to the throne of England John Gielgud as King Henry IV, the King of England Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly, hostess of the Boar's Head Tavern Jeanne Moreau as Doll Tearsheet, a prostitute Alan Webb as Justice Shallow, a country justice and old friend of Falstaff Walter Chiari as Justice Silence, a country justice Michael Aldridge as Pistol, a friend of Falstaff Tony Beckley as Ned Poins, a friend of Falstaff and Hal Charles Farrell as Bardolph, a friend of Falstaff and Hal Patrick Bedford as Nym, a friend of Falstaff and Hal José Nieto as Earl of Northumberland, an Earl in rebellion against the King, and cousin of Edmund Mortimer Keith Pyott as the Lord Chief Justice Fernando Rey as Earl of Worcester, Northumberland's brother, and cousin of Edmund Mortimer Norman Rodway as Henry Percy, called Hotspur, Northumberland's son, and second cousin of Edmund Mortimer Marina Vlady as Kate Percy, Hotspur's wife Andrew Faulds as Earl of Westmorland, an Earl loyal to the King Jeremy Rowe as Prince John, Henry IV's second son Beatrice Welles as Falstaff's Page, a servant (Also played by Bruno Yasoni after Beatrice could not finish filming) Fernando Hilbeck Andrés Mejuto Julio Peña Ralph Richardson as The Narrator (voice) Ingrid Pitt as Courtesan (uncredited) Original stage productions Welles' inspiration for Chimes at Midnight began in 1930 when he was a student at the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois. Welles tried to stage a three-and-a-half-hour combination of several of Shakespeare's historical plays called The Winter of Our Discontent in which he played Richard III. School officials forced him to make cuts to the production. Chimes at Midnight originated in 1939 as a stage play called Five Kings, which Welles wrote and partially staged. It was an ambitious adaptation of several Shakespeare plays that chronicled the stories of Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI and Richard III. Its sources were Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2, Henry VI, Part 3 and Richard IIIsometimes collectively called the "War of the Roses cycle". The grouping of Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V are often referred to as the Henriad. Five Kings (1939) Five Kings was announced as part of the newly revived Mercury Theatre's second season in 1938. John Houseman had