The First Part of King Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of Henry Surnamed Hotspur (1979)

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   Siskoid

   Henry IV Part 1 is more about the future Henry V than it is his father, and marks the first appearance of one of Shakespeare's most vibrant and famous creations, Sir John Falstaff. Anthony Quayle nails the role and doses the necessary wit with a big dollop of pathos, a rogue quite aware he's passed his prime, confused by drink, but too exuberant to hate. Though he steals the show, David Gwillim acquits himself quite well as Prince Hal, showing a darker side that presages his eventual and necessary rejection of the pack of thieves he calls friends, and the play sets up and tracks Hal moving from one father's gaze to the other, with the rebellious Hotspur as a kind of princely mirror. And I thought therein lay the BBC adaptation's most interesting element. In Tim Pigott-Smith, we get a Hotspur that's more interesting than what's often pulled off the page, not only active, but hyperactive, with a boyish humor that makes him more likable than he really has any right to. Director David Giles, in the opening of his trilogy, introduces a large cast of characters and makes them all interesting, which is a feat unto itself, even if the Bard did the lion's share of the work. 6 years 8 months ago

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