Claim: Laurence Olivier played a role in a film.

Henry V is a 1944 British Technicolor film adaptation of William Shakespeare 's play of the same name . The on-screen title is The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agin Court in France -LRB- the title of the 1600 quarto edition of the play -RRB- . It stars Laurence Olivier , who also directed . The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier , Dallas Bower , and Alan Dent . The score is by William Walton .   The film begins as a recreation of a stage production of the play in the Globe Theatre , then gradually turns into a stylised cinematic rendition of the play , with sets reminiscent of a medieval Book of Hours . It follows the overall pattern of Shakespeare 's play , depicting Henry 's campaign in France , through the siege of Harfleur . The film then shows the Battle of Agincourt in a real setting , after which the film quickly begins to revert to backdrops that are once again more and more like medieval illuminated manuscripts . We then see the negotiations for Treaty of Troyes and Henry 's courtship of Princess Katherine followed by their marriage . At the end of the scene , the setting reverts to the Globe Playhouse and the audience applauding .   The film was made near the end of World War II and was intended as a morale booster for Britain . Consequently , the film was partly funded by the British government . The film was originally `` dedicated to the ` Commandos and Airborne Troops of Great Britain the spirit of whose ancestors it has been humbly attempted to recapture . ' '' The movie won Olivier an Academy Honorary Award for `` his Outstanding achievement as actor , producer and director in bringing Henry V to the screen . ''   Olivier 's Henry V is widely considered the first Shakespeare film to be both artistically and commercially successful .