Once thought lost forever, this is the earliest known film of any Shakespeare play. Derived from the Her Majesty’s Theatre production of King John, this surviving fragment contains only one scene, although the original presented four scenes and ran at four minutes in duration.
Courtesy of EYE Film Institute

King John is the earliest film adaptation of one of William Shakespeare’s plays. The short silent film was made in 1899 and depicts the death of King John. It was directed by William Kennedy, Laurie Dickinson and Walter Pfeffer Dando and produced by British Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Read More