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Macbeth

1948

Orson Welles

Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Roddy McDowall ...

7.4

3,568

Drama Macbeth, a loyal henchman to his crime boss, Duncan, is told by teenage witches that he will one day assume great power. Driven by their prophecy, he plots with his wife to kill Duncan, and takes the leadership of the gang for himself. Maintaining his power will require more murders and violence, finally driving his surviving enemies to unite and destroy him.

	Author	Review
United States	Bosley Crowther The New York Times	"Although there are some empty spaces and general vagueness in aligning details, the moods and the dark, oppressive horrors of a people and an age are well displayed"	NEU
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"Jeanette Nolan's Lady M is a near disaster. Still, there is force in this rough, hasty rendering; the sheer speed of the pacing gives it a quality of crushing delirium."	NEU
United Kingdom	David Parkinson Empire	"Its atmospheric audacity is now readily evident (...) A powerhouse performance from Orson Welles as the troubled Prince (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Variety	"Film is crammed with scenery-chewing theatrics in the best Shakespearean manner (...) Only a few of the Bard’s best lines are audible. The rest are lost in strained, dialectic gibbering that is only sound, not prose."	NEU
United Kingdom	Geoff Andrew Time Out	"Not entirely successful (...) Ms Nolan's Lady Macbeth is something of a disaster. That said, though, the film (...) is pure cinema (...) Adventurous film-making that takes risks, and full of imaginative flourishes."	NEU
United States	Eric Henderson Slant	"Though surprisingly few seams show in the full 107-minute cut (...) it still often feels as though the challenge Welles decided to tackle was speed, not clarity (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"	NEU

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