I only just caught this link about Hugh Hefner’s Macbeth out of the corner of my eye when I finished the about.com Romeo and Juliet quiz. “Oh good lord,” I thought, visions of Caligula running through my head.
Turns out they’re referring to Roman Polanski’s 1971 “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, produced by Hefner. Haven’t seen it, or for that matter ever even heard of it, but it appears from the reviews that it was pretty good. And not just for Lady Macbeth’s nude sleepwalking, although you have to wonder if Hefner was at the production meetings saying “Darnit can I get at least some nudity in this thing?” No word on whether Francesca Annis, who played Lady Macbeth, was Hef’s girlfriend at the time. 🙂
This is an excellent version, full of sound, fury, visual action, and Francesca Annis sans gown – much better than the BBC’s attempt, imo. It’s available at Netflix if you subscribe.