An invaluable film of Laurence Olivier's acclaimed performance as the Moor of Venice… Acclaimed – and highly controversial.

Theatre critics, including Kenneth Tynan, extolled Olivier's blackface interpretation. Some called it “the greatest Othello”. Many movie critics disagreed. In the New York Times Bosley Crowther complained, “You almost wait for him to whip a banjo out or start banging a tambourine.” On the other hand, Pauline Kael was smitten: “Olivier's presence on screen is the pictorial beauty of heroism. Perhaps that is why we leave…with a sense of exaltation and the wonder of sheer admiration.”

Shot in three weeks, in Technicolor and widescreen, the movie preserves the original 1963 National Theatre production directed by John Dexter, with Frank Finlay as Iago, Maggie Smith as Desdemona and Derek Jacobi as Cassio. (Look out for Michael Gambon among the spear-carriers!)

Olivier, Finlay, Smith and Redman (Emilia) were nominated for Oscars.

Coming straight from his own Bard on the Beach production of the play, director Dean Paul Gibson will introduce the film and lead a discussion after the screening.