Macbeth French 3-DVD set

[Le Chiffre]

I always wondered if my memory of having to pee the whole time would be stronger than the memory of the film I didn't want to miss a second of.

The film, thankfully. I guess if it had been really agonizing enough I would have had to go out and take care of business, but the beauty of the print outweighed the discomfort. I made it through.

[Ste]

The Republic library has, according to VideoBusiness.com, recently reverted to Lionsgate. Hopefully this news augurs well for a R1 release of Macbeth.

[colwood]

As much as I still love Welles and his films, I've been out of the loop here for a while now. Was wondering if anyone had any news on a possible R1 release of this (formerly new) french dvd set.

[Jeff Wilson]

With Lions Gate now controlling the video rights, the odds of a duplication of the R2 French release are rather slim, I'd say. Wild Side (the French label releasing the R2 set) have a one disc version of the film now out, presumably with the Welles cut and nothing else.

[londo]

There's a new 2 DVD box of Macbeth out now in Germany. It has both versions of the movie, the shorter movie theatre release version and the longer version (114 min. with musical intro and outro)

Also included here are some interesting extras :
-a audio recording of Macbeth from a Mercury Theatre production in 1940
-the 4 min of "Voodoo Macbeth" with intro (much better quality then my old copy)
-an essay "Shakespeare and Welles" by Jean-Pierre Berthome (not so great)

A funny way to find out which scenes/lines were cut by Welles, is to watch the german dub of the long version. While most parts are spoken in german, all scenes cut for the shorter version are english with german subs only, which gives you a very strange mix of laguages/voices.

[IvyMike]

Also posted this in the general forum, but's probably more relevant to the film forum, specifically in a Macbeth DVD thread...

So which DVD of Macbeth is considered the best, (image and sound as most important considerations)? Can't seem to find comparison reviews.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Orson-Welles-Ma ... 932&sr=1-6

http://www.amazon.fr/Macbeth-%C3%89diti ... 861&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.de/Macbeth-2-DVDs-Jea ... 350&sr=1-3

This one looks like a single disc release of the French 3 disc...Anyone know which version it includes?

http://www.amazon.fr/Macbeth-Version-Po ... 861&sr=1-1

I would assume the 3disc French release is the best bet as far as completist perspective, but how do the image and sound stack up to the other 2? Does the German include both versions as well?

Will we see a decent release of this or even Othello in R1 anytime soon?

[ToddBaesen]

*

It looks like there is certainly enough material to make for a deluxe two edition disc of MACBETH... but will the Republic rights holders do anything about it or not?

My new theory is all these studios must have a deep-seated "fear" of bringing out any Orson Welles movies on DVD!

[Glenn Anders]

Todd: I keep hoping to see your lovable old face, at least your mug shots (now in circulation), or your speculative ideas over at Turner's new "Classic Film Union" beta site. There you would observe a growing number of clues why the Studios and money people appear so reluctant to support floods of Orson Welles movies on DVD. The site is now approaching one thousand members, at least a couple of hundred of them seemingly serious movie buffs, about three hundred souls, all told, having been added in the last ten days since the formal roll out. You would see that there is relatively little interest in Welles as a director or creator. [He's lumped into an "Indie" group, and even there, love for his films is cool or non-existent. Welles' competition: "Morris Engel, Oscar Micheaux, Hugo Haas, Orson Welles, John Cassavetes, Billy Jack, Sundance Institute, Ida Lupino, Sex, Lies and Videotape, John Sayles and more."] Welles is mostly regarded as an actor and once husband of Rita Hayworth. A good many members list themselves fans of CITIZEN KANE, but that profession seems in a lot of cases to be perfunctory. [Given their other picks, I get the impression that some would be embarrassed not to list "the greatest American film ever made" as a favorite. TOUCH OF EVIL, LADY FROM SHANGHAI, THE STRANGER, and MR. ARKADIN are otherwise the most popular. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS gets a mention, and F FOR FAKE has come on as a discovery, JOURNEY INTO FEAR has a first mention. Currently -- except for FALSTAFF (which I mentioned for you, Todd) , now shot into the 500's since I picked it three days ago -- none of Welles' Shakespeare films, such as MACBETH, may be found listed in the magic first one thousand films picked for this volatile list.

This is my tentative report on an impressive group who claim to be seriously dedicated to "Classic Films."

I'm not being a shill for Turner, but many of us could swell the 30 a day or so they are signing up -- and do some good for the cause.

A bonus would be seeing a nice picture of our admirable Roger Ryan!

Glenn

[Roger Ryan]

A bonus would be seeing a nice picture of our admirable Roger Ryan!

Given that it's a "classic film site", I couldn't resist including a snapshot of my visit to Kubrick's "Overlook Hotel" in Aug. 2007...the fog-enshrouded grounds didn't agree with me, so I retired to room 237 with a little "hair-of-the-dog-that-bit-me" until I felt better (which, oddly, wasn't until July 4th, 1921).

So, Orson Welles is competing with Billy Jack? Ouch! I bet Welles' numbers will go up if Linklater gets a decent release of the Zac Efron "Me & Orson Welles" film.

[Glenn Anders]

You did well, Roger. I was trying to think what you were doing trudging along outside a French Chateau!

I think you may well be right about Zac Efron giving Welles a boost at this Turner site within the next year. A fair number of fans seem to react spontaneously to the country's vibes at a given moment, which may explain how ADA got be #3, after THE WIZARD OF OZ and CASABLANCA in the TFU mighty list of 1000. The charm of Susan Hayward and Dean Martin to one side, the movie is about a Country Western musician who marries a call girl and becomes governor of one of our Southern States. It is a plot that might strike a good or bad chord, these days. I'm sure it's a very good little sleeper, even if I had never heard of it.

Our man Welles is making progress though, which I report on in another thread you have followed.

Glenn

[brenbar]

Just to let everyone know in case you're not aware that there is a 2 DVD set of Macbeth available through Amazon Germany (amazon.de) which is on the Arthaus label (Arthaus premium edition). It's a region 2 release and I'd highly recommend it as it features both the 1948 and 1950 cuts in the same beautiful restored prints that were released on the 3 DVD french set a couple of years ago but the beauty of this one is that the subtitles are removable unlike the french DVD !! It also has the short clip of the 1936 voodoo Macbeth and the 1940 Mercury theatre radio version as extras.

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks Brenbar. Sounds like the German set is definitely the one to get at this point: