‘Macbeth’ Blu-ray, loaded with extras, set for release this fall

macbethOlive Films will issue Orson Welles’ Macbeth in November on Blu-ray and it will go far beyond the bare bones package that the Chicago-based label released four years ago.

As first reported in Wellesnet back in May, this special Olive Films Signature Edition will include both the original 1948 107-minute cut, replete with affected highland accents, and the 1950 pared-down 85-minute re-release that removed much of the accented dialogue.

Other than Citizen Kane, the 107-minute edit of  Macbeth is the only Hollywood film directed by Welles that can be seen as he  intended.

The single disc will have 1080p resolution and be presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The audio is DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. The disc offers optional English SDH subtitles.

Olive Films released an exceptional version of 107-minute cut with no extras in 2012. The company informs Wellesnet that it undertook an “extensive cleanup to remove dust, dirt, stains, and other issues” from both edits of Macbeth for the upcoming release.

A suggested retail list price has not been revealed.

There is a wealth of special features on the upcoming Blu-ray. They include:

  • New high-definition digital restoration
  • Includes 1948 and 1950 versions
  • Audio commentary with Welles biographer Joseph McBride
  • “Welles and Shakespeare” – an interview with Welles expert, Michael Anderegg
  • “Adapting Shakespeare on Film” – a conversation with directors Carlo Carlei (Romeo & Juliet) and Billy Morrissette (Scotland, PA)
  • Excerpt from We Work Again, a 1937 WPA documentary containing scenes from Welles’ Federal Theatre Project production of “Voodoo” Macbeth
  • “That Was Orson Welles” – an interview with Welles’ close friend and co-author, Peter Bogdanovich
  • “Restoring Macbeth” – an interview with former UCLA Film & Television Archive Preservation Officer Bob Gitt
  • “Free Republic: The Story of Herbert J. Yates and Republic Pictures”
  • “The Two Macbeths” – an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
  • Newly commissioned artwork

Macbeth was an attempt by Welles to make classics on a small budget, hoping that if the picture was a success, he would be allowed to do similar projects. The film, shot in just 23 days on a shoestring budget, was unfairly compared to Laurence Olivier’s big budget  Hamlet upon its release in 1948 and attacked by critics.

Two years later, Republic had Welles cut two reels and re-record the soundtrack  with the actors speaking in their natural voices, and not the approximation of Scottish accents that Welles initially requested.

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