In a message dated 7/30/00 10:54:42 AM, [log in to unmask] writes: << I just saw Almereyda's _Hamlet_, and in it, Paula Malcolmson plays "Marcella," a female Marcellus who is presumably the girlfriend of Horatio. On stage this is relatively common. I recently saw a Western-style production of _The Taming of the Shrew_ at Ball state University which had a Biondella and a Grumia, and the former seemed to be Tranio's girlfriend. I know this occurred during the "silent" period; Sarah Bernhardt played Hamlet in the 1900 film, a role she had played over 300 imes on stage. Is anyone aware of any other sound films which did this, particularly with supporting characters like Marcellus whose gender was unimportant and the defaulted to male with the all-male casts of Shakespeare's day? Scott >> Don't know about sound and it's the lead performance not a minor role, but the most interesting example of transgender performance and adaption I know of would be Asta Nielsen's "Hamlet." Hamlet is born a girl but to protect the throne, the Queen announces that it's a boy. The female Hamlet (Asta) is thus brought up disguised as a boy but has problems with the affections of Ophelia and longs for Horatio. It's a wonderful film and one of the more interesting interpretations of Shakespeare on film. Dennis Doros Milestone Film & VIdeo ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite