Tynan v. Palmer
Sir: Tony Palmer's reply (Letters, 21 November) to my reply to his piece on the Polanski Macbeth invites a little demolition. As follows: I. The suggestion that I paralz leled the murder of Polanski's wife with aspects of Macbeth is loathsome and untrue.' (Palmer's letter.) `If one considers Polanski's background—brought up in Nazi occupied Poland, mother disap- peared in concentration camp, youth in Stalin dominated Poland, the gruesome murder of his wife [my italics]—the paranoiac mad- ness of Macbeth must be particu-
larly in tune with his sensibilities. (Palmer's original article.) 2. Palmer said that a press party was given to introduce the actress playing Lady Macbeth. I pointed out that this was not so. Palmer now asserts that he was right to begin with. I do not know what to say about this piece of journalistic self-intoxication except that it con- verts what might have been a cas- ual mistake into a deliberate lie.
3. Palmer said (and I denied) that the soliloquies had been cut to a minimum in the script. Now he claims that he got this tip from the film's press representative and the associate producer. This is (a) untrue and (b) wildly implausible —since why would either of these gentlemen spread information that was not only demonstrably false but damaging to the film?
I trust this correspondence will now close, with a satisfying thunk, on Mr Palmer's fingers.
Kenneth Tynan 20 Thurloe Square, London sw7
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