Oregon daily emerald., March 01, 1949, Page 2, Image 2

Faculty Differs on'Hamlet' Opinions
By Coralie Nelson
and Marjorie Bush
Laurence Olivier’s film versior
Of “Hamlet” has aroused widelj
varying opinions among members
of the English department faculty
on every phase of the movie frorr
acting, interpretation of the roles
to the setting.
"I hope everybody goes to sec
it,” stated P. W. Souers, head ol
the department. He praised espe
cially Olivier's characterization o!
the title role and the castle setting,
■which he said was well done.
Of Olivier Mr. Souers said, “He
spoke his lines nicely, which is a
ifoig part of it, and the emphasis on
words was not overdone.” Souers
believes there is nothing startling
in the interpretation, and that the
continuity is in the romantic tra
dition.
Character “Simplified”
E. G. Moll, professor of English
and Shakespeare instructor, said
he believes the character of Ham
let was over simplified. "Hamlet,
as Olivier played him, lacks some
of the subtlety and depth which he
has in the play,” Dr. Moll stated,
“The play and the movie are almost
distinct things but one can enjoy
both. '■
“However,” he continued, “the
show has a remarkable unity of
setting, atmosphere and action,
and the tragic gloom is main
tained.”
Good, But Not Great
J. C. McCloskey, associate pro
fessor of English calls “Hamlet”
a very good, but not a great, pro
duction, but at the same time it
sets a high standard in movie mak
ing.
“I do not agree with the interpre
tation of the character of Hamlet,”
McCloskey r emarked, "neverthe
less, Olivier’s interpretation is ef
fective.”
“Olivier’s production stands high
among all of the best (interpreta
tions of Hamlet,” is the opinion ol
Ottilie T. Seybolt, associate profes
sor of speech. She expressed par
ticular interest in the production
as a whole and believes the entire
cast is excellent, especially the
king, queen and Horatio.
“I liked Olivier’s interpretation
of Hamlet,” Mrs. Seybolt said, “anc
considered the entire movie sincere
direct and imaginative. Its hand
ling was such that physical chang
es did not disturb me.”
Henry More Thrilling
The movie “Henry V” is more
thrilling than that of “Hamlet,1
according to E. D. Horn, professoi
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of English. He said he found “Ham
let” as a movie less dramatic and
not a substitute for seeing it on
the stage.
“I was most disappointed in that
some of the soliloquies were voiced
instead of spoken,” Horn stated.
“I didn’t feel I was going through
Hamlet’s tragedy, because Olivier
doesn’t understand Hamlet as he
does Henry V,” Horn asserted.
He believes Ophelia and Ham
let’s mother, the queen, save the
movie. The feling of a family rela
tionship between Ophelia and her
brother Laertes is, he said, the
greatest triumph of the movie.
The production, in his opinion,
is struggling with insuperable ob
stacles in staging. In conclusion,
Horn stated that “Hamlet” is a
great movie, but “Henry V” is a
work of art.
Horatio, Ophelia Impress
“Olivier’s interpretation came
near to what I would imagine Ham
let to be,” said O. M. Willard, pro
fessor of speech. “Of course,” he
continued, “one’s own interpreta
tion of Hamlet is so subjective that
everyone has a different idea of
him.
The characters Horatio, Ophelia
and Polonius, impressed him more
than Hamlet himself. Willard also
mentioned that the actors some
times walked too much. “Actors
usually feel more action is neces
sary than actually is needed.
Shakespeare’s lines give action in
themselves,” he stated.
Yale Historian Examines Chinese
History. Culture in Condon Talk
Dr. Kenneth Scott Latourette,
one of the world’s foremost authori
ties on Chinese history, will speak
tonight in 207 Chapman hall at 8.
His topic will be “The China That
Has Been.”
The lecture, first of a series of
two in the Condon lectureship, is
sponsored by the State Board of
Higher Eductaion. The second lec
ture, March 3, will be “The China
That Is and Is to Be.” Both are open
to the public.
Dr. Latourette, now professor of
missions and Oriental history and
chairman of the department of re
ligion at Yale university, has done
much research into China and has
written much on that country. His
book “The Chinese: Their History
and Culture,” is considered one of
the best in the field. His work has
also included study on Christianity
and missions in China.
Oregon-born Latourette received
his BS degree at Linfield college,
and took advanced work at Yale.
From 1910-1917 he served on the
faculty of the College of Yale in
China. Since that time he has been
in some phase of education almost
constantly.
He has been in the Lowell lecture
ship, Boston; William Belden Noble
lectureship, Harvard; and the Ald
en-Tuthill lectureship, Chicago The
ological seminary.
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