Joe MacBeth (1955) DVD-R

Starring Paul Douglas, Ruth Roman, Bonar Colleano, Gregoire Aslan, Sid James
Directed by Ken Hughes

Print: black/white
Runtime: 90 min.
Genre: drama
Print Quality: B

It took nerve to transpose Shakespeare's Macbeth into a 1930s gangster story using "tough
guy" jargon, but Joe Macbeth very nearly pulls the trick off successfully. Paul Douglas plays
Joe MacBeth, a successful mobster whose wife (Ruth Roman) has ambitions to be even
more successful. Mrs. MacBeth talks her husband into killing his boss while the two of
them are swimming, and when Joe timorously leaves the knife behind, his wife dives in
after the weapon. Now near the top of the heap, Joe begins to believe that everyone is out to
get him. He kills his best pal Banky, whose ghost shows up a banquet later that night (Joe
dispenses with Shakespeare's iambic pentameter by shouting "What is this? A gag?") As
Joe deteriorates, his wife goes crazy, screaming "Joe! There's blood on my hands!" in her
sleep. Both Joe and his wife are killed in a shootout with rival gangsters. Straining to create
suitable counterparts for the Shakespearian characters in 20th century Chicago — the
three witches are sidewalk peddlers, while Hecate is a sandwich-board man — Joe
Macbeth veers towards the laughable at times; but the basic story has been a good one for
nearly 500 years now, so Joe Macbeth succeeds as often as it falters. Incidentally, despite
the American characters and Chicagoland setting, Joe Macbeth was filmed in England, with
principally British supporting actors.