Richard III is a 1955 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play Richard III. The film also contains elements of Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 3. It was directed by Laurence Olivier, who also played Richard. The cast includes many noted Shakespearean actors of the time, including a quartet of acting knights. The film depicts Richard plotting and conspiring to grasp the throne from his brother, King Edward, played by Cedric Hardwicke. In the process, many are killed and betrayed, with Richard's evil leading to his own downfall. The prologue of the film states that history without its legends would be "a dry matter indeed", thus the film admits that it is not portraying the actual events of the time, but rather the legend. Many critics now consider Olivier's Richard III his best screen version of Shakespeare. As well, the British Film Institute has called Olivier's rendition of the play "definitive" and that it has done more to popularize Shakespeare than any other single piece of work.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1838: In order to avoid anti-Mormon persecution, Joseph Smith, Jr. and his followers fled Ohio for Missouri. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr.)

1967: James Bedford became the first person to be cryonically frozen with intent of future resuscitation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics)

1969: British rock band Led Zeppelin released their first record album, Led Zeppelin. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin)

1970: The self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra in southeastern Nigeria capitulated, ending the Nigerian Civil War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biafra)

1971: The American situation comedy All in the Family, starring Carroll O'Connor, was first broadcast on the CBS television network. It became the first show to depict controversial issues previously deemed unsuitable for network television comedy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_in_the_Family)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

Society is indeed a contract... it is not a partnership in things subservient only to the gross animal existence of a temporary and perishable nature. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such a partnership cannot be obtained in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are to be born. -- Edmund Burke (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke)