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YMMV / Chimes at Midnight

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  • Heartwarming Moments: Keith Baxter auditioned for Orson Welles. First, he aced his reading of a non-Shakespeare monologue. During his call-back, he was stopped halfway through his Prince Hal read by Welles, who said, "I don't know why I'm wasting this time. Will you do it [the role of Hal]?"
  • Moral Event Horizon: As far as Hal is concerned, Falstaff crosses the line when he pretends to be dead, then stabs Hotspur's corpse in order to steal the credit for the kill from Hal himself; Welles stages this moment as the beginning of the end of their friendship.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Marina Vlady as Lady Kate Percy, Hotspur's wife has a single scene but she steals her scene with genuine chemistry, charisma, sexiness and comic timing.
  • Signature Scene:
    • The Battle of Shrewsbury of course is considered one of the greatest war scenes of all time. The Battle of Shrewsbury has been the most influential battle scene in film history. Everyone from Akira Kurosawa to Steven Spielberg have used it as a template for their battle sequences. Recent imitators include Game of Thrones's Battle of the Bastards.
    • The elaborate play scene at Mistress Quickly's with the rapid cutting back-and-forth between Falstaff and Prince Hal.
    • The scene where Prince Hal rejects Falstaff at his coronation.
  • Vindicated by History: Originally not very well-received due to a critics' screening with poor sound quality, that caused the producer to lose faith in it, it's now hailed as one of Welles' finest films and one of the best Shakespearean film adaptations. New York Times critic Vincent Canby in 1975 named it the greatest film based on Shakespeare, bar none.


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