrange the music by Felix Mendelssohn for the film. The electricity for the lighting needed to illuminate the huge forest and set was enough to run a small city. It created a great deal of heat on the set, and the cast "melted" under their heavy costumes. The short shows performers cooling off in front of a giant fan, while Dick Powell treats the children fairies to double-scoop ice cream cones.

georgana I bought this movie because I want to see as many Joe E. Brown movies as possible. Joe, and other Warner Brother's actors/actresses, didn't want to make this movie because they were not getting paid to act in it. Instead of cash, Joe was allowed to take the afternoon off any time he wanted to go to the races. That was his payment for his participation in the movie. Joe played the flute player. In the version of the video I saw, there was no scene in which he played the flute. Joe also was forced to dress like a woman and play a female part in the play. He did it reluctantly but it horrified him when a critic implied that he was a female impersonator. Joe said "I was shocked, horrified, and embarrassed when I was taken for a female impersonator."

Petri Pelkonen Theseus, Duke of Athens is going to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.Demetrius is engaged with Hermia, but she does not love him.Hermia loves Lysander.And Helena loves Demetrius.Death will face Hermia is she will not marry Demetrius, the suitor chosen by her father, thus says the Athenian law.Hermia and Lysander escape through a magical forest at night.In the forest there is the realm of Fairyland.Helena leads Demetrius into the forest.Oberon, king of the fairies is upset for his queen, Titania refuses to give her Indian changeling to him for use as his knight or henchman.Oberon recruits the mischievous Puck to help him apply a magical juice from a flower called "love-in-idleness".It makes the victim fall in love with the first living thing seen upon awakening.Soon we see Titania falling for a man with the head of an ass.Also Lysander and Demetrius have great feelings for Helena and Hermia feels left out.A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) is directed by William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt.It's based on Shakespeare's play.It was written around 1594 to 1596.I just read it last week, just before they showed this movie yesterday (Sunday).I enjoyed the play as I enjoyed this movie.It is a true pleasure to watch the 15-year old Mickey Rooney as Puck.Rooney, who was born in 1920, made his first movie appearance in 1926 and is still in the pictures today.Nobody hasn't had a movie career that long! It sure is fun to watch this invisible Puck aping the mortals.Ian Hunter does great work as Theseus.Same with Verree Teasdale, who plays Hippolyta.Dick Powell is terrific as Lysander.And so is Ross Alexander as Demetrius.Olivia de Havilland is marvelous as Hermia.Grant Mitchell is great as her father Egeus.Jean Muir is very good as Helena.James Cagney does great job as Bottom, the Weaver.Joe E. Brown is magnificent as Flute, the Bellows-mender.Hugh Herbert does very good job as Snout, the Tinker.Victor Jory is brilliant as Oberon.Anita Louise is wonderful as Titania.You have to like Billy Barty playing the part of Mustard-Seed.This movie has a lot of fun moments, like when the wrong people keep falling in love with each other after Puck puts the love juice on wrong peoples' eyes.And Bottom with the head of an ass is quite humorous.People are afraid of him, and he wonders why.Then he starts to sing, and Titania notices him...A Midsummer Night's Dream is a magical experience.