Joe MacBeth (1955)Shakespeare (more-or-less) in modern gangster setting. Lily MacBeth pushes her husband Joe to rub out the reigning crime boss and become the new "kingpin" himself. Success is short- lived, ... See full summary » Director:Ken Hughes |
|
| 0Share... |
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: Joe MacBeth (1955)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Edit
Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Paul Douglas | ... | ||
| Ruth Roman | ... | ||
 |
Bonar Colleano | ... | |
|
|
Grégoire Aslan | ... |
Mr. del Duca
|
|
|
Sid James | ... | |
|
|
Harry Green | ... |
Big Dutch
|
|
|
Walter Crisham | ... | |
|
|
Kay Callard | ... |
Ruth
|
|
|
Robert Arden | ... | |
|
|
George Margo | ... | |
|
|
Minerva Pious | ... |
Rosie
|
|
|
Philip Vickers | ... |
Tommy
|
|
|
Mark Baker | ... |
Benny
|
|
|
Bill Nagy | ... |
Marty
|
|
|
Al Mulock | ... |
First Assassin
(as Alfred Mulock)
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See more »
Storyline
Shakespeare (more-or-less) in modern gangster setting. Lily MacBeth pushes her husband Joe to rub out the reigning crime boss and become the new "kingpin" himself. Success is short- lived, however, as he confronts Lennie, a mobster whose father and wife are Joe's murder victims. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Plot Keywords:
gangster | shakespeare's macbeth | modern day adaptation | shakespeare in modern dress | based on play |Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
February 1956 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Legion der Hölle See more »Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
"Macbeth" is one of my favorite of the Bard's plays, so I was curious to catch this on TCM.
Unbelievably, the play is listed here on IMDb as by Shakespeare but practically none of his dialog survived. And while an effort is made to parallel Shakespeare's tragedy, so much is distorted and left out that comparisons are pretty ludicrous.
There are a few nice touches here. I throughly enjoyed the characterization and dramatic demise of gluttonous Duch, and the climactic murder of the Duke was very chillingly executed.
The denouement of this film seemed far more sloppily done. The movie makes no attempt to deal with the dire "of no woman born" and marching-forest predictions of "Macbeth." And it ends on a particularly weak note involving the butler. Who cares?
I can't say I'm sorry I saw this, but, along with Mack and Lily, it left me cold.