Macbeth (1948)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Orson Welles

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

23 June 1950 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Entertainment Greatness . . . That Only Motion Picture Magic Can Bring !

Plot:

In fog-dripping, barren and sometimes macabre settings, 11th-century Scottish nobleman Macbeth is led...

Plot Keywords:

Wife | Scottish | Prophecy | King | Prophet

Cast

Orson Welles	...	Macbeth
Jeanette Nolan	...	Lady Macbeth
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Macduff
Roddy McDowall	...	Malcolm
Edgar Barrier	...	Banquo
Alan Napier	...	A Holy Father
Erskine Sanford	...	Duncan
John Dierkes	...	Ross
Keene Curtis	...	Lennox
Peggy Webber	...	Lady Macduff / The Three
Lionel Braham	...	Siward
Archie Heugly	...	Young Siward
Jerry Farber	...	Fleance
Christopher Welles	...	Macduff Child
Morgan Farley	...	Doctor

Runtime:

89 min (cut version) | Germany:92 min | USA:107 min (premiere version) | USA:107 min (restored video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Belgium:16 (Enfants Non Admis) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mercury Productions

Trivia:

Some sources mistakenly credit Charles Lederer with playing one of the Three Witches.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Duncan and his men renew their baptismal vows with a prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1884.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Three Witches: Double,double,toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shakespeare in Love and on Film (1999) (TV)

Welles's first stab at Shakespeare on film

This 40s Macbeth is a Shakespeare adaptation with mixed results, created by and starring Orson Welles and released through Poverty Row studio Republic. The costumes are Scandinavian but the accents are definitely Scottish.

Welles is good as the Thane who becomes a king-killer and a tyrant, while Jeanette Nolan appears as the scheming Lady Macbeth. Roddy McDowell is a delicate Malcolm, while Erskine Sanford is Duncan.

The mood of the film is dark, drenched in fog, but the way it is filmed is pure cinema, giving the text new life. There would be better Macbeths but this one is certainly memorable and effective. Welles would go on to tackle Othello and Henry IV (as Chimes at Midnight).

While Olivier was making his mark as a Shakespearian actor/director in British film, Welles was certainly doing the same in the USA. This film stands for all the work which he started and never finished, and is a good example of what he could achieve when at his best.