Macbeth (1916)

Macbeth is a silent, black-and-white 1916 film adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Macbeth. It was directed by John Emerson, assisted by Erich von Stroheim, and produced by D. W. Griffith, with cinematography by Victor Fleming. The film starred Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Constance Collier, both famous from the stage and for playing Shakespearean parts. Although released during the first decade of feature filmmaking, it was already the seventh version of Macbeth to be produced, one of eight of the silent film era. It is considered to be a lost film. The running time is 80 minutes.

In the companion book to his Hollywood television series, Kevin Brownlow states that Sir Herbert Tree failed to understand that the production was a silent film and that speech was not needed so much as pantomime. Tree, who had performed the play numerous times on the stage, kept spouting reams of dialogue. So Emerson and Fleming simply removed the film and cranked an empty camera so as not to waste film when he did so.

Synopsis

Lord Macbeth rencontre trois sorcières qui prédisent qu'il sera roi d'Écosse. Lorsque le roi Duncan visite le château de Macbeth, Lady Macbeth convainc son mari de le tuer. Envahi par la culpabilité, et apeuré que l'autre prédiction des sorcières (que Banquo engendre des rois) se réalise, Macbeth tue Banquo. Finalement Lady Macbeth se tuera et Macbeth sera tué par Macduff.

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