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Having cut the play's four-hour running time and omitting two characters - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - Shakespeare purists claim the movie fails to capture the full embodiment of the play. Olivier remains the yardstick by which all Hamlet performances are measured, and the supporting cast - including the likes of Peter Cushing and Patrick Troughton - are on equally good form.ĭespite praise for his performance, Olivier's version of Hamlet has been criticized by some. Where it continues to excel is the quality of performance. While the use of sets and effects were impressive in the 1940s, by today's standards this version looks and feels more like a stage play. The movie was a multiple Oscar and BAFTA winner on its release in 1948 - the ony Shakespeare adaptation to ever win the Best Film Oscar and the first British movie to win the award.

At two hours and 34 minutes long, younger audiences may struggle with the running time. Hamlet (Olivier) has a relationship with his mother, Gertrude ( Eileen Herlie) that's steeped in subtext. But it all feels dramatic rather than violent or scary. During some of the sword fighting scenes, blood is depicted and some characters die after being poisoned. A character dies by suicide - drowning - but this is shown in abstract form. A key theme of the movie is death, and while very little is depicted graphically, characters talk about it consistently, and several are killed both on and off screen.

There are few positive messages from the movie, with characters motivated by revenge and power.

While there is no profanity - apart from "damn" and "God" - the dialogue is often hard to follow for those unfamiliar with Shakespearean plays. The language of the film is entirely based on Shakespeare's work. Parents need to know that this 1948 Oscar-winning version of Hamlet is based on William Shakespeare's classic play and is both directed and stars Laurence Olivier.