October 7, 1948: Orson Welles' Film Version of "Macbeth"

October 7, 1948: A film version of William Shakespeare's Macbeth premieres, with Orson Welles directing and starring. He had previously staged an all-black "voodoo version" in New York in 1936.

Jeanette Nolan plays Lady Macbeth, Dan O'Herilhy plays Macduff, and a young Roddy McDowall plays Malcolm. Keene Curtis, later to star in several bald roles but then still having hair, plays Lennox. Alan Napier, later to play Alfred on the TV show Batman, plays a priest.

For the record, there really was a Macbeth who was King of Scotland, from 1040 to 1057, and he is generally regarded as one of the better Scottish monarchs. The play seems to suggest he was a good man gone bad, and getting worse as he gains more power, and that he only reigned for a few weeks, as opposed to 17 years. He is egged on by his wife, and "Lady Macbeth" has become an insult for any woman who plots to become "the power behind the throne."

William Shakespeare first produced Macbeth in 1606. It tells of a nobleman whose ambition gets the better of him. The highlight comes near the end, when the title character realizes he's lost his kingdom, his wife, everything but his own life, all through his own fault. He says:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

William Faulkner took this soliloquy, and titled his greatest noel The Sound and the Fury. And the Star Trek franchise titled an episode of its original series "All Our Yesterdays," and one of the later (though taking place earlier) series Strange New Worlds "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." Another episode, "Dagger of the Mind," also takes its title from Macbeth.

The duel scene between Macbeth and Macduff was filmed in 1905. The 1st full-length film version was a 1908 American one. The 1st sound version was a British one in 1945, with Wilfrid Lawson. The series Hallmark Hall of Fame, then on NBC, produced it for TV in 1954 and 1960, both with Maurice Evans.

Laurence Olivier, having spectacularly succeeded with film versions of Shakespeare's plays Henry V in 1944, Hamlet in 1948, and Richard III in 1955, tried to get funding for a film version of Macbeth in the late 1950s, but failed.

Sean Connery, not yet having playing James Bond, starred in a version for Canada's CBC in 1961. Roman Polanski directed a film version in 1971, with Jon Finch. Ian McKellen starred in a version for Britain's ITV in 1979. Jeremy Brett starred in a feature film in 1981, Nicol Williamson in a BBC TV version in 1983, and Brian Cox voiced an animated version for BBC2 in 1992.

Jason Connery followed his father into the role for a 1997 feature film, Sean Pertwee (also the son of a major British actor, former Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee) in a Channel 4 TV production in 1998, Patrick Stewart in a 1960s-styled TV version for BBC Four in 2010, Michael Fassbender in a 2015 feature film, and Denzel Washington starred in the 2021 American film The Tragedy of Macbeth.

There are stories of accidents, misfortunes and even deaths taking place during runs of Macbeth. And so, actors and others in the theatre industry often consider it bad luck to mention Macbeth by name while inside a theatre, and sometimes refer to it indirectly, for example as, "The Scottish Play" -- although it is not considered bad luck to utter the name "Macbeth" when referring to the character himself. Welles himself was a student of the occult, and with Shakespeare's use of witches, Macbeth is his most occult play. But Welles didn't take the superstition seriously.

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October 7, 1948 was a Thursday. Poet and scientist Diane Ackerman was born.

Football was in midweek, and the seasons of the NHL and the league that would become the NBA hadn't started yet. Game 2 of the World Series was played at Braves Field in Boston. The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Braves, 4-1. Bob Lemon outpitched Warren Spahn. The Indians went on to win the Series in 6 games.