The Merchant of Venice is a 1916 British

Cinema of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...

 silent

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Walter West

Walter West (director)

Walter West was a British film director. He was a partner in the film production company Broadwest Films.-Broadwest:...

 and starring Matheson Lang

Matheson Lang

Matheson Alexander Lang was a Canadian-born stage and film actor and playwright in the early 20th century. He is best remembered for his performances roles in Great Britain in Shakespeare plays.-Biography:...

, Hutin Britton

Hutin Britton

Nelly Hutin Britton , usually credited as Hutin Britton was an English actress. She was best known for her performances in Shakespeare roles early in the 20th century. She also appeared in leading roles in two silent British films.-Biography:Nelly, the daughter of Thomas Britton, was born in...

, Ernest Caselli. It is an adaptation of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's play The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...

.

Production

The film was made by Broadwest. The company hired the complete stage cast of the play and filmed it in a studio in Walthamstow

Walthamstow

Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...

 using largely natural light

Sunlight

Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...

. The film marked the screen debut of Matheson Lang who went on to become one of the leading British actors of the 1920s.

Cast

• Matheson Lang
  Matheson Lang
  Matheson Alexander Lang was a Canadian-born stage and film actor and playwright in the early 20th century. He is best remembered for his performances roles in Great Britain in Shakespeare plays.-Biography:...
  
   - Shylock
• Hutin Britton
  Hutin Britton
  Nelly Hutin Britton , usually credited as Hutin Britton was an English actress. She was best known for her performances in Shakespeare roles early in the 20th century. She also appeared in leading roles in two silent British films.-Biography:Nelly, the daughter of Thomas Britton, was born in...
  
   - Portia
• Ernest Caselli - Lorenzo
• Kathleen Hazel Jones - Jessica
• George Morgan
  George Morgan (screenwriter)
  George Morgan , was an American actor and screenwriter. He wrote for 113 films between 1913 and 1940. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Selected filmography:Screenwriter* Dick Tracy * The Lost Special...
  
   - Lancelot
• Terence O'Brien
  Terence O'Brien (actor)
  Terence O'Brien was an Irish-born British stage actor. He also appeared in several films.-Selected filmography:* The Merchant of Venice * The House Opposite * Q Ships * Midnight Menace...
  
   - Tubal
• George Skillan
  George Skillan
  -Selected filmography:Film* The Merchant of Venice * Dreyfus * The First of the Few * The Day Will Dawn Television* David Copperfield...
  
   - Antonio
• Joseph Tozer
  Joseph Tozer
  -Selected filmography:* The Answer * The Merchant of Venice * Burnt Wings * The Old Wives' Tale * Gwyneth of the Welsh Hills * The Pointing Finger * The Greek Interpreter...
  
   - Bassanio
• Marguerite Westlake - Nerissa

External links