Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Gee LP (A) on June 02, 2005 at 22:54:37

In Reply to: You forgot to include Sir John Gielgud in your list: his "Lear" is chilling, to say the least..." posted by orejones on June 2, 2005 at 10:43:17:

Thank God for those recordings! There are so many wonderful "aural-only" versions of great plays (BTW, if you've never heard the recording of "The Glass Menagerie" with Montgomery Clift and Julie Harris, I recommend you track it down immediately!). Whatever the decisions at the time about money that prevent us from seeing these on film or video today, at least we can hear some incredible performances!

BTW, in an early draft of one of my posts, I pointed out that it was a shame that we could not compare Hamlets the way Thirties audiences in New York and London could: first Gielgud, then Leslie Howard, and finally Laurence Olivier, with the first two coming within a season or so of each other. At least recordings gives us the shadow of that kind of opportunity!