My viewing of A Midsummer Nights Dream is my introduction to the text. I really loved this film! The opening scared me a bit, but once we got into the Forest I was hooked. I know I am treading on thin ice here, but this is one of my favorite Cagney performances. He had the perfect attitude for this. It was also great to see a young Mickey Rooney. Visually this film was stunning. I could not believe how magical this looked. Many elements reminded me of the Wizard Of Oz. I was a bit less interested in the beginning, and during the last 20 minutes or so. Like I said, I am not familiar with the original text or any other film versions, so I can't really comment on that but I love this film!