The Plays of William Shakespeare, Vol. 5 - The Merry Wives of Windsor
Think of this DVD (part of a series taped in England in the 1970s and  1980s) as Shakespeare on the cheap: serviceable, overacted, aimed squarely at a  student level. It's hardly the Bard for the connoisseur, but its broad,  slapstick approach translates into comprehensible comedy that works on a verbal  level as well as a physical one. This productions stars Leon Charles as Sir John  Falstaff, who engineers a roguish plan to seduce two married women, then  blackmail them into protecting their reputations. But the wives, played by  Gloria Grahame and Valerie Seelie-Snyder, turn the tables on Shakespeare's  oversized knight errant. The acting is professional in a provincial way, with  sets that look as much like cardboard as they are. If shown in a classroom,  where its 150-minute length can be broken up into more easily digestible bites,  it might be able to promote interest in Shakespeare nonetheless.--Marshall  Fine