Joe MacBeth is a 1955 British–American crime drama, directed by Ken Hughes[1] and starring Paul Douglas, Ruth Roman and Bonar Colleano.
[6] A similar adaptation, Men of Respect, was released in 1990, starring John Turturro, Rod Steiger and Dennis Farina.
As they celebrate their marriage that night at Duke's nightclub, fortune teller Rosie declares that Joe's destiny is to become the kingpin of the mob.
Almost immediately after Rosie leaves, however, Duke arrives and rewards Joe with a promotion to Tommy's old position and his prized lakeside mansion.
After Big Dutch's men turn the tables and make inroads on Duke's territory, Joe pays the rival boss a personal visit at a restaurant and secretly poisons a dish.
Once in the water, Joe stabs his boss in the back and holds him under until he is dead, but he is shaken by the act and fails to remove the knife, forcing Lily to dive in and recover the murder weapon.
The loyal Banky beats Lennie for the insubordination, but urges Joe to set his son up with a small business so that his family can leave the criminal life.
Meanwhile, Joe sends the hitmen to kidnap Lennie's wife, Ruth, and their daughter to rein the upstart in, but they botch the job.
Joe orders the hitmen to guard the mansion while he tends to Lily, but the mercenaries decide to make a run for it and are gunned down by Lennie.
Panicked and paranoid, Joe closes himself in a dark room with a machine gun and starts shooting wildly at the slightest movements.
[14] In June 1948, James Nasser announced he had acquired rights to Joe MacBeth for filming under his deal with United Artists.
It was to be directed by Lloyd Bacon and star Lew Ayres and Audrey Totter with filming to start in August.
[18][19] Frankovich ended up making the movie under a deal he had with Columbia and in April 1955, Paul Douglas, not Ireland, agreed to star.
[20] Douglas arranged this as the first of a two-picture deal with Columbia, the second to be The Gamma People (his wife, Jan Sterling, signed to make 1984 in England at the same time).