Shakespeare's conception of Richard III followed that forwarded by certain historical interpretations which are open to question. But it was based equally on the popular notion that disfigured or disabled people were by nature bearers of evil: disability served both as a social and a literary device. "Shakespeare depicts Richard as a crafty villain whose soul is as deformed as his body, though the blackness of the portrait is relieved somewhat by Richard's courage, his wit, and his freedom from self-delusion. Written while Elizabeth, the grand-daughter of Henry VII, ruled England, the play was enormously popular in its day and is largely responsible for the ill-repute in which Richard has long been held" (W. R. Benét, The Reader's Encyclopedia). Olivier's version stints not a whit on the use of the disability metaphor, as Pauline Kael's review attests: "Laurence Olivier makes Shakespeare's `son of hell' such a magnetic, chilling, amusing monster that the villainy arouses an almost immoral delight. As director and star, Olivier succeeds with the soliloquies as neither he nor anyone else ever did on film before; they're intimate, yet brazen. If the film were all malevolent crookback Richard, it would be a marvel...But none of (its shortcomings matter) very much when you can watch Olivier's lewd courtship of Claire Bloom and hear the inflections he gives lines like `I am not in the giving vein today.'" Note: Richard III is sometimes shown in a 139-minute cut, the only one available in 35mm; our 16mm print is of the full 155-minute version.