Thanks to the year-long efforts of UCLA archivist Bob Gitt, Orson Welles' Macbeth, a film cut by the studio by 21 minutes, re-recorded to “Americanize” the dialogue, and then rarely shown and only in 16mm, has been restored to its original length with footage found with great difficulty, and its original Scottish-accented soundtrack (contrary to long-standing rumor, far from unintelligible), in a brilliant 35mm print.

In addition to the restored footage, which contains additional scenes and slightly different cuts of the same sequences found in the 16mm print, are eight minutes of musical overture and three-and-one-half minutes of exit music by the film's composer, Jacques Ibert, all included in this definitive version which made its “debut” in April at UCLA, introduced by long-time Welles collaborator Richard Wilson.

Wilson considers Macbeth “the greatest experimental American film ever made under the Hollywood studio system.” One great stylistic eye-opener included in the lost-found footage is a take that occupies an entire camera reel of film; this in a film made shortly before Hitchcock's no-cut (and little seen) Rope, and probably a first in Hollywood. It drove the studio “absolutely mad,” recalls Wilson. The 10-minute scene required numerous re-takes simply because the film ran out before the actors had gotten through all the dialogue.

UCLA now has a safety fine-grain print and a dupe negative, as well as a projection print. The American Film Institute has tentative plans to exhibit the film in Washington this summer. The Pacific Film Archive is pleased to present this classic to Bay Area audiences at long last.

Our thanks to Dennis Jakob who informed the Archive of UCLA's restoration work on Macbeth in time for us to include it in this month's program.

Our thanks to Dennis Jakob who informed the Archive of UCLA's restoration work on Macbeth in time for us to include it in this month's program.