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IMDbPro

Much Ado About Nothing

  • TV Movie
  • 1973
  • 2h 38m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
115
YOUR RATING
Much Ado About Nothing (1973)
ComedyRomance

Videotape of the Joseph Papp production. Don Pedro and his men (Teddy Roosevelt Roughriders) have returned from the wars. After Beatrice turns down his proposal, Don Pedro decides to matchma... Read allVideotape of the Joseph Papp production. Don Pedro and his men (Teddy Roosevelt Roughriders) have returned from the wars. After Beatrice turns down his proposal, Don Pedro decides to matchmake her with Benedick (her former boyfriend), but she being an independent-minded, bicycle-... Read allVideotape of the Joseph Papp production. Don Pedro and his men (Teddy Roosevelt Roughriders) have returned from the wars. After Beatrice turns down his proposal, Don Pedro decides to matchmake her with Benedick (her former boyfriend), but she being an independent-minded, bicycle-riding Suffragette type, it's going to take a bit of trickery. Meanwhile, Beatrice's cousi... Read all

  • Director
    • Nick Havinga
  • Writer
    • William Shakespeare
  • Stars
    • Sam Waterston
    • Kathleen Widdoes
    • Barnard Hughes
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    115
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Nick Havinga
    • Writer
      • William Shakespeare
    • Stars
      • Sam Waterston
      • Kathleen Widdoes
      • Barnard Hughes
    • 10User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Primetime Emmy
      • 1 win & 1 nomination total

    Photos2

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    Top cast21

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    Sam Waterston
    Sam Waterston
    • Benedick
    Kathleen Widdoes
    • Beatrice
    Barnard Hughes
    Barnard Hughes
    • Dogberry
    Charles Bartlett
    Charles Bartlett
    • The Sexton & Messenger
    Frederick Coffin
    Frederick Coffin
    • Borachio
    Marshall Efron
    Marshall Efron
    • Balthasar
    Arny Freeman
    Arny Freeman
    • Antonio
    Jack Gianino
    • Conrade
    George Gugleotti
    • First Watch
    Mark Hammer
    • Leonato
    Bette Henritze
    • Ursula
    Jeanne Hepple
    • Margaret
    Nina Jordan
    • Ensemble
    David Lenthall
    Will Mackenzie
    Will Mackenzie
    • Verges
    Jerry Mayer
    Jerry Mayer
    • Don John
    Tom McDermott
    Tom McDermott
    • Friar Francis
    Joseph Papp
    • Self - Introducer
    • Director
      • Nick Havinga
    • Writer
      • William Shakespeare
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews10

    7.8115
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    Featured reviews

    1defconbmx

    Painful.

    Painful. Painful is the only word to describe this awful rendition of such a fun and interesting Shakespearean play. I gave it a shot but was terribly disappointed and couldn't bare to even finish viewing it. To the person who wrote a novel about how wonderful this twist of Much Ado was, I pity you and your bored brain. May your pretenses about young viewers be lifted without retribution. Please do not even bother with this gut wrenching, disgusting excuse for a performance of an acclaimed Shakespeare drama. You will be forced to induce vomiting and will require a commode close to the television with which you choose to watch this crap because involuntary defecation will take place.
    10mlaiuppa

    Best ever.

    I've seen quite a few productions of Much Ado, both on film/TV and on stage and I must say this Joseph Papp production with Sam Waterston and Kathleen Widdoes is my absolute favorite. The time period is perfect. And they really used the period and the setting extremely well. Using the Spanish American war as inspiration was...inspiring. Beatrice is both strong and feminine. I think my favorite part is when Beatrice is eavesdropping in the conservatory and the sprinklers come on. While shot on a set, you can still see the roots this production had as a stage play. But that isn't lost when it's brought to the screen. The setting allows for more flexibility in shooting angles and close-ups, but you still get a sense of the intimacy of a stage production. I say "bully!" Two thumbs up.
    8sjrb66

    A lovely but flawed valentine

    I was fortunate to see this production of the NY Shakespeare Festival when it transferred to Broadway (and I was in high school), and it was a glorious treat. Waterston and Widdoes were wonderful as the sparring lovers battling one another with words. Barnard Hughes was terrific as Dogberry, recreating a Keystone Cops routine. The setting of the Spanish American War era was a very fine transfer, and the first Shakespeare production I had seen that didn't use the Elizabethan period. I had lots of wonderful memories of this production, and even managed to catch it when it was broadcast on television in 1973.

    Several years ago, I found a copy of this and rented it, and it didn't live up to my memories of the stage production. It is a filmed play, not re-conceived and produced as cinema, and has all of the flaws that filmed plays have: sets that can magically evoke a time and place on the stage, but seem flimsy on film; stage acting that works when you see it in a theatre, but seems overdone on film; a small ensemble playing entre'acte music that charms when heard live, but seems small and tinny on film. Much of the performances that I remembered with affection, particularly those of Waterston and Widdoes, were still very fine, and Hughes is still my favorite Dogberry.

    It doesn't hold up well when compared to the Branagh Much Ado, which was definitely conceived in cinematic terms (like the galloping troops at the opening evoking The Magnificent Seven), and which was much better at conveying how Claudio could be duped into believing that Hero was a wanton woman and not the virgin he had wooed. But Branagh cut my second favorite line from his Much Ado ("your Hero, his Hero, everyman's Hero").

    This version of Much Ado is charming for what it is: a filmed play, with talented performers, in a lovely production. But it is not great cinema.
    Coxer99

    Much Ado About Nothing

    Well acted rendition of the bawdy Shakespeare romance-comedy about lovers being united with stand out performances from Hughes, in an excellent turn as bumbling constable Dogberry and Waterston as an aristocratic Benedick. For fans who want something different than the Branagh version.
    2kbuswell

    Borders on Painful

    This is a very bland and inert production of one of Shakespeare's most vibrant plays. I can only guess that the intent was to make the play as accessible and understandable as possible to an audience that has not been exposed to Shakespeare before. By doing this, though - by making every line clear and every intent obvious - they have drained the play of life and turned it into a flat caricature. Somehow, it is actually boring - a very hard feat given such wonderful material.

    The acting is forgettable at best - Sam Waterston as Benedick and Douglas Watson as Don Pedro. Others, however, do not fare so well. April Shawnham's Hero is a pouty, breathless airhead that frequently provokes winces. Jerry Mayer's Don John is a nonsensical cartoon character on the level of Snidely Whiplash (though Snidley was much more enjoyable).

    F. Murray Abraham (you know, the guy who killed Mozart?) is not in this version, unless he was in disguise and had his name removed from the credits.

    Given that the producer, Joseph Papp, is basically a theater god, this production is not only disappointing but head-scratching as well.

    Don't bother with this. Watch Branagh's Much Ado instead - his version is overflowing with vitality and humor, to say nothing of wonderful performances.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Connections
      Version of Saty delaji cloveka (1913)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 2, 1973 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Palju kära ei millestki
    • Production company
      • New York Shakespeare Festival
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 38m(158 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 4:3

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