Comme il vous plaira

In his first Shakespearian film, handsome nobleman Laurence Olivier (as Orlando) is tricked into a wrestling match by nasty brother John Laurie (as Oliver). Assumed to be the doomed underdog, Mr. Olivier surprises everyone by winning. He also catches the eye of Duke's daughter Elisabeth Bergner (as Rosalind), who is enamored with the younger man in tights. Olivier is likewise attracted to Ms. Bergner. They are banished, separately, to the animal-friendly Forest of Arden, where Bergner is disguised as a man...

This is a serviceable retelling of the Shakespearian comedy. Today, people may watch it for Olivier, but it's made for Bergner, who received "Best Actress" praise for previous performances in "The Rise of Catherine the Great" (1934, New York Times) and "Escape Me Never" (1935, Academy Awards nomination). All three pictures were directed by her husband Paul Czinner. Bergner is most appealing, but not convincing, in her scenes as the young man "Ganymede" with cousin Sophie Stewart (as Celia).

***** As You Like It (9/3/36) Paul Czinner ~ Elisabeth Bergner, Laurence Olivier, Sophie Stewart, John Laurie

This is very much in the same style as Max Reinhardt's ambitious rendering of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" a few years earlier, it's the same playfulness, the same fantastic imagination and innovations, the same good humour and the same kind of gorgeous sets with a number of sumptuous crowd scenes, and instead of Mendelssohn's music you have William Walton, who actually proves just as appropriate. This is one of those plays that are almost impossible to fail in, as it is so ingenious and well written with such adorable characters, and both Elisabeth Bergner and Laurence Olivier do credit to them indeed, Bergner actually almost outshining Olivier, whose fírst Shakespeare film this was. In comparison with Kenneth Branagh's version 70 years later, this is actually so much more enoyable, although it's without colours and much shorter, but Branagh's production is heavier, he has the tendency to always overdo everything in his films, and in this version everything is convincing and true to the original character of the play, while Branagh always must modernize and almost screw it up. The doiminating trait of the film is a very playful direction, you feel throughout that the director enjoyed doing this, perhaps even more than Reinhardt in the midsummer night play with Mickey Rooney as Puck and James Cagney as Bottom, and later on Paul Czinner made some of the best ballet films ever made. In brief, in spite of its early age and lack of technical maturity, this is a perfect Shakespeare film.

Laurence Olivier in his first Shakespeare adaptation on screen. This is the first motif to see this old film , good kick to discover the root of classic performances from Shakespeare universe.

The second virtue - the noble effort of Elizabeth Bergner to create a beautiful Rosalind portrait , using her experience in polish of it on German scene. Her accent ? I saw it as good point , defining exactly the determination to propose a professional performance.

Yes, not great but profound charming, offering a seductive return to the connection between rosalind and Orlando and decent solutions for a real seductive adaptation.

AS YOU LIKE IT is an odd duck among the major plays of Shakespeare that have been filmed. It is one of the three top romantic comedies (with MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and TWELFTH NIGHT) that Shakespeare wrote, but none of them have been favorites for film (not like A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM). MUCH ADO recently was redone by Kenneth Branagh, but not as well received as his HAMLET and HENRY V. AS YOU LIKE IT was done a few times on television, but not as a film - except for this 1936 version.

AS YOU LIKE IT is set in the forest of Arden. Most of the characters are in hiding there or have been exiled there. The local Duke has been overthrown by his brother (Duke Frederick / Felix Aylmer) and exiled there. His courtiers followed. Lawrence Olivier is the son of a favorite of the old Duke, so he is not in favor with Aylmer. He is also finding life difficult with his older brother Oliver (John Laurie), who is consumed with jealousy. So Orlando (Olivier)flees to save his own life, and is soon at the court in the forest of Arden. The true Duke's daughter, Rosalind (Elisabeth Bergner), has also fled with her cousin Celia (Sophia Stewart), because Aylmer is unhappy at his niece's continuous appearance at the regular court.

Rosalind (in the plot) pretends to be a young boy, who tries to teach Orlando what real love is. He is full of the courtly love that percolated in European intellectual circles at the time, and Rosalind slowly makes Orlando realize how it is artificial (listen to her dismiss the idea of dying over a broken heart). Slowly she makes Orlando a fit lover - a real lover - for herself in her genuine person.

The forest becomes a place where truth keeps emerging out of the trees and bushes. One of the old Duke's closest friends, Jacques, gives the most famous speech of the play, "the seven ages of man". In it he describes the seven different roles played by men in life, from infancy to old age. Jacques is a melancholic figure, and he is balanced in the plot by Rosalind and Celia's servant, the fool Touchstone, who also demonstrates what makes a real lover in his easy dismissal of his rival William (Peter Bull, as a rather dumb rustic) over a shepherdess. Eventually even Oliver / Laurie ends up in the forest (Laurie is sent there because he is blamed for Duke Frederick's daughter's fleeing with Rosalind).

A bare recital of the play's plot is not as good as watching it. In truth, even with Bergner's accent, she gives one of the most charming performances in Shakespearean film. The personality that made her the leading actress in Austria and Germany carries well in her English films. Olivier, for an early film, does a good job - his youth aiding the character's education in the plot, and his good looks being shown to advantage. Aylmer, Laurie, Bull, Mackenzie Ward (Touchstone), and Leon Quartermain (Jacques) do the most with their parts. One wishes more of the play had been included, but the reduced size is not a big problem for the viewer. As an introduction to reading the play, and seeing a complete production, the 1936 film is pretty good.

The main role, Rosalind, is well-played by the cute, vivacious Bergner. Olivier is good with the physical stuff (very graceful) and the repartee. He tends to fall flat on the soliloquies and extended reveries, though. (And he's wearing way too much makeup, including at times some very crooked lipstick.) The costumes and sets are vivid, probably meant to suggest a fairy-tale, and thus account for the ridiculous plot devices.

And despite the comments of another reviewer, the camera-work is not all "point-and-shoot." It is a bit static by today's standards, but not by those of 1936.

The biggest liability is the muddy, distant sound.

All in all, I liked it more than the average filmed Shakespeare, though it's not great by any means.