The purpose of this study is to dissect the gesticulation used in the films made during the silent era that were adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays. In particular, this study investigates the use of nineteenth and twentieth century established gesture in the Shakespearean film adaptations from 1899-1922. The gestures described and illustrated by published gesture manuals are juxtaposed with at least one leading actor from each film.
The research involves films from the experimental phase (1899-1907), the transitional phase (1908-1913), and the feature film phase (1912-1922). Specifically, the films are: King John (1899), Le Duel d'Hamlet (1900), La Diable et la Statue (1901), Duel Scene from Macbeth (1905), The Taming of the Shrew (1908), The Tempest (1908), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1909), Il Mercante di Venezia (1910), Re Lear (1910), Romeo Turns Bandit (1910), Twelfth Night (1910), A Winter's Tale (1910), Desdemona (1911), Richard III (1911), The Life and Death of King Richard III (1912), Romeo e Giulietta (1912), Cymbeline (1913), Hamlet (1913), King Lear (1916), Hamlet: Drama of Vengeance (1920), and Othello (1922). The gestures used by actors in the films are compared with Gilbert Austin's Chironomia or A Treatise on Rhetorical Delivery (1806), Henry Siddons' Practical Illustrations of Rhetorical Gesture and Action; Adapted to The English Drama: From a Work on the Subject by M. Engel (1822), Gustave Garcia's The Actors' Art: A Practical Treatise on Stage Declamation, Public Speaking and Deportment, for the Use of Artists, Students and Amateurs (1882), and Charles Aubert's L'Art Mimique (1901).
The conclusion of this study finds that silent Shakespeare films document not only stage productions of the period, but also document the gestures performed by trained actors in continuous moving images. Because silent film is a visual medium, the film adaptations generally depict scenes that are described in Shakespeare's texts. From the descriptions and illustrations in these manuals, each film presents visual record of established nineteenth century gesticulation. This study also finds that, as the performance codes shift around 1910, more inter-title cards begin to be used and affect the use of established gesture by the actors in the films. Still, established gesture is maintained by actors who were trained staged performers prior to the invention of film, by actors who portray "villainous" characters, and by actors who must exemplify his or her character in intense emotional situations.