Having watched all these crappy movies for Nostalgia Critic Month, I'm finally going to be watching mostly nothing but classic for Shakespeare Month! I have no idea if this is the first feature length Shakespeare adaptation ever made, but it certainly seems like it. I admit to being unfamiliar with "A Midsummer Night's Dream", at least in comparison to other of Shakespeare's works. I do remember that it features this creature or spirit who makes people fall in love while they're asleep. I had no idea there were all these other weird things going on. There's a subplot where this one guy has the head of a donkey! They actually use the term "ass" which I guess in this context would be allowable in a 1930's film. The modern meaning probably wasn't mainstream then. We even get this story about people who are actually putting on a play themselves. Yep, this is basically a play about a play! Puck was the most memorable character and it's weird how Leonard Maltin found him annoying. I just loved the costumes and visuals in this. It holds up after close to a century! The sets just look great and it's a wonderful early Shakespeare adaptation. ***1/2

I saw this today on TCM after not having seen it for decades. I then read the reviews and message boards. I don't know what others saw, but I found the production to be stunning.Its black and white, yet the difference between "real" and "faerie" was made obvious. Several stories within a story. Names known in the 1930's may not match names known today. Costuming may not be historically correct, but it does enable the audience to recognize each person's status.I personally did not check biographhies for anyone's prior experience with Shakespeare on stage, but I do not feel that anyone embarrassed themselves in their performance. I know the language can be hard to follow, but if you listen without concentrating, the words reveal the content. I've read complaints about Puck's portrayal as over the top, but modern images of fairies are not the way they were portrayed in the past. Fairies were not human, and their qualities beyond being ethereal could include capriciousness, arbitrariness and spite.If you watch and listen with an open mind, this doesn't have to be perfect to be perfectly entertaining and a more than fair performance of the Bard's work and words.

Probably my choice for Shakespeare's most overrated play. I actually think this thing is a very dark comedy. It's views on love are twisted and cynical and cute little Puck is a sadistic little bastard. If I were to direct a production it would probably depress people. This particular production has great things about it, namely Jim Cagney as Bottom. Brilliant performance and one of the best Shakespeare to screen interpretations I've ever seen. He has such manic energy and excitement which is perfect for the character. The problem is when he get's his ass's head which is painfully fake looking it really takes away from the performance. I suppose this might be an instance where I might crave for CGI but I don't see why every production of this play insists on making the ass head so literal. Some practical make-up effects and a humanized ass head allowing for expressiveness from the actor are sorely craved.Reinhardt was a brilliant theatre director and this is really the only thing we have left of his work. It gives us a nice feel of what his production of this play would have looked like theatrically. He seems to really love the close up though and I kind of wished he would move back so it would be closer to a theatrical experience. There are elaborate spectacles with the fairies which are beautifully choreographed and sung.My big problem with the film? The Mickster as Puck. A little bit of Mickey Rooney goes a long way. Of course they wanted him in this thing to show how cute he was and hearing his voice go through Shakespeare is irritating.

Theseus, Duke of Athens is going to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.Demetrius is engaged with Hermia, but she does not love him.Hermia loves Lysander.And Helena loves Demetrius.Death will face Hermia is she will not marry Demetrius, the suitor chosen by her father, thus says the Athenian law.Hermia and Lysander escape through a magical forest at night.In the forest there is the realm of Fairyland.Helena leads Demetrius into the forest.Oberon, king of the fairies is upset for his queen, Titania refuses to give her Indian changeling to him for use as his knight or henchman.Oberon recruits the mischievous Puck to help him apply a magical juice from a flower called "love-in-idleness".It makes the victim fall in love with the first living thing seen upon awakening.Soon we see Titania falling for a man with the head of an ass.Also Lysander and Demetrius have great feelings for Helena and Hermia feels left out.A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) is directed by William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt.It's based on Shakespeare's play.It was written around 1594 to 1596.I just read it last week, just before they showed this movie yesterday (Sunday).I enjoyed the play as I enjoyed this movie.It is a true pleasure to watch the 15-year old Mickey Rooney as Puck.Rooney, who was born in 1920, made his first movie appearance in 1926 and is still in the pictures today.Nobody hasn't had a movie career that long! It sure is fun to watch this invisible Puck aping the mortals.Ian Hunter does great work as Theseus.Same with Verree Teasdale, who plays Hippolyta.Dick Powell is terrific as Lysander.And so is Ross Alexander as Demetrius.Olivia de Havilland is marvelous as Hermia.Grant Mitchell is great as her father Egeus.Jean Muir is very good as Helena.James Cagney does great job as Bottom, the Weaver.Joe E. Brown is magnificent as Flute, the Bellows-mender.Hugh Herbert does very good job as Snout, the Tinker.Victor Jory is brilliant as Oberon.Anita Louise is wonderful as Titania.You have to like Billy Barty playing the part of Mustard-Seed.This movie has a lot of fun moments, like when the wrong people keep falling in love with each other after Puck puts the love juice on wrong peoples' eyes.And Bottom with the head of an ass is quite humorous.People are afraid of him, and he wonders why.Then he starts to sing, and Titania notices him...A Midsummer Night's Dream is a magical experience.