Richard III

Richard III (1955)

  • 80% of critics liked it
    (15 reviews)

  • 76% of users liked it
    (2,098 ratings)

Laurence Olivier was the director, co-screenwriter (with Alan Dent), and star of this robust adaptation of Shakespeare's drama, which, as Bruce Eder has written, "was the final, crowning glory of the British studio system and the end of the great cycle of British films aimed at… More

Play Trailer

Unrated,
Directed By
Written By
William Shakespeare, Colley Cibber
Genres
Drama, Classics
In Theaters
Jun 1, 1956 Wide
On DVD
Feb 24, 2004
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • Don Druker, Chicago Reader

    Laurence Olivier's classic rendition (1956) of Shakespeare's total villain contains one of his most engaging performances and reveals some of his best spatial manipulation of action.

  • , Time Out

    It becomes almost laughable when it tries to transcend its own timidity in the dramatic climaxes.

  • Bosley Crowther, New York Times

    The quality of production was superb, and a viewer had a true sense of pageantry and court grandeur.

  • Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis

    Director and star Sir Laurence Olivier doesn't shy away from center stage in this adaptation... nor would any sane person want him to.

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    The conception and execution of this film is not as bold as Henry V or Hamlet (also by Olivier), but the cast, headed by Olivier as the malevolent hunchbacked monarch, Gielgud and Richardson, is superb.

Read all 11 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Wildaly M


    Shakespeare, a.k.a. Mr. Wordy, takes a lot of time to say what he means. Thus it is no wonder that this version of Richard III is Tedium 101. Sure, it's a faithful rendition, but Olivier does very little to spice this up a bit. The final scene was laughable. The 1995 version with… More

  • Ken S


    Really fantastic version of Richard III, but if you are not familiar with the play this version is a little hard to follow.

  • Cameron J


    Well, it would appear as though Shakespeare ran out of King Henrys, or Henries; eitherway, it's a forced pluralization. Man, if there was a line of great rulers, you can bet that Will Shakespeare was somewhere taking notes. Hey, Laurence Olivier may have been somewhere in… More

  • Curt C


    Having watched a few more Shakespearean movies, I'm ready to downgrade this from "best adaptation ever" to "magnificent performance by Laurence Olivier".

  • Simeon D


    Laurence Olivier is magnificent, but this is a long, tired play, and Shakespeare can be rather dull at times, even becoming a bore. Not to forget that Olivier isn't that good of a director, rendering cinematography stale and set pieces apparently fake. I say: go and see it for… More

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