Every Best Picture Oscar Winner Ranked Worst To Best

Every actor makes Hamlet their own, but none portrayed the character better than Laurence Olivier, who also directed this 1948 Shakespeare adaptation with tighter focus than any version before or since.

There's no denying that Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet nearly fifty years later is the better adaptation, since Olivier famously removed so much from the Bard's play, but this rendition still feels true to the source material, allowing Olivier to give a monumental performance surrounded by iconic imagery.

Whether you're a fan of Shakespeare or not, Olivier's Hamlet will have seeking out his work. It's impossible to resist.