A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

James Cagney, Dick Powell, Olivia DeHavilland, Mickey Rooney

MGM/UA; Directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle

Black and White; Not Rated; 117 minutes; 1935

Love is in the air as well as up in the air in this dreamy film adaptation of Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." Mischievous fairy Puck (Mickey Rooney) causes all sorts of shenanigans for the royal lovers in this moonlit romantic fantasy.

 

One of the most ambitious projects undertaken by Warner was this film adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The production is that of a major Hollywood studio; the underlying interpretation was Shakespeare's romantic fantasy; the nominal subject was ancient Athenian legend. Out of all these seemingly incompatible elements emerged a coherent, even fantastic film.

 

 

REVIEWS

"Shakespeare’s got another hit!"

- Gene Shalit, NBC NEWS

"Kline is deliciously funny."

- Jay Carr, BOSTON GLOBE

"Magical and romantic."

- Amy Longsdorf, PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

"Funny and sexy."

- Jonathan Foreman, NEW YORK POST

"Thumbs up."

- Roger Ebert, SISKEL & EBERT

"Its assurance as a work of film technique is undoubted."

John Baxter, 1968

AWARDS

Academy Award® Winner