Filmed in London, England, in September 1899, at the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company's open-air studio on the Embankment,^[1] it was a silent film made from four very short separate films. Each of those films showed a heavily edited scene from Herbert Beerbohm Tree's forthcoming stage production of Shakespeare's mid-1590s play, King John, at Her Majesty's Theatre London.

Source: Wikipedia, July 19, 2024

The 35mm positive print of King John (1899) was nearly 100 years old when restored and maintains a broad range of graytones and relatively sharp detail, with some emulsion decomposition late in the film in the right side of the frame. Moderate frame jitters in the print causes several blurred video still frames, which are not noticed as such during normal playback. In his book The British Film Catalog: 1895-1985, Denis Gifford lists different actors and character names for the supporting players than those credited on the DVD.

Source: FilmAffinity

"King John" is considered to be the first ever Shakespeare filmatization. One tagline says it is "Scenes from Mr. Beerbohm Tree's latest production".

The first ever Shakespearean film - once thought to be lost - with Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the title role.

This is the first ever Shakespearean film, long thought to be lost - its nature previously the subject of much speculation. It derives from the Her Majesty’s Theatre production of King John, which opened on 20 September 1899 with Herbert Beerbohm Tree, actor-manager of the theatre, in the title role.

Once believed to show the Magna Carta scene, it in fact shows King John’s speech from final scene of the play (‘Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room’). The cast is understood to include (as well as Tree as King John), Dora Senior as Prince Henry, F.M. Paget as Bigot and James Fisher as Pembroke. This surviving fragment contains only one scene, although the original presented four scenes and ran four minutes in duration. It was filmed in September 1899 at the film company’s open-air studio, using a 68mm camera that lends a ‘widescreen’ effect which would have wowed audiences of the day.

Source: BFI

A scene from the Her Majesty's Theatre production of 'King John', showing the death scene of King John from Act 5 Scene 7 of Shakespeare's play. (Synopsis) DRAMA. Single shot. A recreation of part of Act 5 Scene 7 (the death of King John) from the Beerbohm Tree production of Shakespeare's 'King John' at the Her Majesty's Theatre, London. No title. King John seated in chair wearing white robe, with Pembroke and Prince Henry ^[2] to the left of him, and Bigot to the right ^[3]. King John sits up, clutches his chest, flops back in the chair (speaking on-and-off all the while), the retainers look concerned, the King shakes his head back and forth, reaches a hand out, Prince Henry steps nearer and takes his hand but the King turns away, clutches his chest again, his eyes stare, he sits up, clutches his stomach, lies back, Prince Henry kneels and takes his hand once more but the king pulls it away and wipes at it with his other hand, clutching at his chest with one hand (84ft/35mm). FRAGMENT: Continuation of action with King John rising out of his chair and the others moving towards him (5ft/35mm). Note: Originally filmed in 68mm. Filmed mid-September 1899 at Biograph's open-air London studio and released 20 September 1899, the same date as the premiere of the play at the Her Majesty's Theatre. The speech featured appears to be King John's speech from `Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow room' to 'On unreprievable-condemned blood'. Contemporary photographic evidence suggests that this is just one scene of an original four, but the film was also probably available as this single scene, as well as in Mutoscope form. Refs: Robert Hamilton Ball, 'Shakespeare on Silent Film', pp 21-23, 303-4 John Barnes, 'Filming the Boer War', pp 143-4 Shakespeare Bulletin, Winter 1993, pp 35-36 Shakespeare Bulletin, Spring 1993, pp 49-50

Source: BFI, Collections

Long believed lost, this is the cinema's first known Shakespeare film, a brief excerpt from King John's death scene as performed by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and sourced from a contemporary stage production. There is little to add to the synopsis - lip-reading the performance suggests that it incorporates King John's speech in Act 5 Scene 7 from "Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room" to "On unreprievable-condemned blood", but there is no contextual information in the film itself.

Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was one of the Victorian era's most distinguished stage actors, but it is hard to reach a fair judgement from this performance, not least because, although based on a current stage production (staged at Her Majesty's Theatre in September 1899), it was shot specifically for the film in the Biograph company's studio on the Thames embankment. As a result, there is every possibility that the histrionic eye-rolling and hand-clutching was deliberately exaggerated for the cameras to compensate for the lack of sound.

The film as it survives consists of a single shot, though it seems the full version contained three further sequences, 'The Battlefield Near Angiers', 'The French King's Tent' and 'The Orchard of Swinstead Abbey' (the coronation of Prince Henry), each running at a similar length to give a total running time of about four minutes.

It was apparently made initially as an advertisement for the stage production, and the death scene was subsequently distributed by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company under the title Beerbohm Tree: The Great English Actor. Originally shot in a comparatively rare widescreen format, 68mm, it was also distributed in card form, for viewing in a 'What The Butler Saw' kinetoscope machine.

Source: BFI, Screenonline

Based on Shakespeare's play, Act V, Scene vii: King John is in torment, and his supporters fear that his end is near. As he writhes in agony, he is attended by Prince Henry, the Earl of Pembroke, and Robert Bigot. Prince Henry tries repeatedly to comfort his delirious father, but to no avail - John's pain is too great.

Source: TMDB