Le Duel d'Hamlet | 1900 | Drama, Short

Title: Le Duel d'Hamlet | 1900 | Drama, Short Director: Clément Maurice. Studio: Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre. Starring: Sarah Bernhardt, Pierre Magnier, Suzanne Seylor. Based on: Hamlet by William Shakespeare . Runtime: 2 minutes. Format: Black-and-white; 1.33:1; originally exhibited with synchronized wax cylinder sound . Country: France. Language: Silent. Genres: Drama, Short, Shakespeare adaptation. --- Chapters: 00:00:00 Duel Announced 00:00:20 Salute and First Exchanges 00:00:50 Blades Crossed 00:01:20 Wounds Revealed 00:01:50 Final Blows --- Summary: A two-minute excerpt from Shakespeare’s tragedy, the film stages the climactic duel between Hamlet and Laertes. The confrontation unfolds briskly, charting the shift from ceremonial combat to lethal struggle. Presented without the surrounding court, the scene foregrounds honor, deception, and fate, distilling the play’s themes into a concentrated display of movement and gesture led by Sarah Bernhardt’s Hamlet. --- Background: Made for Paul Decauville’s Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, the short formed part of an experimental program synchronizing pre-recorded sound on wax cylinders with projected images. Bernhardt had created her Hamlet on stage in 1899 and chose the duel for the screen; contemporary accounts note the film’s early sound ambitions even as the original cylinder is now lost. --- Trivia: Often cited as the earliest film adaptation of Hamlet. Guinness World Records recognizes Bernhardt as the first documented female performer to play a male role on film for this short. The synchronized wax cylinder prepared for exhibition has not survived. A stagehand reportedly struck pieces of metal to enhance the recorded sword sounds during production. Some sources list U.S. distribution by the Kleine Optical Company on reissue. --- Public Domain / Rights: Original Release: 1900. Original Studio / Distributor: Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre. Copyright Status: Public Domain Renewal: No --- Hashtags: LeDueldHamlet SarahBernhardt Hamlet PublicDomain SilentFilm FrenchCinema ClémentMaurice 1900sCinema This video was sourced from Internet Archive. Originally uploaded by Clément Maurice. https://archive.org/details/le-duel-d-hamlet-1900-directed-by-clement-maurice.