King John (1899)
by popegrutch
This is the first known example of an adaptation of Shakespeare’s work to moving pictures. It is, of course, silent, and so doesn’t do much justice to the brilliant dialogue of the Bard. It exists today in a two-minute clip from what was probably a rather longer film. Watching it is sort of like looking at an artist’s interpretation of Shakespeare on canvas, or like the above illustration. If you’re familiar with the play, it is a sort of snapshot of a key scene, but it isn’t really a reenactment of the play. It was produced through the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company, an affiliate of the US Biograph studio.
Directed by: WKL Dickson & Walter Pfeffer Dando
Starring: Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Run Time: 2 min.
You Can Watch it for Free: Here
Century Film Project 
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