Laurence Olivier Centenary Collection DVD | Movie Mail UK

Film Description

A set showcasing the versatility of one of the most revered actors of the 20th Century, featuring Henry V (1944), Richard III (Olivier, 1955), King Lear (Elliott, 1983), Long Day's Journey Into Night (Wood, 1973), The Merchant of Venice (Sichel, 1973), The Ebony Tower (Knights, 1984), the complete series of six TV plays made by Olivier for Granada Television in the 1970s, and The South Bank Show: Laurence Olivier - A Life.

Henry V is Olivier's visionary version of Shakespeare's play was nominated for three Oscars and won him an Honorary Award for his outstanding achivement as actor, producer and director.

King Lear is Michael Elliott's production of misplaced trust, filial ingratitude, envy and lust for power set the benchmark for all other adaptations of this sad tale.

Richard III - this award-winning adaptation of Shakespeare's play secured Olivier a BAFTA award for Best British Actor along with a further Oscar nomination.

The Ebony Tower (Knights, 1984)

Laurence Olivier plays Breasley, an elderly painter whose secluded retirement is invaded by a brash young artist commissioned to write a biographical study of the great man. Breasley shares his home with two young English girls, both former art students, Diana and Anne. In this strange menage, David is left in no doubt about his host's views on modern abstract art. However, he is puzzled by the old man's relationship with the girls, especially when he himself is attracted to Diana.

Long Day's Journey Into Night. An acclaimed stage production by the National Theatre Company of Eugene O’Neill’s masterpiece, in which he gives an autobiographical account of his explosive home life, fused by a drug-addicted mother, a father who wallows in drink after realising he is no longer a famous actor and an older brother who is an emotionally unstable misfit. Laurence Olivier won an Emmy for his performance in this production.

The Merchant of Venice. In this lavish stage production, Olivier takes on one of history's most enigmatic and challenging characters, the vengeful moneylender of Venice, Shylock. Adapted from Jonathan Miller's brilliant London stage production, this updated interpretation of Shakespeare's masterpiece shifts the setting from Elizabethan times to the late 19th Century - allowing for a new relevance suited for today's audiences, and a deeper understanding of the central character of Shylock.

Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Jeremy Brett, Michael Jayston and Anthony Nicholls.

The South Bank Show: Laurence Olivier - A Life

First broadcast in 1982, this special two-part edition of the premier arts programme focuses on the life and work of Sir Laurence Olivier.

The Centenary Collection also includes the six plays from the Laurence Olivier Presents collection (also available separately):

The Collection

Set in the fashionable world of Chelsea boutique owners and West End dress designers, four elegant lives are suddenly shaken by the tremors of sexual jealousy…

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Set on the plantation of a rich Mississippi cotton grower, smouldering conflicts suddenly erupt during Big Daddy’s birthday celebrations when the family learns that he is close to death.

Hindle Wakes

Millworker Chris Hawthorn and his wife are shocked to discover that their daughter Fanny did not after all, spend her holiday weekend in Blackpool with her friend Mary.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

This is the story of a Neopolitan family, with all their temperamental clashes, hidden resentments and strong loyalties, who meet every Sunday for a gigantic Sunday lunch, cooked by Donna Rosa, who is famed for the excellence of her ragout.

Come Back Little Sheba

The play takes a stark look at a pair of misfits. Doc is a failed doctor fighting to stay sober in the shadow of alcoholism. Lola is a loving but inadequate wife mourning for both her lost youth and her lost dog, Sheba.

Daphne Laureola

Lady Pitts is a middle-aged Newnham educated lady who was once director of a biscuit factory by day while running a shelter for prostitutes by night. Ernest is a young Polish student who meets Lady Pitts one evening when she is all alone and very drunk in a Soho restaurant.