macbeth (1948)
“Orson Welles’ Macbeth leaves the spectator deaf and
blind and I can well believe that the people who like it (and I am
proud to be one) are few and far between . . .”
(Jean Cocteau)
Welles was not one to be dissuaded from filming the
legendarily cursed play. His Macbeth was an experiment in
movie-making, and not a completely successful one.
It was shot in three weeks for under $200,000 for
(of all things) Republic Pictures, mostly known as a “B” picture
studio. Welles thought that if he succeeded, other directors would
tackle challenging projects by substituting creativity and primitive
images for lavish sets and production values. Also, he wanted to
disprove the assertion that dogged him for his entire career that he
couldn’t complete a movie on time and within budget.
The result was a powerful film in its way, but
mainly for people who are already familiar with the play. If somebody
didn’t know Macbeth, you probably wouldn’t introduce them to it with
this movie. It was all shot on sound-stages, with much mist and
strange lighting and shadows. The costumes are clunky-looking and
primitive (some quite realistic for the era of the play). The cast is
composed of Welles’ stalwarts, some radio performers and even a few
members of Welles’ family. He tried to get Agnes Moorehead to play
Lady Macbeth (which would have helped quite a bit) but her schedule
didn’t permit it, so he cast Jeanette Nolan instead. Welles himself
(of course) played Macbeth.