FILM · 1955 · UK
Richard III
37 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (37)
- #001
Sir Laurence Olivier used long takes throughout the film to allow the actors and actresses to build their scenes in a more theatrical way. The opening speech was filmed in a single nine-minute take. In the first scene, when he nearly dropped the King's crown, he used the accident to create a motif for the film rather than reshooting it.
- #002
The film's failure to turn a profit in the US at the time of its release, together with the untimely death of Alexander Korda, who had backed its production, effectively ended Laurence Olivier's dream of directing William Shakespeare on film. He was considered the greatest Macbeth of the 20th century, yet after this film's financial failure he was never able to secure the financing to make it. Mike Todd expressed interest in financing Olivier's version of "Macbeth," but Todd was killed in a plane crash before those plans could bear fruit. Olivier never directed another Shakespeare film, possibly a result of the legendary actors' curse attached to "The Scottish Play."
- #003
It was the first film to have its US premiere simultaneously in cinemas and on television. This happened on the afternoon of 11 March 1956, when NBC broadcast it on the day of its US premiere in New York City. (It had already had its world premiere and first opened in London in 1955.) The television broadcast was the longest single presentation of a film or play shown on television up to that time (three hours counting commercials). Classic British films such as Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), presented by J. Arthur Rank, had already made their television debuts on an ABC programme titled "Famous Film Festival," but most of these were either heavily cut to fit a ninety-minute slot or shown in two parts. Walt Disney had begun airing some of his theatrical films on the television programme The Magical World of Disney (1954), but these were shown in two or more one-hour instalments, one per week, or reduced to one hour, as in the case of Alice in Wonderland (1951). It was not until CBS showed The Wizard of Oz (1939) in 1956 that an uncut, full-length theatrical film was shown on television during prime time in a single evening.
- #004
In his 1982 book "On Acting," Sir Laurence Olivier claimed that he had wanted to give the role of the Duke of Buckingham to Orson Welles, but that his lifelong friend (and rival) Sir Ralph Richardson wanted the part and Olivier gave it to him. In the book Olivier claimed he regretted disappointing Richardson and wished he had chosen Welles instead, because Welles would have brought a greater sense of "oiliness" and cunning to the part, which would have worked well with the element of conspiracy. Of course, all of this is unlikely to be true — Welles, who had directed several major Shakespeare films himself, was highly unlikely to take a secondary role under Olivier's direction (just as Olivier refused to take direction from Welles when Welles directed him on stage in "Rhinoceros" in 1960), and Richardson received glowing reviews for his performance, with some suggesting he outshone Olivier. That would certainly have infuriated Sir Laurence even more than 25 years later, and his disparaging remarks about Richardson may have been nothing more than a touch of jealousy.
- #005
The Battle of Bosworth could not be shot at its original location because the area had been modernised since the fifteenth century. Instead, assistant director Anthony Bushell found a bull farm outside Madrid where the greenery was green enough to pass for England, and secured the cooperation of the Spanish Army. This was a decade before Spain became a "go-to" location for epic filmmakers worldwide.
- #006
Sir Laurence Olivier based his characterisation of Richard III on the much-hated theatre director Jed Harris. Several years later he learned that animators at Disney had used Harris as the basis for the Big Bad Wolf.
- #007
Laurence Olivier was 47 when the film was shot, although the real King Richard III was only 32 when he died. King Edward IV was 40 when he died but was played by 61-year-old Cedric Hardwicke. His younger brother George, Duke of Clarence, was only 28 when he died but was played by 51-year-old John Gielgud.
- #008
In the opening scene, Richard III accidentally drops the Duke's crown after the royal party leaves. It was a mistake by Sir Laurence Olivier, but he left it in. It became a running joke throughout the film, and you can see the same joke repeated later.
- #009
Filming the battle scenes proved the most dangerous. One scene was postponed for a day when, as the light was fading, one of the actors' horses decided to mount Sir Laurence Olivier's horse. Later, for a scene in which Richard III's horse is struck from under him, Olivier wanted to charge the camera and cut to a close-up as the arrow hit the horse. The horse was properly padded, but Olivier was not. As he rode the horse towards the camera his leg slipped, and the master archer sent his arrow into Olivier's calf. After completing the take, Olivier asked assistant director Anthony Bushell whether they had got it. He then discussed ways of including the accident in the final cut of the scene. Only then did he call a doctor. Fortunately the arrow struck his left leg, the one Richard III limps on, so there was no delay waiting for the wound to heal.
- #010
Vivien Leigh wanted to play Lady Anne, but Sir Laurence Olivier chose the young Claire Bloom instead. Co-producer Alexander Korda then suggested giving Leigh a role in a silent cameo created especially for the film version, but Olivier instead persuaded Korda to cast her in another of his films, The Deep Blue Sea (1955), a leading role he considered better suited to her talents. Leigh's absence from the set was fortunate for Olivier, since he was having an affair with Bloom during the shoot.
- #011
Applying Sir Laurence Olivier's make-up, including his hunched back and withered hand, took three hours every day.
- #012
The role of George, Duke of Clarence, is greatly shortened in the play, and his young son Edward, Earl of Warwick, is removed entirely. Henry VI's widow, Dowager Queen Margaret, is also absent.
- #013
Bernard Hepton was working as a technical adviser on the battle scene and can be seen as one of the soldiers who plants the blade in Richard III in close-up.
- #014
The recently restored version includes shots of the opposing forces being reconciled after Lord Stanley changes sides.
- #015
Laurence Olivier initially wanted John Mills and Richard Attenborough to play the murderers. However, Mills felt the idea might be seen as "stunt casting," and Attenborough had to withdraw because of a scheduling conflict.
- #016
Laurence Olivier (Richard III) and Claire Bloom (Lady Anne) later played Zeus and Hera, another married couple, in Clash of the Titans (1981).
- #017
During filming, Laurence Olivier felt that Ralph Richardson was playing too much to win the audience's sympathy and was failing to capture the Duke of Buckingham's deviousness.
- #018
Feeling he could not handle the battle scenes of Henry V (1944), Sir Laurence Olivier decided to model the thrilling Battle of Bosworth Field on medieval tapestries, adding realism only to the closer shots of the brutal hand-to-hand fighting.
- #019
Sir John Gielgud's casting in this film can be seen as a combination of Sir Laurence Olivier's pursuit of an all-star cast and Olivier's refusal of Gielgud's willingness to play the Chorus in Henry V (1944).
- #020
The cast includes four actors who were awarded knighthoods: Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud. Several years later Stanley Baker also received a knighthood.
- #021
Sir Laurence Olivier reunited much of the production team from his other Shakespeare films, including production designer Roger Furse, art director Carmen Dillon, composer William Walton and assistant director Anthony Bushell. As with Henry V (1944), they modelled the film's look on the illustrations in a medieval Book of Hours.
- #022
During shooting, a portrait of Sir Laurence Olivier was painted by Salvador Dalí. The painting remained one of Olivier's favourites until he had to sell it to cover his children's school fees.
- #023
The Film Foundation restored the film in 2012 from the original film elements.
- #024
Sir Laurence Olivier wanted Sir Carol Reed, then the leading British director, to direct the film, but Reed turned the offer down outright. It was Olivier's then-wife Vivien Leigh and his friend Alexander Korda who persuaded him to take on the directing himself. Shooting lasted seventeen weeks, whereas Olivier's previous Shakespeare film, Hamlet (1948), had taken six months.
- #025
Edward Hardwicke, the son of Cedric Hardwicke, later played Lord Stanley in Richard III (1995).
- #026
Throughout the film, monks singing in the background chant Psalm 51 in Latin (Miserere mei, Deus). King David had Uriah the Hittite killed to obtain his wife Bathsheba, and then repented before the prophet Nathan. Like David, Richard III killed the husband (Edward, Prince of Wales) to obtain his wife (Anne Neville). He, however, feels no remorse.
- #027
It is the first, and so far only, VistaVision widescreen film version of a William Shakespeare play.
- #028
The notes accompanying this film's DVD in the Criterion Collection incorrectly state that NBC's first broadcast of the film in March 1956 was in black and white. In fact, NBC, which at the time prided itself on being the colour pioneer among the three major US television networks, did broadcast the film in colour. Indeed, the New York Times Arts and Entertainment section of 11 March lists numerous advertisements by Manhattan retailers for new colour televisions, coinciding with the film's Sunday afternoon broadcast.
- #029
This was Russell Thorndike's last film before his death on 7 November 1972 at the age of 87.
- #030
Sir Laurence Olivier planned the rousing battle for the first days of shooting and worked overtime to make 500 extras look like two armies totalling 60,000 men.
- #031
Laurence Olivier approached Richard Burton to play Henry VII.
- #032
This film is part of spine number 213 of the Criterion Collection.
- #033
Sam Troughton, the grandson of Patrick Troughton, later played George, Duke of Clarence, in Richard III, Part 1 (2016).
- #034
During shooting, the film was irreverently nicknamed "Dickie Three-Eyes" by various members of the cast.
- #035
Robert Donat was offered a role.
- #036
When this film was broadcast by PBS in 1973 as part of the "Humanities Film Forum" series, an off-screen voice was heard reading the film's written prologue.
- #037
This was Ann Wilton's last film.
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