If you want to save yourself some time, just get a copy of The Reduced Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). All of the Bard’s plays, and some of his poetry, in about 90 minutes. Funny and economical.
I enjoyed Olivier’s Hamlet and Henry V but thought his Othello was crap. Admittedly I haven’t seen it since high school, so I might appreciate it more now, but I thought it was far to histrionic and affected. I much prefer the 1995 film with Laurence Fishburne as Othello, but the film really belongs to Kenneth Branagh as Iago (although it was directed by Oliver Parker).
Worse than that, he combined different versions of the text. There’s no good evidence that Shakespeare ever intended Hamlet to be that long.
I don’t actually care for Olivier’s Othello either as a production, but if you want to compaire acting styles Olivier vs. Wells is a good starting point. It isn’t ideal, Wells was by no means a classical actor, but he has more in comon with that style than Olivier did. If I could think of a good production featuring an older actor I to compaire to Olivier I would recomend that, but I am drawing a blank at the moment.
Misling if you want to blow your mind, when you are done with the Olivier comparisons go out and rent Marathon Man. It has nothing to do with Shakespeare, but…well you’ll see.
Most of my favorites (Branagh’s Much Ado and Hamlet, Ian McKellen’s Richard III, Helena Bonham Carter’s Twelfth Night) have already been mentioned, so I’ll just add the 1999 Midsummer Night’s Dream starring Kevin Kline. It’s very light and fluffy, but if you like Branagh’s Much Ado you should enjoy it.
I thought I’d be the only to admit to loving that.
Sir Ian’s Richard III is my favoritest Shakespeare on film. Just awesome. Julie Taymor’s Titus is pretty great, too, though it’s one of Shakespeare’s worst plays to begin with, and the appalling violence/cruelty is hard to watch (mainly the horrendous treatment of Lavinia). Branagh’s Henry V is a classic.
Zeffirelli’s 1967 Taming of the Shrew with Taylor & Burton is fun.
I often find that Shakespeare doesn’t translate well to film, but there are exceptions of course. The previously mentioned Richard III and Zeferelli’s Romeo and Juliet are two of those notable exceptions. The Shakespeare plays that PBS did were good solid Shakespeare, but they really didn’t wow me — except one. Taming of the Shrew with the guy who ended up playing beastmaster as Patruchio (sp). It was excellent. Magic was in a bottle that night. Don’t ever waste your time (or dime) on the Burton/Taylor version of the play/film. It is over produced drek - slow and plodding. Not so this version. I will say that the Moonlighting version of Taming of the Shrew was also great. It took a lot of liberties with the bard, but I think Shakespeare would have enjoyed it if he were around to see it.
I also have a weak spot for the old Leslie Howard/Norma Shearer version of Romeo and Juliet. I especially love John Berrymore as Mercutio and Basil Rathbone as Tybalt. They were even then a bit old for the parts, but jeez, they were good and believeable as those two. I definitely think there has never been a better Mercutio (lately he has been played as insane, which I feel is the wrong portrayal) and while Michael York was good in the 70s version as Tybalt, I think Rathbone had him beat too.
Finally, I heard of a film - I believe it was done by Orson Wells but I don’t know for sure - of Julius Caesar done in modern dress where Caesar was a Hitleresque character. I have had people whom I respect regarding Shakespeare tell me it was a wonderful version. I have yet to see it, but I look forward to the chance.
Oh, absolutely. Shakespeare’s plays were the popular entertainment of the day, quick, clever, topical. Ponderous modern performances are about as far from Shakespeare’s conception as possible.
The Zeffirelli Romeo & Juliet and Taming of the Shrew are decent takes on the plays, as are Branaugh’s several films. But 10 Things I Hate About You and the “Atomic Shakespeare” episode of Moonlighting are probably even closer in spirit.
I’ve had no luck finding it on DVD, but sometime in the late '70s, early '80s the BBC did a Shakespeare series and their “Taming of the Shrew” featured John Cleese as Petruchio.
Best. Casting. EVAR!
Heehee.
-FrL-
Hah, came in to recommend 10 Things I Hate About You. That movie wins on so many freaking levels. Especially the scene with the marching band, one of my favorite scenes in any movie ever.
Also another vote for the Kevin Kline version of Midsummer Knight’s Dream, which somehow managed to work in an irrelevant plot point about the cultural changes being caused by the introduction of… THE BICYCLE! 
We watched that movie in my senior year English class in high school (and we watched A Knight’s Tale after studying Chaucer. Coolest English teacher EVER.:D)
It’s available as part of this giftbox. (Unfortunately, the giftboxes are pretty much the only remotely affordable way to obtain copies of the BBC Shakespeares – individual DVDs are prohibitively expensive – and the series is so uneven in quality that you generally have to buy two bad ones to get three good ones, or vice versa.)
Lots of clips from the BBC Shakespeare series and assorted other classical drama goodies are available at this YouTube user’s page, if you want to preview some of them.
JThunder: I’ve seen West Side Story and Forbidden Plant, though it was a long time ago.
Miller: I’ve got the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Great stuff. I expect it’s even funnier if you’ve seen more of the plays.
Fretful Porpentine: wow those bbc box sets are pricey, and the individual dvds are even worse! you’d think they didn’t want anybody to watch it 
Once again, thanks everybody! I’ve got a nice long list now, ought to keep me busy for a good long while.
I don’t know if they are out on DVD yet, but Marlon Brando played Marc Antony in Julius Caesar(1953). Charleton Heston played Marc Antony in Antony and Cleopatra (1972)and two different versions of Julius Caesar (1950, 1970)
I have a tape of it and interviews with the director. Very interesting but a strange production. It is filmed on a television set with very few edits. Even when they really needed them. So any scene with more than three people, and that is most of Shrew, the actors are really crowded into the non-wide angle shot. Sometimes people lean into the shot to deliver their little lines and then scoot back out of the way.