Macbeth (1916)
January 2, 1916Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Macbeth
Constance Collier
Lady Macbeth
Wilfred Lucas
Macduff
Spottiswoode Aitken
Duncan
Ralph Lewis
Banquo
Mary Alden
Lady Macduff
Olga Grey
Lady Agnes
Lawrence Noskowski
Malcolm
Media.
Details.
Release DateJanuary 2, 1916
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 20m
Content RatingNR
Genres
Last updated:
Wiki.
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 during the silent film era. Although 1916 was the middle of WW1, this film was part of numerous festivities to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. It is considered to be a lost film.
In the companion book to his Hollywood television series, Kevin Brownlow states that Sir Herbert 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.