From Encyclopaedia Britannica:
Theseus, duke of Athens, has conquered Hippolyta, the Amazon queen, and is about to wed her. Meanwhile, two lovers, Hermia and Lysander, hide in the woods when Hermia's father demands that she marry Demetrius. Hoping to win his favour, Helena tells Demetrius of their whereabouts, and the two go to the woods in search of the fugitives. The forest is also full of fairies who have come for the duke's wedding.
There have been quite a few filmed versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the earliest being in 1909. There were three silent versions of the film made. The first talking film of the play was the William Dieterle/Max Reinhardt directed version from 1935. In previous articles I have mentioned that this was the film that got me interested in Shakespeare. It was the first filmed version of a Shakespeare play that I remember seeing. It came on television early one morning, about the same time of day as the play is supposed to take place. It was a truly bizarre version with many of the biggest Hollywood stars of the time, including Mickey Rooney, James Cagney, Dick Powell, and Olivia DeHavilland.
There have been many television versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as an animated version, narrated by Richard Burton. There has also been a ballet versions, directed by George Balanchine, and a couple of musical versions.
Woody Allen's A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, from 1982, is a loose adaptation of the play. Midsummer from 1999 is also a loose adaptation, one of the earliest "teen themed" Shakespeare adaptations.
The most recent filmed version of A Midsummer Night's Dream was the Kevin Kline/Michelle Pfeiffer version. It was directed by Michael Hoffman. This version had some excellent actors in it but I personally found it rather empty. I didn't develop any feelings for any of the characters. I especially found Calista Flockhart's Helena to be very irritating.
Since A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the most approachable of Shakespeare's plays, I am quite confident that there will be more filmed versions to come.
Below, you will find a listing of the filmed versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I could find. If you know of other's please let me know.
Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1909) Silent
Directed by J. Stuart Blackton and Charles Kent (I)
Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1913) silent, Italian
Pimple's Midsummer Night's Dream (1916) Silent short, UK
Sommernachtstraum, Ein (1924) Silent, German
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