History Trivia / Macbeth

* The 8th among the royal descendants of Banquo who appear in the witchcraft induced vision in Act 4 is supposed to be King James I of England, who was believed to be 8 generations removed from the real life Banquo. Somewhat ironically, the current British royal house is actually descended from the Thanes of Glamis, the old fief belonging to Macbeth himself in the play, since the Queen Mum, the mother of Queen Elizabeth II, is of a Scottish noble family who has been the real Thanes of Glamis since 14th century and spent her childhood there.

* ActingForTwo: Each of the witches was played by an actor who played someone else in the film; Brainerd Duffield played the First Murderer, Peggy Weber played Lady Macduff and Lurene Tuttle played the Gentlewoman.

* TropeNamers: Directly, EyeOfNewt, LadyMacbeth, NoManOfWomanBorn. Indirectly, TheScottishTrope and ATaleToldByAnIdiot.

* TropeNamers: Directly, EyeOfNewt, LadyMacbeth, NoManOfWomanBorn, OutDamnedSpot. Indirectly, TheScottishTrope and ATaleToldByAnIdiot.

* DoingItForTheArt: Marion Cotillard - a native French speaker - worked hard to learn Shakespearean English for her role.

* The 8th among the royal descendants of Banquo who appear in the witchcraft induced vision in Act 4 is supposed to be King James I of England, who was believed to be 8 generations removed from the real life Banquo. Somewhat ironically, the current British royal house is actually descended from the Thanes of Glamis, the old fief belonging to Macbeth himself in the play, since the Queen Mum, the mother of the current Queen Elizabeth II, is of a Scottish noble family who has been the real Thanes of Glamis since 14th century and spent her childhood there.

** Although Lady Macbeth's nationality is never officially stated in the play, she's assumed to be Scottish (Historically she was.). She's played by French actress Marion Cotillard NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent - because she's an Oscar winning actress who is otherwise perfect for the part. The change does have a historical justification; Scotland has had many French queen consorts, making it plausible that Lady Macbeth could be French.

* QuoteSource:
** BitchInSheepsClothing

* TropeNamers: Directly, EyeOfNewt, LadyMacbeth, NoManOfWomanBorn, OutDamnedSpot. Indirectly, TheScottishTrope.

* TropeNamers: Directly, EyeOfNewt, LadyMacbeth, NoManOfWomanBorn, OutDamnedSpot. Indirectly, TheScottishTrope.

* BigNameFan: ''Macbeth'' was favorite play of an American lawyer and theatre-lover named UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, famous for his unique service during the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar.

* TropeNamers: EyeOfNewt, LadyMacbeth, NoManOfWomanBorn, OutDamnedSpot.

* AllStarCast:

*** 1964, conducted by Thomas Schippers: Italian baritone Giuseppe Taddei as Macbeth, Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson as Lady Macbeth, Italian tenor Bruno Prevedi as Macduff, and Italian bass Giovanni Foiani as Banco.
*** 1970, conducted by Lamberto Gardelli: German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Macbeth, Greek soprano Elena Souliotis as Lady Macbeth, Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Macduff, and Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov as Banco.
*** 1976, conducted by Riccardo Muti: American baritone Sherrill Milnes as Macbeth, Italian mezzo-soprano Fiorenza Cossotto as Lady Macbeth, Spanish tenor José Carreras as Macduff, and Italian bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi as Banco.

* DuelingWorks: Creator/LaurenceOlivier released an adaptation of ''{{Theatre/Hamlet}}'' the same year, and Creator/OrsonWelles withdrew this film from Cannes to avoid competing with it. Laurence Olivier had planned to make a ''Macbeth'' film initially, but dropped it when it became clear that this one would come out first.

** English David Thewlis as Duncan, Paddy Considine as Banquo, and Sean Harris as Macduff.