The original article can be found at KSDK in St. Louis.

St. Louis, MO (KSDK) – Actor Alex Hyde White is in town for an exhibition of his documentary “Three Days of Hamlet” Wednesday night at the Tivoli.

White, whose credits include “Catch Me If You Can” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” visits the NewsChannel 5 at Noon set to talk about what viewers can expect by his documentary.

KSDK

Organizers at the Palm Beach Film Festival, which opened yesterday and runs through April 19, didn’t circulate very many screeners to the press this year. But I did catch three movies in advance. Let’s start with the best of them, shall we?

“Three Days of Hamlet” documents actor Alex Hyde-White’s recent, rather insane attempt to rehearse and stage a 144-page, plainclothes production of “Hamlet” in three days. With no sleep, copious caffeine and varying degrees of patience, his 20-member cast performs their rigorous duty while sharing their backstage insights with Hyde-White, who wears three hats: directing the avant-garde stage production, playing Hamlet and directing this movie. The result is far superior, and seemingly more personal, than Al Pacino’s own wrestle with Shakespeare, “Looking for Richard.” It addresses the enduring popularity of the source material and is also a meditation on the nature of acting.

“Three Days of Hamlet” strips away all the showbiz bureaucracy to convey the sheer, unfettered joy of performing these beautiful words. Moreover, it’s a film about fathers and sons: Hyde-White is the offspring of a famed British comic actor, and his Herculean attempt to barrel through Shakespeare in 72 hours is also his way of exorcising the demons of his disapproving thespian father. The documentary is filled with split screens, sepia tones, artificial print fading and bold superimpositions, which all work surprisingly well, because they help to channel its protagonist’s filial anxiety. I couldn’t have loved this intelligent movie any more than I did.

“Three Days of Hamlet” screens at 7 p.m. tonight, April 13, at Muvico Parisian at CityPlace in West Palm Beach.