La Story and Shakespeare

In American comedian/actor/writer/director Steve Martin’s L.A. Story, there are many Shakespearean references. This is displayed on multiple levels. Sometimes it is subtle, like a borrowed plot device that bears a tiny resemblance to the play it was borrowed from. At other times, there will be a direct quote credited to Shakespeare himself. Or there will be a scene directly taken from a Shakespeare play, almost verbatim. The movie itself serves as a model of the influence that Shakespeare has had on filmmaking.

The movie is credited with being a variation on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is a more subtle lifting of the works. The similarities are limited to the device of the confused lovers, and the possible use of magic in order to bring the lovers to their correct partner. The similarities would probably have gone unnoticed were it not for the production notes that came as a supplement on the DVD, wherein Steve Martin bluntly says that he took the idea from A Midsummer Night‘s Dream. But as previously stated, the theme is slight. Only two sets of lovers end up with each other in the end. Steve Martin and Victoria Tenant’s characters finally fall for each other by the end of the film, due to the machinations of an electronic freeway billboard which sends them personal messages.

In the beginning of the film, Steve Martin states that