Nov 19th  
Macbeth**       
(GB 1971)                       
Columbia/Playboy/Caliban. 140. Todd-AO

Macbeth, Thane of Glamis mistakes the words of witches as prophecy, and subsequently murders his way to the Scottish kingdom before his eventual downfall.
Suitably atmospheric and bloodthirsty adaptation of a bloodthirsty play. The settings are suitably dour, damp and Medieval, and Polanski's touches and moments of sometimes excessive gore help to overcome the slight Royal Shakespeare Company feel of the acting.

Written by: Roman Polanski, Kenneth Tynan, from the play by William Shakespeare.
Producer: Andrew Braunsberg.
Director: Roman Polanski.
Starring: Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Martin Shaw, Terence Bayler, John Stride, Nicholas Selby, Stephen Chase, Paul Shelley, Keith Chegwin, Sydney Bromley, Richard Pearson.
Photography: Gilbert Taylor.
Music: The Third Ear Band.

MACBETH (1971). The DVD and video covers curiously promote not Macbeth, but Martin Shaw as Banquo.