TV movie: 1969
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| Raymond, Plowright |
This is a tale of twins, Viola and Sebastian (both played by Joan Plowright), who are separated by a shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a man (Cesario) and becomes an attendant to Duke Orsino (Gary Raymond), with whom she falls in love. He loves Olivia (Adreinne Corri), who in turn falls in love with Cesario. The plot is further complicated when Malvolio (Alec Guinness), Olivia's steward, is tricked into believing that she is in love with him.
This version was directed by John Sichel and John Dexter, and shows both comedy and drama equally well. Guinness is superb as Malvolio, both comedic and tragic. Plowright, while an excellent actress, is not visually convincing, and this weakens the performance. The other weakness is the plot itself. As I said in my review of the play, too many ends need tying up, and it is done too quickly in the last scene. Otherwise, this is a delightful performance of Shakespeare's light and enjoyable play.
This movie is available both on Amazon Prime and YouTube.
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