History Trivia / Othello

* TropeNamers:
** ForegoneConclusion
** GreenEyedMonster

** Creator/SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination backlash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation. Creator/ChristopherPlummer (who later played the role on Broadway to much acclaim opposite Creator/JamesEarlJones) would have served as his Iago.

* ImageSource:
** GreenEyedMonster

* GenreTurningPoint: Creator/MaggieSmith's SilkHidingSteel portrayal of Desdemona is thought to be the performance that saw the character being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. Many productions had downplayed her role to focus on Othello and Iago, but Desdemona was given more prominence in productions made afterwards.

* RecycledSet: As Creator/LaurenceOlivier's regular backers for his Shakespeare films were dead by the 60s, he had to use enlarged duplicates of the sets in his original staged version.

* EmbarrassingFirstName: Can you imagine some European parents name their child Iago (a variant of "Jacob")? (Unless they are die-hard WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} fans...) But interestingly, in Brazil it's a totally normal first name.

** Creator/JamesEarlJones was the director's first choice for the BBC's 1981 TV version, but the British actors' union objected strongly to casting an American in such a high-profile role. In the end, the part went to Creator/AnthonyHopkins, with the character presented as being of Arabic, rather than African, descent.

!!The 1951 Orson Welles film:
* DoingItForTheArt: On the first day of shooting, the Italian producer announced that he was bankrupt. So Orson Welles financed the movie out of his own pocket.
* TheOtherMarty: The lengthy shoot meant that some roles had to be recast, and scenes re-shot:
** Suzanne Cloutier replaced Lea Padovani, who had replaced Cecile Aubry.
** Michael [=MacLiammoir=] replaced Everett Sloane.
* PropRecycling: Orson Welles borrowed many props and costumes from ''The Black Rose'', which he starred in to help finance this. Notably he insisted on his costume on ''The Black Rose'' having mink lining, specifically for use in ''Othello'' later.
* RomanceOnTheSet: Between Michael [=MacLiammoir=] (Iago) and Hilton Edwards (Brabantio)
* SameLanguageDub: Suzanne Cloutier was dubbed by Gudrun Ure for the American release.
* SerendipityWritesThePlot: Rodrigo dies in a Turkish bath because the costumes had been impounded due to non payment.
* TroubledProduction: It was shot over a three year period, and production was stopped twice, because Orson Welles kept running out of money and had to star in other films to finance it.

* DirectedByCastMember: Subverted. Along with his version of ''Theatre/AsYouLikeIt'', the only Shakespeare adaptation that Laurence Olivier starred in but did not direct.
* FakeNationality: Laurence Olivier appears in {{Blackface}} and speaks with an ambiguously exotic accent.
* GenreTurningPoint: Maggie Smith's SilkHidingSteel portrayal of Desdemona is thought to be the performance that saw the character being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. Many productions had downplayed her role to focus on Othello and Iago, but Desdemona was given more prominence in productions made afterwards.

* PropRecycling: As Laurence Olivier's regular backers for his Shakespeare films were dead by the 60s, he had to use enlarged duplicates of the sets in his original staged version.

!!Giuseppe Verdi's Opera
* AllStarCast:
** Audio Recording:
*** 1954, conducted by Alberto Erede: Italian tenor Mario Del Monaco as Otello, Italian soprano Renata Tebaldi as Desdemona, and Italian baritone Aldo Protti as Iago.
*** 1960, conducted by Tullio Serafin: Canadian tenor Jon Vickers as Otello, Austrian soprano Leonie Rysanek as Desdemona, and Italian baritone Tito Gobbi as Iago.
*** 1976, conducted by Carlos Kleiber: Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo as Otello, Italian soprano Mirella Freni as Desdemona, and Italian baritone Piero Cappuccilli as Iago.
*** 1992, conducted by Georg Solti: Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Otello, New Zealander soprano Kiri Te Kanawa as Desdemona, and Russian baritone Sergei Leiferkus as Iago.
** Films:
*** 1978, conducted by James Levine: Canadian tenor Jon Vickers as Otello, Italian soprano Renata Scotto as Desdemona, and American baritone Cornell MacNeil as Iago.
*** 1995, conducted by James Levine (again): Placido Domingo as Otello, American soprano Renee Fleming as Desdemona, and American bass-baritone James Morris as Iago.

!!The opera

*** 1978, conducted by James Levine: Canadian tenor Jon Vickers as Otello, Italian soprano Renata Scotto as Desdemona, and American baritone Cornell MacNeil as Iago.

** Creator/SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination backlash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation. Creator/ChristopherPlummer (who later played the role on Broadway to much acclaim opposite Creator/JamesEarlJones)would have served as his Iago.

** Creator/SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination backlash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation. Christopher Plummer would have served as his Iago (and later played the role on Broadway to much acclaim opposite Creator/JamesEarlJones).

!!The 1995 film:

* AcclaimedFlop: Took in a measly $2 million at the Box Office but was well-received by critics.
* PlayingWithCharacterType: If you think about it, Othello is quite close to Laurence Fishburne's type. But the fact that it's Shakespearean period piece makes it slightly different.
* RealLifeRelative: Nathaniel Parker (Cassio) is the younger brother of director Oliver Parker.
* RealitySubtext: Iago betrays Othello because Cassio is made his second-in-command over him. Kenneth Branagh plays Iago. His mentor Derek Jacobi played Cassio in the 1965 film.

* AcclaimedFlop: The 1995 adaptation was an unfortunate flop when in theaters, despite getting good reviews from critics.
* BoxOfficeBomb: Oliver Parker's 1995 film grossed only $2.1 million against an $11 million budget. However, this was less the movie's fault as it was that of the studio.
* RealLifeRelative: In the 1995 film. Creator/NathanielParker (Cassio) is the brother of director Oliver Parker and married in real life to Anna Patrick (Emilia).
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: In addition to being run against ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'', the movie had a highly limited release, shown in only two theaters on opening weekend and '''less than three hundred''' at its widest.

* RaceLift: One 2015 performance in Stratford had Iago being played by a black actor, adding some fascinating new dimensions to his rants against Othello.

* TropeNamers: ForegoneConclusion, GreenEyedMonster

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination backlash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation. Christopher Plummer would have served as his Iago (and later played the role on Broadway to much acclaim opposite Creator/JamesEarlJones).

* RealLifeRelative: In the 1995 film. NathanielParker (Cassio) is the brother of director Oliver Parker and married in real life to Anna Patrick (Emilia).
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination backlash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation. Christopher Plummer would have served as his Iago (and later played the role on Broadway to much acclaim opposite JamesEarlJones).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination backlash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation. Christopher Plummer would have served as his Iago (and later played the role on Broadway to much acclaim opposite JamesEarlJones).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination backlash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation.

* RealLifeRelative: In the 1995 film. NathanielParker (Cassio) is married in real life to Anna Patrick (Emilia).
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: SidneyPoitier might have helped his acting career by forestalling his PositiveDiscrimination blacklash in the 1960s if he had accepted an offer to play the title character for a TV movie adaptation.