Macbeth – Olive Signature Series (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: USA, 1948, 1950
Director: Orson Welles
Writer: William Shakespeare
Cast: Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O’Herlihy, Roddy McDowall, Edgar Barrier, Alan Napier, Erskine Sanford, John Dierkes, Keene Curtis, Peggy Webber

Release Date: November 15th, 2016
Approximate Running Times: 107 Minutes 36 seconds (1948 Version), 85 Minutes 17 seconds (1950 Version)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Versions)
Rating: NR (Both Versions)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English (Both Versions)
Subtitles: English SDH (Both Versions)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $39.95

"Something wicked this way comes in Orson Welles' cinematic retelling of William Shakespeare's MacBeth. Welles stars as the titular MacBeth-a doomed Scottish lord tragically undone by his own ambition. Welles' noir-tinged interpretation bubbles over with supernatural prophecy and murderous intrigue, effectively mixing the use of shadow and oblique camera angles to achieve an ominous sense of a land in peril." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New high-definition digital restorations."

Macbeth 1948 version comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 30.8 GB

Feature: 30.6 GB

Macbeth 1950 version comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 38.7 GB

Feature: 23.1 GB

The sources used for these two versions are in excellent shape. Image clarity is solid, contrast and black levels are strong, compression is very good, and they both retain an organic appearance.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English - Both Versions)

Both versions come with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and both versions come with removable English SDH subtitles. Both versions' audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, things sound very good.

Extras:

Extras on disc one (1948 version) include an audio commentary with Orson Welles biographer Joseph McBride.

Extras on disc two (1950 Version) include an interview titled Welles and Shakespeare with Welles expert professor Michael Anderegg (11 minutes 56 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview titled That was Orson Welles filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (9 minutes 49 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Adapting Shakespeare on Film (8 minutes 19 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an from We Work Again, a 1937 WPA documentary containing scenes from Welles’ Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth (7 minutes 14 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a featurette titled Restoring Macbeth (8 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles) and featurette titled Free Republic: The Story of Herbert J. Yates and Republic Pictures (6 minutes 35 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles).

Other extras include an eight-page booklet with an essay titled Orson Welles's Macbeths, written by Jonathan Rosenbam. This extra can also be accessed on the Blu-ray disc two in the "extras" section.

Summary:

Macbeth was directed by Orson Welles, who rose to prominence with his Hollywood debut film, Citizen Kane, widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. Orson Welles would not only direct Citizen Kane; he would also write, produce, and, not to be overlooked, act in the role of its main character. Unfortunately for Orson Welles, his success would fade as quickly as it rose, and by the time his second film, The Magnificent Ambersons, was released, albeit in a heavily edited version of Orson Welles' final cut, he had faded as quickly as he had risen. His career as an actor continued to flourish, though his desire to direct would be put on the back burner until he was given the opportunity to direct The Stranger. Followed by The Lady from Shanghai (another film that befell a heavily edited version), and shortly thereafter he would get his chance to finally direct Shakespeare with Macbeth.

A lifelong fan of Shakespeare, Orson Welles would adapt his writings for the theater and stage throughout his career as a filmmaker. And though there had been other Shakespeare film adaptations before Orson Welles' Macbeth, it is safe to say that they looked, sounded, and felt like Orson Welles' interpretation. Limited resources never stifled Orson Welles' creativity; in fact, one could argue that some of his best work as a filmmaker was done on projects for which he had the least amount of resources to work with. That being said, Orson Welles, for Macbeth, would repurpose existing sound stages for his purposes. He would also have the cast record all of their dialog ahead of time and play it back while filming their scenes.

At first glance, Orson Welles' Macbeth appears to be a stage play due to the artificial nature of its production. And yet there are also many moments that are undeniably cinematic in their execution. Fortunately, these two rival ways of presenting a story come off without a hitch, and this is due to Orson Welles' unique way of seeing the world through the lens of his eyes. Needless to say, this film far exceeds expectations when it comes to its atmospheric visuals, which do a superb job setting the mood.

There are two versions of Orson Welles' Macbeth due to studio interference once again. Besides removing twenty minutes of footage, the studio re-edit released in 1950 also features a different audio track. This is due to Orson Welles's film featuring a thick Scottish accent, which they felt audiences would have difficulty understanding. And, while having this alternate version is useful for historical purposes, there is no denying that Welles' director’s cut for the film is the vastly superior version.

Orson Welles’ Macbeth gets an excellent release from Olive Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras, highly recommended.

 Written by Michael Den Boer