 Olivier stated that "one great whacking cut had to be made", and the cut he chose to make was the omission of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.This was not much criticised at first, but later critics did take more notice of it, especially after shorter productions of "Hamlet" that did not leave out these characters were presented on television.John Gielgud took much the same approach years later by leaving out Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Fortinbras from his 1951 radio production of the play, broadcast on the program "Theatre Guild on the Air".