This guide is a research tool listing resources for Classic Literature that are available through the Delgado Community College Libraries and open websites
Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThis television adaptation of Mark Twain's work combines elements of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The film takes many liberties with the original— most notably, the character Jim is entirely absent. Directed by Herbert B. Swope Jr. Starring Thomas Mitchell and John Carradine.
Animal FarmThis video explores the context, characters, themes and writing style of George Orwell's popular classic novella. Topics include an overview of the Russian Revolution, allegorical stories explained, characters as metaphors for famous figures and groups within Russian history, the use of propaganda, and literary devices utilized within Animal Farm. Information on George Orwell's life experiences and beliefs shed light on his motives.
Dante: Visions of the InfernoDrawing upon the insights of numerous international scholars—and illustrating crucial passages with stunning animation sequences—this program guides viewers through the Inferno of Dante’s Divine Comedy. With detailed analysis of the poet’s descent into hell and navigation through its various levels, the program interprets Dante’s motives for embarking on such a journey, explains his relationship and interaction with both Virgil and Beatrice, and describes the complex mixture of morality and humanism within the work—embodied in Dante’s attitude toward those who inhabit the realms of the dead. (Portions in Italian and French with English subtitles, 74 minutes)
HamletA ghostly visitor with a shocking secret, a daughter devastated by loss, a deadly duel and the most famous question in all of drama: Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy will hold you spellbound. Hamlet has been called the greatest play and this Stratford Festival production “the most complete, most fulfilling, most satisfying in decades.”
Little WomenLouisa May Alcott’s Little Women is one of the great young-adult novels of the 19th century. It describes the coming-of-age of the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, whose loving mother cares for them while their father serves in the Civil War. Jo, who falls in love and becomes a writer, is clearly an analogue for Alcott herself. This 1949 film adaptation stars Elizabeth Taylor as Amy, Janet Leigh as Meg, June Allyson as Jo, and Mary Astor as Marmee. Also starring Margaret O’Brien, Peter Lawford, and Rossano Brazzi. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. (122 minutes)
Mary Shelley: The Birth of FrankensteinHer father was philosopher William Godwin. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was feminism’s founder. By pedigree and experience, Mary Shelley was uncannily equipped to write the gothic masterpiece Frankenstein. This program offers a fresh exploration of her novel, focusing on how Shelley’s personal life influenced the book and mirrored it afterwards. Along with reenactments of scenes from her classic and dramatizations of her life, the program draws from a wealth of primary sources, including readings from her mother’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Mary Shelley’s personal letters, as well as those of her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and of Lord Byron. A BBCW Production. (60 minutes)
MedeaThis is the stunning Kennedy Center production of Euripides’s great classic about a woman driven by emotion beyond the brink of rationality. With Zoe Caldwell as Medea and Judith Anderson as the nurse. The English text is by Robinson Jeffers. (87 minutes)
A Midsummer Night's DreamShakespeare's classic comedy: Young lovers living under an oppressive state-rule flee their home city to change their lives, and end up changing the world. After all, love changes everything. Starring Robert Lindsay ("My Family"), Harry Jarvis ("Outlander"), Florence Kasumba ("Black Panther," "Avengers: Infinity War") and Tamzin Merchant ("Carnival Row").
Much Ado about NothingJoseph Papp’s 1972 CBS-TV production of the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Broadway staging of Shakespeare’s rollicking comedy is brassy, bouncy, and altogether entertaining. Featuring Sam Waterston and the Tony-nominated performances of Kathleen Widdoes and Barnard Hughes, Papp’s turn-of-the-century version has Teddy Roosevelt roughriders and bicycle-riding women suffragettes, while remaining faithful to the classic tale: Beatrice and Benedick are still sparring partners fighting their merry war of words; the evil Don Jon continues conspiring to break up the wedding of Hero and Claudio; and it’s once again up to Dogberry to save the day. Critically acclaimed and enormously popular with audiences, this production of Much Ado About Nothing—which was transferred to Broadway after originating at the open-air Delacorte Theatre in Central Park—was perceived as the first successful Shakespeare to play without a major star in Broadway history. The CBS broadcast was seen by 20 million people. Cast: Sam Waterston, Kathleen Widdoes, Barnard Hughes, April Shawnham, Douglass Watson. (155 minutes)
A Tale of Two CitiesA tale of romance and sacrifice, tyranny and hatred set during the French Revolution. The noble hero is torn between self-advancement and improving society.
The TempestIn Shakespeare's great drama of loss and reconciliation, a long-deposed ruler uses magical arts to bring within her power the enemies who robbed her of her throne and marooned her on a remote island. But what revenge does she mean to take?
William ShakespeareThis program tells the story of Shakespeare and his works. Featuring delightful dramatized extracts from some of Shakespeare’s best-known plays, the program also includes memorable depictions of life in Elizabethan times. The program also features expert commentary and critical analysis by Stanley Wells, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, and Robert Smallwood, Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon. The well-regarded Shakespearean actor Brian Blessed also makes a special appearance in this program. (46 minutes)
Othello: Silent Version
CD-Roms and DVDs
Dracula
The tortured journey of the devastatingly seductive Transylvanian Prince as he moves from Eastern Europe to 19th century London in search of his reincarnated long-lost love.
Call Number: DVDM 57
ISBN: 9780800177171
Emma
Emma Woodhouse is a young woman who, having engineered the marriage of her companion, turns her attention toward making a match for the local vicar and her new protegée, Harriet Smith. Her one voice of reason and restraint is Mr. Knightley, who has known her since she was a child and who watches her behaviour with wry amusement and sometimes with real anger. Emma presides over the small provincial world of Highbury with enthusiasm, but she will find it is all too easy to confuse good intentions with self-gratification.
Call Number: DVD 879
ISBN: 9781558905733
In search of Shakespeare
This four-part series explores the life of the world's greatest and most famous writer. Mixing travel, adventure, interviews, documentary, and live action sequences with the Royal Shakespeare Company, it presents a biography of one Elizabethan: his life, family and friendships, triumphs and disasters, loves and his losses. Viewers see how Shakespeare's life and work were shaped by his times, how he created some of the greatest literature in the world, and why he is still loved. These films reveal how Shakespeare sums up English history--and the English character too--more than any other person. Decent, humane, open minded, tolerant, witty, bawdy, sexy, diffident, guarded, skeptical, wary of any political system, identifying himself with the "Other" in his great portrayals of black people, women, the poor, Jews-- even evil people--Shakespeare is an artist born out of turbulent times. But as his old friend, Ben Jonson said, "He was not of an age, but for all time."
Call Number: DVD 530
ISBN: 9780793696192
Macbeth
Adaptation of the stage production which relocates the action to a nameless 20th-century underground facility, offering a parable of the quest for power in the modern world.
Call Number: DVD 599
ISBN: 9781608833306
Mary Shelley: the birth of Frankenstein
"This program offers a fresh exploration of her novel, Frankenstein, focusing on how Shelley's personal life influenced the book and mirrored it afterwards. Along with reenactments of scenes from her classic and dramatizations of her life, the program draws from a wealth of primary sources, including readings from her mother's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Mary Shelley's personal letters, as well as those of her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron"--Container.
Call Number: DVD 197
Sense and sensibility
Tells of the Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, whose chances at marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune.