Main Cast: Richard Burton, Maggie McNamara, John Derek, Raymond Massey, Charles Bickford
Release Year: 1955
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
Plot
Screenwriter Philip Dunne doubled as director on the elaborate filmed biography Prince of Players. Richard Burton stars as the eminent American tragedian Edwin Booth, whose life and career is thrown into turmoil after his younger brother John Wilkes Booth (John Derek) assassinates Abraham Lincoln. The film begins as the younger Edwin assists his alcoholic, ailing father Junius Brutus Booth (Raymond Massey) during a tour of the American hinterlands. When Junius dies just before a performance, Edwin goes on in his stead, thereby launching his own starring career. In danger of becoming as much of a drunk and carouser as his father, Edwin eventually pulls himself together, but his brother's act of violence turns the audience against the name of Booth. Almost booed offstage during a performance of Hamlet, Edwin stands his ground, finally earning the respect of his rowdy audience. Not exactly packed with fast action, Prince of Players will appeal most to lovers of theater in general and Shakespeare in particular. Highlight: Richard Burton and Eva LeGalleine performing the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet in the courtyard of a brothel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
If Prince of Players is not a great film, it does afford the inestimable pleasure of seeing a young Richard Burton performing a number of scenes from Shakespeare, and that is a pleasure not to be sneezed at. Burton, with that most magical of voices, was born to play the Bard, and Players catches him early enough in his career before the development of the bad habits that would mar much of his later work. True, we're not seeing Burton reciting Shakespeare as the actor himself would; he's portraying 19th century legend Edwin Booth, and so Burton plays the scenes a tad larger than he would if left to his own devices. But they're still thrilling moments. For that matter, Burton is aces throughout the film. The problem is that, overall, Players is not that good a film. The Shakespearean scenes, highlights though they are, serve only to remind the audience that the rest of the film is on a decidedly lesser level. Oh, Moss Hart has struggled to give the screenplay dramatic heft, and there's plenty here for Burton and others to play; but it comes across as heavyhanded and none too involving. Of the supporting cast, John Derek turns in one of his better performances, and Raymond Massey comes across as a bit "too much" (although admittedly in a role that demands a certain excessive theatricality). Maggie McNamara struggles through her Juliet sequence, but does well otherwise, and Eva Le Gallienne is a treasure in her very brief role. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
