Joe Macbeth

Synopsis: Feature film presenting the Macbeth plot as a gangster film. Joe Macbeth is number two in the underworld to ‘kingpin’ Duca. Goaded by his wife Lily, who wants Joe to become ‘kingpin’, and half-believing the words of Rosie, a fortune teller, Joe invites Duca to his lakeside house and murders him. Joe is now head of the underworld. His friend, Banky, is loyal to him but his son, Lennie, is resentful, and Joe hires a gunman to dispose of him. By mistake Banky is murdered instead. Banky’s ghost appears to Joe at a party, and Joe feels he is losing control over his gang. Another plan is bungled when Lennie’s wife and baby are killed during a kidnap attempt. Joe barricades himself in. Joe accidentally kills Lily, then is gunned down by Lennie. [With acknowledgment to McKernan & Terris op cit for the plot synopsis].
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Sound
Year of release: 1955
Duration: 90 mins; 8,107 feet

Director

Ken Hughes

Producer

Cinematographer

Screenplay

Music

Cast

Notes: The BFI National Archive, London holds a 35mm preservation material only. No viewing copy.

The Birmingham Public Library holds a release script.
General: Scriptwriter Philip Yordan wrote the script for HOUSE OF STRANGERS (1949) and BROKEN LANCE (1954), both King Lear derivatives.
Reviews: McKernan, Luke and Olwen Terris. Walking Shadows: Shakespeare in the National Film and Television Archive (London: BFI, 1994), p. 94.

Howard, Tony. ‘Shakespeare’s Cinematic Offshoots’ in The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film ed. Russell Jackson. (Cambridge, CU, 2000), p. 302-3.

SHAKESPEARE