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Macbeth Overview:

Macbeth (1948) was a Drama - Film Adaptation Film directed by Orson Welles and produced by Orson Welles, Charles K. Feldman and Richard Wilson.

Macbeth BlogHub Articles:

Siberian Lady Macbeth (1962)

By Beatrice on Sep 21, 2017 From Flickers in Time

Siberian Lady Macbeth Directed by Andrzej Wajda Written by Sveta Lukic, story by Nikolai Leskov from a play by William Shakespeare 1962/Yugoslavia Avala Film First viewing/Netflix rental This is more like The Postman Always Rings Twice than Macbeth but doesn’t work all that well as either... Read full article

Criterion: Macbeth

By Aaron West on Oct 8, 2014 From Criterion Blues

Oct 8 Posted by aaronwest MACBETH, ROMAN POLANSKI, 1971 This entry will be a little different. I won’t try to establish and discuss the major themes of this work. Scholars, far smarter, more educated, and better read than I, have been exploring Shakespeare for centuries. Plenty of ink has been p... Read full article

Criterion: Macbeth

By Aaron West on Oct 8, 2014 From Criterion Blues

Oct 8 Posted by aaronwest MACBETH, ROMAN POLANSKI, 1971 This entry will be a little different. I won’t try to establish and discuss the major themes of this work. Scholars, far smarter, more educated, and better read than I, have been exploring Shakespeare for centuries. Plenty of ink has been p... Read full article

Criterion: Macbeth

By Aaron West on Oct 8, 2014 From Criterion Blues

Oct 8 Posted by aaronwest MACBETH, ROMAN POLANSKI, 1971 This entry will be a little different. I won’t try to establish and discuss the major themes of this work. Scholars, far smarter, more educated, and better read than I, have been exploring Shakespeare for centuries. Plenty of ink has been p... Read full article

Orson Welles’ Macbeth (1948)

By Judy on Sep 12, 2010 From Movie Classics

Orson Welles I’ve been meaning to write some more postings about Shakespeare films I’ve seen, but haven’t got round to it and my memories of some of them are starting to fade, so I’m going to do some brief capsule reviews instead of my usual epics – I’m looking to... Read full article

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Macbeth Quotes:

A Holy Father: And when we have our naked frailties hid / That suffer in exposure, let's meet / To question this most bloody piece of work, to know it further.
Macduff: In the great hand of God, I stand.
Banquo: And I. So, all.
Macduff: Stands Scotland where it did?
A Holy Father: Alas, poor country, almost afraid to know itself. It cannot be called our mother, but our grave...
Macbeth: Arm, arm, and out! There is no flying hence, nor tarrying here. I 'gin to be a-weary of the sun, And wish the estate of the world Were now undone. Ring the alarum bell! Blow, wind, come wrack! At least we'll die with harness on our back!
Lady Macduff: By the clock, 'tis day, And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp: Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame, That darkness does the face of earth entomb, when living light should kiss it?
Macbeth: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day; to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
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Macbeth Facts
Although the film was a critical and commercial disaster in both the USA and England, it was a huge success in many non-English speaking countries, especially France, where critics could not understand how the American and British press failed to appreciate the highly stylized and surrealistic approach Orson Welles took to the play. Today it is very highly regarded in English-speaking countries.
Jeanette Nolan's film debut.
The dialog was pre-recorded, leaving the actors to mime their lines.
Orson Welles assigned some of the lines spoken by characters in the play to different characters in the film. He invented the character "A Holy Father" for the film to emphasize what he believed was the struggle between religion and witchcraft in the play, and many of Ross' lines in the play are spoken by the Holy Father. The very minor character of the Old Man was omitted from the film, and his lines were also given to the Holy Father. Welles also gave Lady Macduff an extra speech which William Shakespeare had assigned to another character.
Shot in 21 days on a budget of $700,000.
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