This theory was first proposed in 1930 and has recently been championed by Stephen Greenblatt.
Although Falstaff does not appear in the play, Olivier inserted an original scene depicting the fat knight - played by George Robey, who first previously performed the role in a stage production of Henry IV, Part 1 in 1935 - as a dying, heartbroken old man attended by Mistress Quickly, pathetically reliving in his mind his rejection by Henry.
The most notable examples in cinema are Laurence Olivier's 1944 version and Kenneth Branagh's 1989 film, both of which draw additional material from the Henry IV plays. The character is known to have been very popular with audiences at the time, and for many years afterwards.
Falstaff has since appeared in other media, notably in operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Otto Nicolai, and in Orson Welles' 1966 film Chimes at Midnight.
The most notable examples in cinema are Laurence Olivier's 1944 version and Kenneth Branagh's 1989 film, both of which draw additional material from the Henry IV plays. The character is known to have been very popular with audiences at the time, and for many years afterwards.
Later, prior to the actual scene where Mistress Quickly describes his death, there is a fleeting close-up shot of her sadly examining the knight's now deceased body one last time before going downstairs to his followers. Falstaff appeared in the Michael Bogdanov/Michael Pennington's English Shakespeare Company's presentation of Shakespeare's plays concerning The Wars of the Roses; originally taped live during their final tour with the series in 1989.
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