| Oedipus Rex | |
| Producer: | Leonid Kipnis |
| Distributor: | Motion Picture Distributors |
| Runtime: | 87 minutes |
| Budget: | $400,000[1] |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
Oedipus Rex is a 1957 film, a film version of the Canadian Stratford Festival production of the William Butler Yeats adaptation of the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.[2] [3]
The actors performed wearing masks designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch,[4] as was the practice in Ancient Greek theatre.
In the years following the release of the film, comedic musician Tom Lehrer referred to it in his live shows, theorizing that it had fared poorly at the box office because it lacked a catchy theme song that could draw in audiences. He wrote and performed one in ragtime style, as heard on the 1959 album An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer.
Theresa Loeb Cone of the Oakland Tribune praised the cast, costumes, cinematography and score, but felt that the film was "too pretentious for enjoyment".[4]