Watch free1913Thanhouser CompanyTwo reelsLiterary adaptation

Cymbeline

A frame from Cymbeline. A frame from Cymbeline (1913), from the Thanhouser restoration on Vimeo.

22:15 running time · Score: Raymond A. Brubacher · Vimeo uses cookies · Privacy

Why watch it

22 minutes, and what to watch for

Based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Energetic cinematic pacing and intimacy show rapidly improving narrative technique and realism well beyond the limitations of the stage. Two-reels, filmed in Southern California.

The story

Cymbeline was king of Great Britain at the time of the Roman Empire. His first wife was blessed with two sons and a daughter, Imogen. The sons were taken away shortly after their birth by Belarius, a nobleman banished by King Cymbeline. Imogen’s stepmother had a son whom she desired to see married to the princess. But the princess had a lover, Leonatus, whom she married. When the news of his daughter’s marriage was brought to the king, he banished Leonatus, who later took up residence in Rome. There he mourned the loss of his wife, and when other gallants were boasting of their ladies fair, Leonatus remarked that none could compare with his fair one. Iachimo took exception to this, saying that he would visit Imogen and return with the jeweled bracelet Leonatus had given her. Iachimo went to Cymbeline’s court, but when he tried to make love to Imogen he was repulsed.

Seeing that he could not ingratiate himself, he resorted to stratagem, and that night he entered her chamber, took the jeweled bracelet from her arm, and went to Leonatus who, now believing that his wife was false, sent his servitor, Pisano, to her with a note to meet him. He also instructed Pisano to slay Imogen as soon as he had her out of Britain. Imogen received the note with rapture and, after disguising herself as a page, accompanied Pisano. When the time came for Pisano to slay Imogen, he experienced remorse and declined to stain his hand with innocent blood. Imogen refused to return to her father’s court and wandered out into the world. Pisano sent word to Leonatus that his wife was dead. In her wanderings, Imogen came upon the caverns of Belarius and the sons of King Cymbeline. They did not penetrate her disguise. When the Romans invaded Britain, Belarius and the youths entered the king’s army. In the fight these men were aided by a supposed peasant who turned the tide of battle and brought victory to King Cymbeline. The heroes were brought before the king, and great was his surprise when he recognized Leonatus, the supposed peasant. A great surprise was in store for him when Belarius stepped forward and presented to His Majesty his sons. Belarius was pardoned. Among the Roman prisoners was Iachimo, who made a dying confession as to how he secured the bracelet. Leonatus was about to kill himself when Imogen stepped forward and stayed his hand. All was forgiven and Leonatus and Imogen were happy again in each other’s love.

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 29 March 1913

What the papers said

3 reviews

The Shakespearean drama is here worked out in two reels, with good scenic effects. Flo LaBadie and James Cruze play the parts of Imogen and Leonatus, but the whole Thanhouser company joins forces and makes the cast a balanced one. The costuming is sumptuous and the scenes pleasing throughout because of their clean-cut staging. The visit of the Roman officer …

Read in full · 1 min

The Shakespearean drama is here worked out in two reels, with good scenic effects. Flo LaBadie and James Cruze play the parts of Imogen and Leonatus, but the whole Thanhouser company joins forces and makes the cast a balanced one. The costuming is sumptuous and the scenes pleasing throughout because of their clean-cut staging. The visit of the Roman officer to Imogen’s bed chamber, where he takes the bracelet from her wrist as she sleeps, was artistically presented. The battle scenes in the second reel hold the interest well; also the manner in which the separated family of Cymbeline finally becomes reunited. A good offering.

The Moving Picture World · 5 April 1913

This two-reel production of the Shakespearean play, Cymbeline, taken in California, shows a praiseworthy ambition on the part of the producer. ‘Cymbeline’ is singularly well-adapted to rendition in motion pictures, and the director has presented some of the dramatic moments in the play with a fair degree of success. Much pain was evidently taken in a laudable endeavor to be …

Read in full · 1 min

This two-reel production of the Shakespearean play, Cymbeline, taken in California, shows a praiseworthy ambition on the part of the producer. ‘Cymbeline’ is singularly well-adapted to rendition in motion pictures, and the director has presented some of the dramatic moments in the play with a fair degree of success. Much pain was evidently taken in a laudable endeavor to be correct in historic details. The scene in Rome where the wager is made between Leonatus and Iachimo to test the fidelity of Imogen was rendered not without skill. Another scene deserving of some praise is the entrance of Iachimo in the bed chamber of Imogen. The situation is handled with great delicacy and follows the spirit of the Shakespearean play. The groupings in the scenes following the court of Cymbeline seem to lack artistic arrangement. Skillful handling of large groups before the camera is a great art, the lack of which has an ill-effect upon the eye. Some of the outdoor settings are beautiful, but in one of them the obtrusion of a decidedly modern house tends to destroy the illusion. On the whole I think that this feature ought to be acceptable to the average motion picture audience, and the producer deserves very great credit for seeking to aim high. Such pictures, though there may be blemishes in the execution, strengthen our hope in the future of kinematography.

The Moving Picture World · 5 April 1913

More reviews

2 April 1913The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

In the production of costume in historical plays during the past, the Thanhouser Company has met with enviable success owing to the care and skill exercised and elaborate staging and costuming. This two-reel special, in many respects a beautiful piece of work, might do credit to any company. Its subject is of a historical nature, requiring gorgeous settings and the picturesque costumes of the period when Cymbeline was king of Great Britain and the Roman Empire held sway. As the story comes to us, the king had two sons who were taken away shortly after their birth by Belarius, a nobleman banished by the king. The daughter left to him has a stepmother, who, possessing a son of her own, desires to wed him to the princess. The princess loves and secretly marries another, and immediately after the king discovers this the young husband is banished. This is a condition shortly after the opening of the picture. The young husband, during his banishment, lays a wager with one whom he supposes to be his friend, that his wife will remain true to him. The friend, through strategy, manages to convince the husband that the wife is false. The plot clearly defines this part of the story and that which follows. The unhappy wife is finally brought to the arms of her husband, but not until after wanderings. Especially impressive are the battle scenes, and the picture, on the whole contains enough dramatic quality to hold the spectator’s interest.

Cast and crew

Director: Lucius J. Henderson
Cast: Florence La Badie as Imogen
: James Cruze as Leonatus
: Jean Darnell as the queen
: William Garwood as Iachimo
: William Russell as King Cymbeline
Photographed by: Arthur A. Cadwell

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More about this film

On DVD: The Thanhouser Collection, Volumes 7, 8 and 9 · $24.95 →
Filmed in: Southern California
Bowers’ notes: This film was originally scheduled for release on March 25, 1913. This uncorrected release date was subsequently printed in some trade schedules (The Billboard, March 29, 1913, for example). 2. A lengthy modern review based on a surviving print is found in Shakespeare on Silent Film, by Robert Hamilton Ball, 1968, pp. 153-155. 3. For biographical information concerning Shakespeare, refer to the Background of the Scenario entry under The Winter’s Tale, released May 27, 1910.
Posters and media: 6 items for this film in the gallery

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1913 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “Cymbeline”. thanhouser.org/films/cymbeline/

Where copies are held

Restored by: George Eastman Museum · 2013
Scored by: Raymond A. Brubacher

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