The Dance of Death is a 1969 film version of the 1900 play The Dance of Death by August Strindberg as presented by the National Theatre Company. It stars Laurence Olivier and Geraldine McEwan. The play was directed by Glen Byam Shaw, and the film version was directed by David Giles. Olivier reprised the role of Edgar, Geraldine reprised her role of Alice, but Robert Stephens, who played Kurt, was replaced by Robert Lang.
Previous filmed National Theatre productions include Uncle Vanya (1963) and Othello (1965). Both of these are available on DVD; however, as of 2017, The Dance of Death has never been released on DVD or video.
Plot
An egocentric artillery Captain and his venomous wife engage in savage unremitting battles in their isolated island fortress off the coast of Sweden at the turn of the century. Alice, a former actress who sacrificed her career for secluded military life with Edgar, reveals on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary, the veritable hell their marriage has been. Edgar, an aging schizophrenic who refuses to acknowledge his severe illness, struggles to sustain his ferocity and arrogance with an animal disregard for other people. Sensing that Alice, together with her cousin and would-be lover, Kurt, may ally against him, retaliates with vicious force. Alice lures Kurt into the illusion of sharing a passionate assignation and recruits him in a plot to destroy Edgar.