A synopsis of the play in a nutshell:
The King of Navarre decides to concentrate on his studies and give up women for four years. He convinces three of his fellow students to join him in signing a pledge. However, almost immediately after the pledge is signed the Princess of France and her three ladies show up at the palace. Naturally, the four men fall in love with the four women and the rest of the play is basically about them trying to find ways around the pledge and not letting each other know they are doing this.
The first version that I could find was a BBC-TV version from 1965. It was directed by Roger Jenkins and starred Richard Pasco as Berowne. I was unable to find out any more information about this version.
The next version was from 1985. It was also a BBC-TV version and was directed by Elijah Moshinsky. It starred Mike Gwilym as Berowne, Jonathan Kent as the King of Navarre, David Warner as Don Armando, and Maureen Lipman as the Princess of France.
The version I found the most information about, and the one I have actually seen, was the Kenneth Branagh directed big-screen version from 2000. Branagh edited the text of the play very extensively and turned it into a 1930's-style musical. This musical version of Love's Labour's Lost was one with which Kenneth Branagh took a big chance. People either love or hate this idea, there is no middle ground it seems.
I am a big fan of 30's and 40's musicals so I loved this idea. The songs do fit seamlessly into Shakespeare's text. Of course, a lot of the play was left out. In comparison to Hamlet which Branagh left intact, Love's Labour's Lost has less than half of the original text of the play. However, Love's Labour's Lost is not one of Shakespeare's better written plays, cutting so much of it works and the plot of the play is left intact. Alicia Silverstone was adequate in her role as The Princess of France. Kenneth Branagh played Berowne, the oldest of the king's friends, he seemed to have more of Shakespeare's original lines. The singing and dancing was not of Fred Astaire quality, but it was quite entertaining. If the quality of the singing or dancing was too professional it would lessen the film, it would make it less believable. Songs included in the film include I'm in Heaven, There's No Business like Show Business, and The Way You Look Tonight. The latter song is sung charmingly by Richard Briers and Geraldine McEwan. Interspersed throughout the film are newsreels reminiscent of those in England in the 1930's. Branagh narrates these in a perfect mimicing of the original narrator.
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