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The final duel in 'Hamlet', in the first film of the play.

&quot;Le Duel d&#39;Hamlet&quot; is a milestone in many respects. It has a reputation of being the first movie screened with a synchronized soundtrack. (The sound of swords striking one another were recorded on a now-lost cylinder recording.) Also, this is the first fiction film with a major star in the lead role. There are various surviving prints of this film. I&#39;ve seen a 45 second version with titles, and a nearly 2 minute version without titles. The movie consists solely of a saber fight. Bernhardt plays a cross-gender Hamlet, and Pierre Magnier is her fellow duelist, Laertes. A few bystanders, in Rennaissance dress, stand off to the right of the screen, and in the background, next to a painted backdrop. The filming style is very &#39;Lumiere-esque.&#39; Single, stationary camera shot. Brief running time. All action is clearly presented on a stage. A documentary of one scene from a theater production. Near the end of the film, Bernhardt is slashed by Laertes&#39; poisoned-tipped knife. She staggers, and in a daze, gives her most restrained death scene on film. She falls backwards in a faint. The bystanders catch her before she hits the floor. Hoisting her horizontal body up in the air, they act as pall bearers, somberly carrying her offstage. On a historical note, this is the only footage taken of Sarah Bernhardt before her disastrous knee injury - which occurred in 1905, when she jumped off a parapet in the final scene in a production of La Tosca, during a South American tour. She&#39;s very nimble in this film. She&#39;s 56 years old in this film, and is more buoyant than anyone else on the screen. There&#39;s no leaning on other actors, or clutching to sturdy furniture for support - as she tends to do in later films. &quot;Le Duel d&#39;Hamlet&quot; is the closest we can get to see what Bernhardt was like in her prime. In &#39;Hamlet&#39;, she has the grace of a dancer.

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Hamlet, Duel Scene with Laertes

This is basically all there is to this one-minute short film from 1900. It is 115 years old already, not bad. Of course, it is in black-and-white, but do not be fooled by the title. Yes it is a French movie, but it&#39;s not by Georges Méliès, instead by the pretty much unknown French filmmaker Clément Maurice. It is, as you may have guessed from the title, an adaptation from a Shakespeare work, but i must say without the title, it could also be a random scene of two guys fencing and one dying at the end. All in all, this is certainly not one of the best very early silent short films in my opinion. Pretty weak and the quality isn&#39;t helping either. Not recommended.

While only an abbreviated rendition of the climactic scene in HAMLET, this short is worthwhile for the presence of the legendary Bernhardt alone. Here, we get to see her nimble and athletic (note she was in her mid-50s at the time), and her Hamlet appears to have been passionate and active, making me wish I could go back in time to see her play the role fully onstage Ironically, this short gives a far better impression of Bernhardt than the later QUEEN ELIZABETH from 1912 does. That movie is dull and plodding, while this minute-long short pulses with life.

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