Why a 1965 Shakespeare film remains a lightning rod for modern cultural debate

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The 1965 film adaptation of Othello, starring Laurence Olivier, is a cinematic anomaly. It was a low-budget, filmed stage production that earned Oscar nominations for its entire lead cast. Yet, its legacy is defined by Olivier's controversial blackface performance, which continues to spark intense academic and public controversy today.

Directed by Stuart Burge, the 1965 Othello was a direct adaptation of the National Theatre Company’s 1964–1966 stage production. Because Olivier could not secure funding for elaborate sets or location shooting, the film utilized enlarged duplicates of the original stage settings. This financial constraint led critic Pauline Kael to lament the lack of studio support for Olivier compared to other contemporary films with multimillion-dollar budgets. Despite these limitations, the film holds a unique place in history as the first English-language, widescreen, color version of the play.

The production is notable for its technical austerity, featuring almost no music and retaining nearly all of Shakespeare’s original text, save for the omission of the Fool’s scene. The cast included Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, and Frank Finlay, all of whom received Academy Award nominations—a feat unmatched by any other Shakespeare film. It also served as the film debut for actors Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon. Notably, Frank Finlay’s role as Iago contained 1,117 lines, significantly more than Olivier’s 856 lines, though Olivier appeared on screen for three minutes longer.

Olivier’s performance remains the subject of fierce scrutiny due to his use of blackface, a specific walk, and an invented accent. Critics like Inez Robb compared his portrayal to Al Jolson, labeling it 'high camp,' while others, such as John Simon, described the performance as a 'perverse joy.' The use of eye-rolling, a mannerism associated with early blackface tropes, has been a particular source of offense. The film's controversial nature persisted into the 21st century; in 2021, music professor Bright Sheng resigned from the University of Michigan after showing the film to students without warning them about the blackface content, intending only to demonstrate how Giuseppe Verdi adapted the play into opera.

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