Get Shakey With WB's Shakespeare Collection

I know William Shakespeare isn’t for everyone, but I happen to fall in the crowd that absolutely loves the work of the Bard. I have my own personal favorites regarding which adaptations I prefer and which I abhor, but I try to give every interpretation of Shakespeare on film a fair shake. After all, the joy of Shakespeare over time has been how flexible the work is, and therefore how well it can exist being placed in different settings.

Warner Brothers is putting out a set to die for, full of traditional takes on Shakespeare’s work, but just as enjoyable nonetheless. At the center of the set is the new-to-DVD adaptation of Hamlet by the current king bee of all things Shakey, Kenneth Branagh. Although I have other versions I prefer over Branaghs (especially as the ending turns somewhat action hero flick), I have a lot of respect for the man deciding not to cut down Shakespeare’s original script. There are very few places you can catch the entire script of Hamlet performed, so finally having it available on DVD is a long-awaited event.

While Hamlet will be available on its own in a two-disc special edition, the crème de la crème is “The Shakespeare Collect” which includes Branagh’s Hamlet along with the 1935 rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that starred a young Mickey Rooney as puck, Sir Laurence Olivier’s 1965 version of Othello, and MGM’s 1936 Irving Thalberg directed Romeo and Juliet.

While many people may turn their nose up at Shakespeare, you have to admire the talent assembled within this set. Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, Barrymore, Rathbone, James Cagney, Maggie Smith, and more. These are some of Hollywood’s most notable names taking on some of literature’s most notable plays. Simply amazing.

Both “The Shakespeare Collection” and Hamlet debut on DVD August 14th.