It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

A heap of talent was assembled for this big Hollywood adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tale. Unfortunately it does not all fit together in the most satisfying manner possible, but it's still a good show for the weird effects and the novelty of seeing some of Hollywood's big stars take smaller roles derived from the Bard.James Cagney is the biggest star in the film, but of course spends half of it with a donkey's head.... the really odd effects are in the beginning, with the faeries appearing in what seems to be a triple exposure of smoke and mannequins. There's an awful lot of half-naked children running around with wires attached to them, flying around and so forth, and I'm not sure if the whole thing is really in good taste. Mickey Rooney is given a ton of screen time, and while it's fun to see him as Puck, the fun wears off rather quickly. His screeching laugh must have seemed a good idea, to somebody.Meanwhile Olivia de Havilland and Dick Powell are embarrassing themselves as the young lovers (actors really too good for these roles), Anita Louise looks pretty but not very fay, and well what else can you say? The film's direction by Reinhardt is very good, but in its full edit the film's effects and especially its contrivances end up making it feel like a bit of a slog.

When I saw this movie for the first time I knew I'd never seen anything remotely like it, well I was 10 years old after all. But over 40 years later that still holds – this is a unique experience, a revelatory motion picture that entertains, educates and manages to inform you who you are too. Are you a Shakespeare or a movie purist or simply someone who can accept nobody and nothing is perfect and that therefore Shakespeare and movies can possibly be complemented or improved upon by later (agreed, exceptional) talent? I read the play a few years later and was entranced but would still prefer to have this gossamer Max Reinhardt masterpiece with me for company on a desert island instead. Various young people in Athens fall asleep in wood and various fairies, nymphs and elves come out to play and play the fool with them. It's the relentlessly dreamy and inventive Oscar winning camera work that takes the attention first, but the brave casting of currently popular Warner Brothers stalwarts then takes the breath away. I wish Dewey Robinson could've been given a meatier role! From his er, exuberant performance as Puck I grew up thinking Mickey Rooney must've been a marvellous actor! I always had a soft spot for James Cagney after seeing him in his key role here as Bottom – his tearful realisation of his newly acquired animal magnetism had me transfixed. Olivia de Havilland never looked lovelier when she was being washed by the gleaming arc-moonlight or lying on the gleaming grass. But everyone else was gorgeous too, male, female or otherwise - and I don't care either, I almost wished Dick Powell and Ross Alexander had launched into a croony duet over Hermia! It was Victor Jory's strangest role but he never bettered it. All manner of glimmering glossy shiny tricks were used to promote the astounding ethereal atmosphere, so much so that if I saw the play at the Globe it would probably still look incomplete even if it obviously sounded more authentic.Just referring to this film version mainly as a stand-alone piece of entertainment and not as in direct comparison to the play, I can hardly fault it. So I would have to summarise that in the main: We shall not see the likes of this again.

An appreciation for this version of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is likely to depend on how you feel about seeing the Warner Bros. stars as its repertory company. At the time, the studio's three biggest box office draws were Dick Powell, Joe E. Brown, and James Cagney; and, they receive three of the play's meatier roles. In 1935, Mr. Brown's fey characterization of "Flute" was the film's highest praised. Over the years, Mr. Cagney's boisterous "Bottom" has risen with his in correspondingly increased stature. Most everyone, including the actor himself, has panned Mr. Powell's love-struck "Lysander".Efforts to trim the running time couldn't make the film much of a hit, but those who saw it could tell horned teenager Mickey Rooney was going places, though his "Puck" remains an acquired taste. The beautiful Olivia de Havilland's lovely "Hermia" definitely increased her Warners stock. Ross Alexander, Jean Muir, and Victor Jory shine by being less familiar. The film's art/set design and Hal Mohr's photography of such are the film's greatest strengths. But, this is Shakespeare, after all; cinematography shouldn't be the main calling card. Mr. Mohr won an "Academy Award" as a write-in; henceforth, they were forbidden.***** A Midsummer Night's Dream (10/9/35) Max Reinhardt ~ Mickey Rooney, James Cagney, Dick Powell, Olivia de Havilland

You have to view this 1935 Hollywood version of Midsummer Night's Dream in the same laid-back spirit that the Athenian court watches the mechanicals perform "Pyramus and Thisbe." Let yourself be tolerant of the errors (most glaring, Mickey Rooney's Puck), let yourself be amused by designers, performers and directors all trying too hard to be antic and magical, let yourself be interested in the inventive but no longer believable special effects, the cobwebs and fairy dust and the rest -- and you may find this "Dream" not only charming but heart-warming. The performers, especially Cagney, are likable in their roles, and even Rooney has some funny moments of mimicry. And you can experience something no contemporary production of "Dream" would offer: Mendelssohn's glorious, polished music in the background.