Hamlet and Gravedigger "poor Yorick!" Richard Burton (1964)

Richard Burton's "Hamlet", directed by John Gielgud, produced by Alexander H. Cohen. Filmed live on Broadway in 1964 and released to theaters in Electronovision. It was the longest running "Hamlet" in Broadway history. Act V, Scene 1, Hamlet and the Gravedigger ("Alas, poor Yorick!") Richard Burton, George Rose

[@bladerunner951]

Burton's delivery was a lot more jovial than I expected.

[@trevorkeyfauver9873]

For those saying Richard Burton is being too humorous and not mopey, and introspective enough, you are caught in the trap that there is a definitive way to play Shakespeare’s characters and plays, that there is a right and a wrong way to do things. While there are some basic traits of the characters that should exist throughout each production, there is no right or wrong way to play it. There is only a fresh way to play it. Think about it: Hamlet is introspective and moody, sure (he’s a young man, for goodness sakes), which Burton nails in his To Be or Not to Be soliloquy, but he’s also a Prince. He’s very athletic, being trained in swordfighting, very well educated, he’s a man of the arts, funny, a nobleman, a virile lover, a renaissance man of a sort. It’s a tragedy because he has so many great qualities about his person that it sucks that this obsession with his father’s death (a pretty fruitless obsession; if he kills his uncle, what is left but the emptiness you feel knowing you took a person’s life in cold blood), is what undoes him. I love Burton’s Hamlet because he doesn’t play him like an archetype, he plays him like an actual person. People are not one particular defining trait, but a multitude of various traits that are combined to make up a human being. Plus there is always humor to be found in death; after all, what is left after crying but laughter?

[@junkboxxxxxx]

The words matter and really do lead in a certain direction, and also this rendition adds laughs where there is no instruction to do so "(he laughs)" and at 2:04 he starts singing his lines, without any instruction to sing.

[@stephenroberts3398]

Wonderful stage actor could do this in his sleep.. Probably drank a bottle of vodka before the performance and back to his dressing room after the show for drinks and chat..Welsh people were welcomed first and especially Welsh speaking people.. Richard Burton makes me proud to be Welsh..

[@garrison6863]

This and Plummer's were released around the same time, the latter on TV. I liked this one more. At this time, Burton had an electric voice and he knew how to use it.

[@thefletchishere]

people who are complaining about burton dont understand that stage acting is totally different from screen acting. it looks wierd when you film plays.

[@dantean]

Sorry that I never downloaded this when it briefly was up on KZbin complete! One day I looked up and it was gone. "If you're slow, you blow" obviously.

[@Jilktube]

I've never thought of singing the rhyming couplet before. Quite genius.

[@missbabyice]

This looks modern- I love how they've done it.

[@magdalenachadrys9437]

This scene is amazing❤️

[@analhelps9340]

Burton is by far the most captivating Hamlet I have yet come across (I read from the damn thing every day [I am a very obsessive person]). Through him you can really see why Shakespeare is so immortal.

[@mikejohnson2638]

You obviously have no idea about acting, Hamlet or Shakespeare.

[@actorscrib5932]

@@mikejohnson2638 neither do you ! Burton was a great . Voice , presence and magnetic

[@mikejohnson2638]

@@actorscrib5932 lol

[@mikejohnson2638]

@@actorscrib5932 Burton was a vain, conceited idiot. clueless.

[@actorscrib5932]

@@mikejohnson2638 Ha ! You got to be trolling . If not you probably think zac effron would be a great Hamlet

[@imparter9337]

After watching Kenneth Brannagh play the scene with such gravity, it's jarring to see Burton pick up the scull and laugh.

[@carmaj156]

Interesting approach to that scene. Theater is flexible (till certain point), and Shakespeare never wrote that this scene could only be sad only. I think Burton's performance is great, as he sees Yorick like his lost old friend, instead of crying for him. Even so I prefer Branagh's version. I think it's the most accurate to the scene.

[@arnoldstollar5375]

Great. Acting

[@cjh3062]

Rest in peace, my favourite actor. "Let him paint an inch thick, to this favour he must come."

[@1948BigCy]

@carmaj156 I don't think that is a unusual interpretation. It's in the script. George Rose as the grave digger starts it off "he poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once!", and the humor permeates the scene until the end. Burton's performance is loving, humorous, with just the right amount of sadness. Branagh on his best day couldn't touch it, IMHO.

[@TheDillinger22]

A tour de force ..

[@hieuto5183]

Great take on it. I think it was even more cynical and bitter than all the sobbing Hamlet there were.

[@Sean-ng4eu]

Haha Burton was great

[@LesleyLesPaul]

...Liz ruined him ! R.I.P., Richard ! LES

[@puppylove422]

If you pay attention to his body language and read his eyes, you can tell that Elizabeth taylor gave him life. Not only that, but you can tell that before they met, they were not whole without each other. 😊Hi, I’m Brittney Hill :D . I really enjoyed your upload! I’m living in Los Angeles county, where Hollywood is! I am homeless and currently looking for a overnight, only, shelter or a place to live… Yay, me ! My whole life, I’ve always done everything by myself, literally, so that’s why I’m super proud that I figured out my, Destiny. My Destiny is to get married to, Thomas John Ellis (he is a, famous, British, actor, on a T.V. show, in America, called, Lucifer.). I will become his Wife and a Mother (for the first time), to his 3 daughters. Then, I am also going to, finally, become a, famous, American, method, actress. The second thing in my Destiny is to be a real, live, Princess, for the United Kingdom. I was born to do all of these things :D, so it is in my blood. I’m Middle class, and I AM social climbing so I will marry the first rich man I come in to contact with, of course. HAHA! Either way my story plays out, I will end up married to, Tom Ellis. That is a promise. I’m 31 years old, I’m not just any Millennial, I’m, THAT, Millennial! You can join me wherever you see me in person :D ! See you on the big screen :D ! Family. Love. Love. Love. signed, Brittney Hill, Saturday, October the 26th, 2019.

[@TheStockwell]

@thelouisfanclub Your reply made my day. Thanks. I think there's enough room for all kinds of Hamlets. There aren't any really bad Hamlets, just ones that are boring. Relentlessly introspective or Man of Action, Olivier or Branagh - I'm just happy there are different Hamlets to get into fist-fights over; like all those different approaches to Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. I like my Olivier and I like my Branagh - there's no reason to claim one or the other as the best.

[@corybanter]

I didn't like Burton's performance when I first saw this film, and yet...on repeated viewings, he's really grown on me. He's definitely better than Olivier, and miles better than Ethan Hawke's horrendous Hamlet, about ten years ago.

[@HolgerRuneFan]

Ethan Hawke and Mel Gibson embarrassed the Bard.

[@raymofarrell19]

@corybanter what did you make of Andrew Scott and the Almeida production from a few years back?

[@carmaj156]

@1948BigCy Perhaps you're right. However, I'm not talking about talent. Although Branagh is a very good actor, Richard burton was one of the best of all time (his performance in "Who´s afraid of Virginia Wolf" is incredible), but I'm talikng about the scene itself and, PERSONALLY, I like it better on Brannagh's version, because it's more, let's say, touching. The graveyard humour could be also a preamble for a sudden twist in the plot... just saying.

[@arnoldstollar5375]

Kool

[@TheStockwell]

@PatriceVR This was 1964 and, after a century of mopey Hamlets, having a Hamlet who didn't spend three hours whining and whimpering was a big deal. Branagh has acknowledged Burton's Hamlet as one that broke the mold and led to Hamlets that are full of life and action instead of gloomy morose introspection. Hamlet was an introspective weenie until Burton showed up. Dated and strange? Maybe, but the Hamlets we've gotten used to - including Branagh's - start with this version. And so it goes . . .

[@magdalenachadrys9437]

To be or not to be...

[@thelouisfanclub]

@TheStockwell I like whiney, mopey hamlets J/S I understand he might have been breaking the mould and everything, but - I mean, it was a mold for a reason. Hamlet is a melancholy, introspective type! This is a most un-Hamlet-like Hamlet. But you know, you've got to do it differently sometimes I guess.

[@puppylove422]

you are looking for sir laurence olivier, then, my friend. 😊Hi, I’m Brittney Hill :D . I really enjoyed your upload! I’m living in Los Angeles county, where Hollywood is! I am homeless and currently looking for a overnight, only, shelter or a place to live… Yay, me ! My whole life, I’ve always done everything by myself, literally, so that’s why I’m super proud that I figured out my, Destiny. My Destiny is to get married to, Thomas John Ellis (he is a, famous, British, actor, on a T.V. show, in America, called, Lucifer.). I will become his Wife and a Mother (for the first time), to his 3 daughters. Then, I am also going to, finally, become a, famous, American, method, actress. The second thing in my Destiny is to be a real, live, Princess, for the United Kingdom. I was born to do all of these things :D, so it is in my blood. I’m Middle class, and I AM social climbing so I will marry the first rich man I come in to contact with, of course. HAHA! Either way my story plays out, I will end up married to, Tom Ellis. That is a promise. I’m 31 years old, I’m not just any Millennial, I’m, THAT, Millennial! You can join me wherever you see me in person :D ! See you on the big screen :D ! Family. Love. Love. Love. signed, Brittney Hill, Saturday, October the 26th, 2019.

[@LazlosPlane]

Professor Higgins!

[@braincandy6501]

Yorick League of Legends

[@94airodriguez]

L.A Noire anyone?

[@lambdaxian9974]

Aaron Z me

[@ImSoOffended]

4 people knew poor yorick

[@justchen563]

@makiavel88 HAHAHA i thought of that when we first read yorick xD butshit i love this scene

[@Tezza21000]

@RandomBathroom3000 No he far exceeds dear old men.

[@freedomland11]

@Badfuzzy1 ......HAHAHA...i just loved the way you wrote that. One question, Why do you think so?

[@1948BigCy]

@LazlosPlane Shakespeare was English and he wrote for an English speaking audience. Why the heck would the play's language be in Danish? Or is this a trick question?

[@thecrimsonfloyd]

I really think this should be delivered much more mournfully...

[@Ettoredipugnar]

@RandomBathroom3000 Mel Gibson couldent carry his dirty underware.

[@samuelmorse784]

Mel was a widely acclaimed director dumbshit.

[@Ettoredipugnar]

@@samuelmorse784 after this movie.he became an acclaimed director. But Richard Burton is of a different era

[@makiavel88]

Are u here from the League of Legends? ^^

[@Tezza21000]

@Tezza21000 *mel

[@TheStockwell]

@caspianrex It should be noted that this "JuanMacready " character began infecting KZbin about the same time "PeterFirthsLover" was kicked off KZbin for being a totally irrational wanker. I'm not implying they are the same bizarre loser, only that their emotional and intellectual DNA suggest a common ancestor.

[@1948BigCy]

@FrankClanton Frankly, that is an ill-thought statement...unless you've seen EVERY interpretation of Hamlet. A more appropriate statement would have been, "I did not like Burton's performance. In my opinion, it is the worst one of the worst Hamlets I have ever seen." BIG mfing difference.

[@thelouisfanclub]

@JuanMacready ok harsh

[@a.l.1044]

Compared with Branagh's brilliant rendition, this seems like an embarrassingly bad joke. I even winced.

[@HolgerRuneFan]

I wince at the comment.

[@-Nobody-1]

Branagh was better.

[@TheLBCSublime]

0 people liked your comment

[@oxymomo]

Mel Gibson is a swine of a human being, but if you think his acting is some level below this, then you don't know what you're talking about. Just find Gibson's "Yorick" scene and compare.

[@mikejohnson2638]

truly awful.

[@LazlosPlane]

Whoosh. What's that smell? Oh, it's this production! It's STINKS! Why is the gravedigger ALWAYS a cockney, anyway? I mean, we're in Denmark, right? Everyone is speaking presumably, Danish. Yet the Gravedigger is from White Chappel for some reason.

[@paulhopkins5390]

terrible