Warner Bros. production of Shakespeare play is a bizarre classic
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Max Reinhardt & William Dieterle, 2004)
MoMA Film
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Thursday, August 11, 4:30; Friday, August 19, 4:00
Series runs through September 7
Tickets: $10, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle’s 1935 adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one freakishly weird flick. In a misty forest, fairies go around sprinkling love potions on sleeping humans, creating mixed-up relationships that even venture out into the realm of bestiality. “The course of true love never did run smooth,” Lysander tells Hermia, and that sums up this star-studded screwball comedy of a sort. Warner Bros. put together quite a lineup for this big-time production, with plenty of strange casting choices that end up working rather splendidly. James Cagney prances about as Bottom, Dick Powell plays Lysander, Olivia de Havilland makes her film debut as Hermia, Joe E. Brown is Flute, Billy Barty plays Mustardseed, and a teenage Mickey Rooney offers a delirious take on Puck, howling at the moon with sheer glee. The wacky movie also features Ian Hunter, Arthur Treacher, Victor Jory, and Anita Louise as the fairy queen Titania. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, and won for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, will be screening August 11 at 4:30 and August 19 at 4:00 as part of MoMA’s “Hot and Humid: Summer Films from the Archives” series, which continues through September 7 with such seasonal dramas as Hou Hsiao-hsien’s A Summer at Grandpa’s, Federico Fellini’s I vitelloni, Ingmar Bergman’s Summer with Monika, André Téchiné’s Wild Reeds, Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.