Internet Shakespeare Editions

Shakespeare in Performance: Film

Macbeth (1960, George Schaefer)

TitleMacbeth
Year1960
Release LocationsUSA
DirectorGeorge Schaefer
MediumColor video
Length1 hrs, 47 mins
LanguagesEnglish
Audiencecollege and university
general public
high school
Play ConnectionsMacbeth (interpretation)
SeriesHallmark Hall of Fame

Description

In 1960, Maurice Evans joined forces with George Schaefer to redo the 1954 Macbeth for television. This time, however, the production was first made as a movie in color. Most of it was indeed filmed on location in Scotland at considerable expense. The decision to make a film for television marked a major breakthrough in television practice. Indeed this Macbeth and a gangster show called The Scarface Mob (from The Untouchables) compete for the honor of being the first to innovate the now common practice of combining a theatrical film with a television production. The expanded theatrical version was released in 1963 and made widely available on 16 mm film for schools. Because the film was originally made for tv, close-ups and mid-shots tend to prevail and give it a kind of claustrophobic atmosphere, though ironically the exterior shots made on location in Scotland have been thought incongruously sunny and cheerful for a play so steeped in evil. For other Shakespeare programs in the Hallmark series, see 102, 126, 305, 484, 593, 594, 613, and 649

Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14

Cast Overview

MacbethMaurice Evans
Lady MacbethJudith Anderson
DuncanMalcolm Keen
MalcolmJeremy Brett
DonalbainBerry Warren
BanquoMichael Hordern
MacduffIan Banner
RossWilliam Hutt
MenteithSimon Lack
AngusBrewster Mason
CaithnessCharles Carson
FleanceScot Finch
SeytonTrader Faulkner
PhysicianFelix Aylmer
PorterGeorge Rose

Production Team and Crew Overview

DirectorGeorge Schaefer
ProducerSidney Kaufman
ProducerPhil C. Samuel
ProducerGeorge Schaefer
EditorRalph Kemplen
ComposerRichard Addinsell
ComposerMuir Mathieson
Adaptor/TranslatorGeorge Schaefer
Adaptor/TranslatorAnthony Squire
CostumesBeatrice Dawson
CameraFred A. Young
ProductionEdward Corrick

Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell