Orson Welles

[criterionmaster]

1. Moby Dick (1999)
2. It's All True (1993)
3. Don Quijote de Orson Welles (1992)
... aka Don Quixote (USA)
4. Orson Welles' Magic Show (1985) (TV)
5. The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh (1984)
6. Filming 'The Trial' (1981)
7. "The Orson Welles Show" (1979) TV Series (as G.O. Spelvin)
8. Filming 'Othello' (1978)
... aka Erinnerungen an 'Othello' (West Germany)
9. Vérités et mensonges (1974)
... aka ?: About Fakes (USA)
... aka F for Fake (USA: promotional title)
... aka F wie Fälschung (West Germany)
10. The Other Side of the Wind (1972)
11. London (1971)
12. The Deep (1970)
13. The Golden Honeymoon (1970)
14. The Southern Star (1969) (opening scenes; uncredited)
... aka Étoile du sud, L' (France)
15. The Merchant of Venice (1969) (TV)
16. The Immortal Story (1968)
... aka Une histoire immortelle (France)
17. Vienna (1968)
18. Campanadas a medianoche (1965)
... aka Falstaff (France) (Switzerland: German title)
... aka Campanades a mitjanit (Spain: Catalan title)
... aka Chimes at Midnight (UK)
19. "In the Land of Don Quixote" (1964) TV Series
... aka Nella terra di Don Chisciotte (Italy)
20. Procès, Le (1962)
... aka Processo, Il (Italy)
... aka Prozess, Der (West Germany)
... aka The Trial (USA)
21. No Exit (1962) (uncredited)
... aka No Exit: A puerta cerrada (Argentina)
... aka Sinners Go to Hell (USA)
22. David e Golia (1960) (his own scenes; uncredited)
... aka David and Goliath (USA)
23. The Fountain of Youth (1958) (TV)
24. Touch of Evil (1958)
25. Portrait of Gina (1958) (TV)
... aka Viva Italia (UK)
26. Orson Welles and People (1956) (TV)
27. "Around the World with Orson Welles" (1955) TV Series
28. "The Orson Welles Sketchbook" (1955) TV Series
29. Mr. Arkadin (1955)
... aka Confidential Report (UK)
... aka Dossier secret (France)
... aka Mister Arkadin (Spain)
... aka Monsieur Arkadin - Dossier secret (France)
30. Moby Dick Rehearsed (1955) (TV)
31. The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (1952)
... aka Othello (France) (USA)
32. Black Magic (1949) (uncredited)
... aka Cagliostro (Italy)
... aka Spadaccini della serenissima, Gli (Italy: alternative title)
33. Macbeth (1948)
34. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
35. The Stranger (1946)
36. Journey Into Fear (1943) (uncredited)
37. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
38. Citizen Kane (1941)
39. Too Much Johnson (1938)
40. The Hearts of Age (1934)

[criterionmaster]

Orson Welles' unfinished film from 1972, starring Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Hopper and John Huston.

Producer Frank Marshall talks about finally completing Welles last film for release sometime in the next year or two.

Podcast here: archive-c01.libsyn.com/podcasts/f9146c5d29e2c658aea1c58c6bc3395a/455195dd/fbi945movies/mma__Frank_MarshallPOD.mp3

[kiddo]

Oh, Orson Welles is always nice to discuss!

I've only seen these, though (ranked from best to worst):

Touch of Evil - In my top 5! Easily the greatest film noir I've seen, and some of the most beautiful cinematography I have laid my eyes upon (yes, it beats Black Narcissus)



Citizen Kane - Undoubtly a masterpiece. A nice story dealing with so much, told in a unique way.



The Stranger - Underrated film. You should check it out immidiately if you like noir/crime thrillers from the 40- and 50s. Great cinematography, as always in a film by Welles.



Mr. Arkadin - The story didn't really engage me, so this is my least favorite of him. Technically good, but lacking much in terms of content.

[criterionmaster]

Sadly I have only seen Citizen Kane and half of F for Fake. Citizen Kane is actually working its way off my list, not that it isn't good, it is still a masterpiece. I just feel it is a little overrated. Like you said, awesome storytelling and filmmaking, and obviously performances, but it didn't blow my mind like I wanted it to. It just sort of was "great" but not a the masterpiece. Probably a 9/10.

F for Fake was had a fantastic start, I really want to finish it. I recorded it on DVD off TCM a while ago, I will have to dig it out so I can contribute more thoughts on it.

[kiddo]

Agree on Kane.

You simply must see Touch of Evil. I promise you. Check it out as fast as you can, you will not be dissapointed.

[Clark Nova]

agreed. I gotta say that Kane is his best film (and probably the greatest american film ever made), and F for Fake was very, very interesting in the way Weflles put it all together, but Touch of Evil is just something else entirely. I‘d say that Touch of Evil and Blade Runner are the two films I've seen that are so totally transcendant with their use of atmosphere and setting...of course the performances are great, but it's just so atmospheric that it's an absolute classic.

[criterionmaster]

Touch of Evil will be watched soon by me. I am very excited about it now!

[dontdigonswine]

Touch of Evil is indeed fantastic. Enjoy

[kiddo]

Anyone recommending The Lady from Shanghai? I know, it's Welles, but I don't know if I should order it very soon or not. Is it kind of a masterpiece, or is it just 'good'? Please tell me something about it, without adding spoilers...

[mixed]

I only got about half an hour into touch of evil. I really need to finish it, found the thick texan type accents hard to understand though

[kiddo]

Heston gets to little credit for his role in Touch of Evil. It's just brilliant; I love his acting.

And yes, finish Touch of Evil.

[jumpingjackflash]

I found The Lady From Shanghai to be one of Welles weakest films, it was OK but it's very overproduced, the music intrudes on the film and this is acknowledged by Welles himself via Bogdanovich's commentary.

I do adore Welles though, his output was sporadic, uneven but always interesting. Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, The Trial and F for Fake are all five star movies in my book.

The myth behind the guy makes him such an intriguing figure, his career was as unconventional as they come. I've still to see The Magnificent Ambersons and Chimes at Midnight which are two of is most highly-regarded films.

Also, isn't it time the world saw The Other Side of the Wind? This film looks like it could be amazing based on the short clips and what everyone says about it. True story, I was visiting a school in California and got talking to some Film teacher who had worked for Disney. He said that he had actually seen the film in full and worked on part of editing. He claimed it to be as ground-breaking as Kane. Whether this is true or not is another thing but he seemed believable and I would dearly like it to be so.

Welles never became outdated. If anything he remained ahead of the times. Look at F for Fake for proof.

[kiddo]

Thanks for the reply concerning The Lady from Shanghai. I guess I'm going to wait a little bit with my order then. There's enough films that needs to be seen/ordered.

What do you think about The Stranger, btw?

[jumpingjackflash]

Haven't seen it to be honest. The only Welles I've seen are Citizen Kane, The Lady From Shanghai, Othello, Touch of Evil, The Trial and F for Fake. Though I hear its pretty average. I'd still like to see it though, apart from Shanghai (which he didn't have full creative control over) and Othello (low budget, still good though) all the others are five star films. This is how I'd rate them:

1. Citizen Kane
2. F for Fake
3. The Trial
4. Touch of Evil
5. Othello
6. The Lady From Shanghai

[criterionmaster]

criterionmaster said:

Orson Welles' unfinished film from 1972, starring Peter Bogdanovich, Dennis Hopper and John Huston.

Producer Frank Marshall talks about finally completing Welles last film for release sometime in the next year or two.

Podcast here: archive-c01.libsyn.com/podcasts/f9146c5d29e2c658aea1c58c6bc3395a/455195dd/fbi945movies/mma__Frank_MarshallPOD.mp3

Source: Masters of Cinema

On Friday 30 March, at the Florida Film Festival, Peter Bogdanovich announced that the final paperwork regarding the completion (that is, completion-hypothesis) of Orson Welles' late film The Other Side of the Wind has been signed, with US premium-cable network Showtime presumably taking part in the financing. A Wellesnet source was told by Bogdanovich that the first step in the process, naturally enough, will be taking inventory of all of the footage shot — but never fully assembled — by Welles from the late '60s, on through the '70s.

Godspeed to all involved in this endeavor which, taking into account an editing schema that anyone acquainted with Welles' work must understand remains, to a certain extent, truly inimitable, will ideally provide the world with a close approximation of the great film Welles had intended.

End of Article.

Thoughts?

[captainofbeef]

It sounds awesome. Bogdanovich with a Welles script? It sounds like perfection. Now lets see if it is executed that way.