Before Citizen Kane and The War of the Worlds, leading Broadway actress Rose McClendon and producer John Houseman convince a gifted but untested 20-year-old Orson Welles to direct Shakespeare's Macbeth with an all-Black cast in Harlem. Reimagined in a Haitian setting, this revolutionary 1936 production, which came to be known as "Voodoo Macbeth," would change the world forever. But the road to opening night proves to be a difficult one. Welles and McClendon--who's playing Lady Macbeth--clash over everything from scene blocking to crew hires, while Houseman contends with Congressman Martin Dies Jr., co-founder of the House Un-American Activities Committee who's hell-bent on shutting down what he deems "communist propaganda." Welles and McClendon must overcome political pressure, personal demons, and protests to realize their groundbreaking vision. Based on true events.
Rating: Not Rated.|||adult
Lightyear Entertainment presents ; in association with Warner Bros ; a USC Original ; produced by John Watson, Jason Phillips, Miles Alva, Xiaoyuan Xiao ; directors, Dagmawi Abebe [and 9 others].
Originally released as a motion picture in 2021.
Special features: Audio commentary; Actual 1936 footage from National Archives of the play that toured the country to interracial audiences.
Inger Tudor, Jewell Wilson Bridges, Ashli Haynes, June Schreiner, Daniel Kuhlman, Jeremy Tardy.
Director of photography, Bashir Achkar ; editor, Takashi Uchida ; music, Jongnic Bontemps.
DVD; region 0, NTSC; wide screen; 5.1 surround.
Close captioned.
