Voodoo Macbeth

It's 1936 Harlem. John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) and veteran black actress Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor) are trying to start an all-black Shakespearian production with the New Deal money. They decide to recruit a nobody actor by the name Orson Welles (Jewell Wilson Bridges) to be the director. At first, Orson refuses but his wife Virginia (June Schreiner) sees the potential. It's a series of superstitious bad luck, personal dramas, local resistance, sabotage by a racist Congressman, and Orson's drunken bombastic demanding style.

This is a relatively small production of a very interesting theatrical history. It needs a bigger name to play the lead. I don't know why there are so many directors and writers in this movie. I am assuming that it was some sort of collaborative theater collective. That does leave it with a theater vibe more than a cinematic presence. It needs music. There is a singer, but this needs to be jazzed up. It brings in the African drums, but it needs to play it up. I like this concept and it's generally fine. I just wish the movie was better.

If you do, you're probably asking yourself the same question I am--why go to the trouble of making a movie about Welles if you don't have an actor who can play Welles? As at least one other person has mentioned, even in his 20s Welles had an amazingly rich and distinctive voice. This guy has neither.

It's as if you made a film about Morgan Freeman--and you cast Kevin Hart in the lead. Which is a pity, as this is such a great story. (And no offense to Kevin Hart.)

Full disclosure: when I was in college, I had this great idea (I thought) of doing a voodoo Macbeth. I even called it that in my head. Imagine my disappointment to discover I was about fifty years too late. So, Welles' production has been on my mind for a while. Would have loved to see this in the hands of a more experienced team.

While "Voodoo Macbeth" takes some liberties with historical facts, the film is a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable ride from start to finish.

The cast, led by Jewell Wilson Bridges and Inger Tudor, provide dynamic, often humorous, and heartfelt performances that pull you in.

The quality of the film is even more extraordinary when one considers that it had ten different directors. This success, no doubt, can be attributed to the steady and experienced hand of USC's John Watson.

Overall, "Voodoo Macbeth" shines amongst other independent films in the same category. It's definitely worth a watch.