Directed by and starring Orson Welles, Republic Pictures' 1948 adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth might make a few changes here and there to the source material but for the most part, it sticks to the text. The story follows a Scottish general named Macbeth (played by Welles himself) who is told by three witches (Peggy Webber, Lurene Tuttle and Brainerd Duffield) that one day he will be crowned the King of Scotland. Ever the ambitious sort, he's quite taken with this and after talking about the prophecy to his wife, Lady Macbeth (Jeanette Nolan), he decides to take actions into his own hands and murder King Duncan (Erskine Sanford).

With Duncan out of the way, Macbeth usurps the throne but is soon overwhelmed with guilt to the point where he becomes paranoid, distrustful of everyone around him. As his paranoia continues to increase, he kills again and again to eliminate any and all he sees as a threat. It isn't long before those around him realize he's going quite mad and eventually there is a revolt.

First things first, this isn't just Macbeth, this is Orson Welles' Macbeth. The man's stamp is all over it and those who don't appreciate his sense of grandeur and his sometimes bombastic style may not take to this particular version. Hardly a humble man, Welles puts himself front and center in all of this. Of course, as Macbeth himself that makes sense but some of the supporting characters are given the shorter end of the stick for it. Having said that, Welles really is excellent in the part. His take on the character is a melancholy one, playing the character as very morose at times, but there's no denying that the man's inimitable screen presence brings a lot to this production. While the story may have been tweaked a bit, characters changed around here and there and dialogue occasionally shifted bout (all issues that purists can rightly take issue with should they so choose), the man is unforgettable in this film.

The supporting players are also great. Jeanette Nolan shines as Lady Macbeth, playing her character really well and infusing all sorts of emotion into the part. A young Roddy McDowell plays Duncan's son Malcolm with a glint in his eye. It's interesting to see him here at only twenty years of age, already quite an experienced actor. Alan Napier shows up as a priest while Dan O'Herlihy and Erskine Sanford are great as Macduff and Duncan respectively.

The cinematography by John L. Russell and the score from Jacques Ibert add a lot to the production. Macbeth's world is one awash in shadow and fog, a gloomy and harsh landscape full of craggy rocks and eerie, darkened castles. It is magnificently shot and even if it is almost always obviously done on a soundstage and not shot on location, there's great depth to the image thanks to some fantastic camerawork.

Note that this release is a two disc set. The first disc contains the 1948 version of the movie where the dialogue is spoken with Scottish accents and the second disc contains the 1950 version of the movie. The 1950 version still features some Scottish accents but also features stretches that were dubbed for this version without accents. It also runs about nineteen minutes shorter, with a few speeches removed and some considerably shortened. The 1950 version also features a prologue spoken by Welles before any of the play itself actually begins in the film. The 1948 version is definitely the superior cut of the film but it's great to see both versions included on this release as the 1950 version is certainly an interesting variant.

Video:

Each version of Macbeth is presented on a 50GB Blu-ray in AVC encoded 1080p high definition in its original aspect ratio of 1.33.1 fullframe. Thanks to a really high bit rate, the black and white picture is free of any compression artifacts and the absence of any obvious noise reduction or edge enhancement has resulted in a very film-like image. Contrast looks excellent and black levels are nice and deep. There's very little print damage outside of some specks here and there and the occasional scratch, nothing too serious or in the least bit distracting. There is excellent detail and texture throughout. The video quality on this release is impressive.