Richard III - videos, teasers and stills from filming

All videos, teasers and footage from the filming of the film "Richard III"

Richard III (1955)

Timing: 2:35 (155 min)

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All about film

Video 1

Photo 9

Actors and characters

Richard III - Restoration Demonstration

English

8:15

What's left behind the scenes

After filming this movie, several large-scale adaptations of Shakespeare's works were planned, starting with 'Macbeth,' in which Vivien Leigh was to play the leading female role. However, the death of the project's principal financier and producer, Alexander Korda, shattered these plans.
Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) used long takes in the film to give the actors and actresses the opportunity to perform in a more theatrical manner. His opening dialogue was filmed in a single long take lasting 9 minutes.
In portraying Richard III (1452-1485), Laurence Olivier reflected many of the traits of theatrical producer and director Jed Harris (1900-1979), who was not popular with his colleagues. Several years later, he learned that Disney animators had parodied Harris's image when creating the Wolf character from the Three Little Pigs.
The Battle of Bosworth (which took place on August 22, 1485) could not be filmed in Leicestershire, where it actually occurred, due to the area's modern development. Instead, assistant director Anthony Bushell (1904-1997) found a bull farm near Madrid where the vegetation was green enough to pass for English countryside, and secured the support of the national army. This was a decade before Spain gained popularity among film directors as a filming location.
The most dangerous were the battle scenes, and they were generally fraught with various mishaps. During the filming of one scene, Olivier himself was injured when an arrow was shot directly into his leg. Fortunately, it was his left leg, and Richard III limped on his left leg.
Applying makeup to Laurence Olivier (including the hump and withered arm) took three hours before the start of each shooting day.

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