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Showing posts with the label Orson Welles

Religious Beliefs

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Welles once said, “I have a great love and respect for religion, great love and respect for atheism. What I hate is agnosticism, people who do not choose.” Religion was not paramount in the life of Welles, and there isn’t a large body of commentary or other artifacts concerning his spiritual life. The website adherents.com, listing the reported religious beliefs of celebrities, calls Welles a Protestant Christian. He had a wide range of interests, including airplanes and other scientific advances, South American culture, anti-Nazism and contemporary U.S. politics, so it may have been only in the spirit of being a polymath that he was once interested in starring as Jesus in a film--the project never materialized. He did narrate a film about Christ’s life King of Kings.

Politics

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Welles was a self-identified “progressive” who was hounded for being a leftist and sometimes probed or followed by various Red Scare-oriented committees of the U.S. government. He first threw his hat into the arena of politics and current events in October of 1943, speaking at the Third Free World Dinner at NYC’s Hotel Pennsylvania. Others taking the rostrum were a British Minister, a U.S. Colonel and a Chinese ambassador. He also gave two speeches in November on behalf of the American Free World Association, which was committed to the destruction of fascism. As a companion to these appearances at conferences, Welles began publishing essays in the left-wing journal Free World, edited by Louis Dolivet, a French emigre who’d risen among the ranks of American and exile wartime politics. Welles espoused the Free Worlders’ value of internationalism, which was positioned opposite the isolationism prevalent in America as the second Great War rumbled on. This stance garnered s

Frozen Peas Tape

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Welles’ later career was comprised, not so much of his directing films, but working as an actor, often as a voice actor. A famous component of this new career-within-a-career was his acting as a spokesperson for Masson wines. However, he also appeared in a couple of advertisements for a British purveyor of frozen foods, and the attempt to tape one of these created a much-ballyhooed incident, one that has become an Internet sensation. Welles may have been having a bad day, may have been frustrated with the role of the pitchman, or may have just been displaying a capacity for throwing tantrums that manifest itself various times in his career. Whatever the case, it wasn’t a good day to be the commercial’s director. Welles was reading the commercial’s copy: “We know a remote farm in Lincolnshire where Mrs. Buckley lives. Every July peas grow there,” when the director interrupted with “I’d start half a second later.” Rather than addressing that direction per se, Welles begins a fen

Death and Funeral

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On Oct. 10, 1985, Welles appeared on The Merv Griffin Show in what would be his last public appearance before his death. It is made all the more poignant by the personal, wistful turn the discussion takes. Dressed in a Navy blue jacket with a sky blue shirt and an ascot, Welles says that not long ago he’d begun thinking he was 70 when really only 69, meaning that he’d given himself an extra year. He told Griffin that he experienced “certain parts of every day that are joyous,” continuing, “I’m not essentially a happy person, but I have all kinds of joy.” On the difference between the two, he said, “joy is a great big electrical experience, but happiness is...a warthog can be happy.” He died in the early morning, slumped over his typewriter, of a heart attack. He’d been, as in life, working on a script for one of his crammed schedule of projects. It was a script for a TV show tentatively titled “Orson Welles Solo.” Welles was cremated and a stark funeral was hastily arran

Filmography

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Director Full-length feature films Citizen Kane. 1941 The Magnificent Ambersons. 1942 Journey Into Fear. 1943 The Stranger. 1946 The Lady From Shanghai. 1947 MacBeth. 1948 Black Magic. 1949 Othello. 1952 Mr. Arkadin. 1955 Touch of Evil. 1958 The Trial. 1962 Chimes At Midnight. 1965 The Deep. 1970 Documentaries F For Fake. 1970 Filming Othello. 1978 Filming The Trial. 1981 television documentaries Around The World With Orson Welles (7 episode series). 1955 Orson Welles and People. 1956 Portrait of Gina. 1958 Nella Terra di Don Chisciotte. 1964 Short features The Hearts of Age. 1934 Too Much Johnson. 1938 The Miracle of St. Anne. 1950 The Fountain of Youth (TV). 1958 Treasure Island. 1965 Vienna. 1968 The Golden Honeymoon. 1970 London. 1971 The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh. 1984 Orson Welles’ Magic Show. (TV) 1985 Moby Dick. 2000 Actor Full-length feature films Swiss Family Robinson (voice). 1940 Citizen Kane. 1941 The Magnificent Ambersons. 1942 Journey Into Fear. 1943 Jayne Eyre

Orson Welles Quotes

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In addition to receiving the gift of a golden-toned speaking voice, Welles was very articulate in a way that is largely a trait of a bygone era. He also possesses razor wit and unforgiving bluntness. Here are many of his most memorable aphorisms: Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch. A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet. The enemy of art is the absence of limitations. I do not suppose I shall be remembered for anything. But I don’t think about my work in those terms. It is just as vulgar to work for the sake of posterity as to work for the sake of money. A good artist should be isolated. If he isn’t isolated, something is wrong. I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts. They teach anything in universities today. You can major in mud pies. On The War of The Worlds : “We couldn’t soap all your windows and steal all your garden gates by tomorrow night, so

Orson Welles Best Films

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Citizen Kane By the accounts of nearly all the experts Kane is one of the very best movies ever made. It was ahead of its time stylistically, bold in structure, and compelling in its narrative. Citizen Kane was not only Orson Welles’ best film, but his first. With it, he went from being a big--though still relatively new--figure in the New York drama scene, as well as a radio star, to being hailed as a film director of prodigious talent and boundless potential. For Citizen Kane, Welles cast many of his Mercury Theatre veterans. Joseph Cotten played Jedediah Leland; Dorothy Comingore played Susan Alexander Kane; Agnes Moorehead was Mary Kane, Ruth Warrick, Emily Monroe Norton Kane, Everett Sloane, Mr. Bernstein. Welles starred as the man himself, Charles Foster Kane. The story centers around a gaggle of reporters chasing the meaning of the last word, “Rosebud,” of Charles Foster Kane, an iconic and enigmatic newspaper publisher. Their journey takes the viewer through

Orson Welles Film Noir

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Film noir is usually thought of as a style marked by a thematic focus on gritty crime, with crooked detectives and colorful criminals, and black and white compositions with harsh shadows and streetlights falling across the characters at sharp angles. Welles’ film noir moments came in a few of his projects, particularly those early and midway through his career. One familiar with Citizen Kane can see that the classic does embody some of the stylistic traits noted above, and because of this, it can be said to have influenced the genre. Lady From Shanghai would mark Welles’ directorial foray into elements of noir. One noir trait it embodies is the fall guy and femme fatale paradigm, with Michael O’Hara (Welles) as the former and Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) as the latter. The film also has an air of hopelessness, of the main characters stepping into webs from which they won’t be able to escape, that is a trait of the noir. However, what links Welles most to film noir here

Don Quixote

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One of Welles’ notable unfinished projects was an adaptation of Don Quixote. This ambitious project was begun in Mexico City in 1957. Welles was able to get an investment of $25,000 from his friend Frank Sinatra. He began shooting on the streets of Mexico City, using improvisation as much as written dialogue, aiming for a feel of an old silent picture. The project, as was the case with so much of what Welles worked on, would bottom out financially and be placed on a back burner while he worked on others. What set it apart from others that flamed out quickly was that Welles would go back to Don Quixote over and over, repeatedly dusting it off. Maurizio Lucidi was a photographer and editor on the project. During a hiatus from it, he was working on, Welles tried to woo him to Paris to work on Don Quixote. He sent him a telegram reading “Won’t you come and have some fun.” In need of a follow-up, he sent one reading “I need you,” with the third cutting to the chase: “send any ki

The Merchant of Venice

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Welles began working on a film adaptation of this Shakespeare play in 1969. It began as being destined for the television special, Orson’s Bag. The special never aired due to CBS pulling its funding. Welles cast himself in the role of Shylock, with Charles Gray as Antonio, and Irina Maleeva as Jessica. The shooting began in Rome and continued in the Dalmatian Coast. Reportedly, some reels of the film were stolen in Rome during the editing; it is unclear why the project was never finished.

The Other Side of the Wind

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Because Welles had a large capacity for biting off more than he could chew, unfinished projects were regular occurrences. Of course, his film career began with two false starts before Citizen Kane , so he may have found unfinished projects to be a good-luck charm. One that grew to gargantuan proportions was The Other Side of the Wind. Kane conceived of the film in 1963 as a tool to bring him back to prominence as a filmmaker. The audacious storyline centered around a film director named Jake Hannaford who’d been in Europe for years and returns to Hollywood to make a cynical film full of sex and violence. The film would contain a big party scene at a mansion, attended by members of the media. Various stars who appeared in footage of the unreleased film were John Huston (playing Hannaford), Marlene Dietrich, Norman Foster, Edmond O’Brien and Dennis Hopper. Author Joseph McBride gives a pithy and humorous summary of problems the sprawling project had. He was given a role in

Other Unfinished Projects

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Heart of Darkness A major component of Welles’ career was unfinished projects, most of them films. He was a polymath, interested in a huge array of classic works to adapt as well as to material for documentaries. He would pile his plate high but never clean it, except by finally, grudgingly tossing the remains of particular items into the trash when it was clear they just couldn’t be chewed and swallowed. Ironically, his Hollywood career began with an unfinished project. Welles was interested in adapting the Joseph Conrad novel because of its commentary on the abuses of power. In 1939 he went to Hollywood and inked a three-movie deal with RKO, with Darkness as the first scheduled production. One snag that manifested itself immediately was that Welles was still highly-committed to work on the radio. Campbell Playhouse was now full-steam ahead on the heels of the “The War of the Worlds” spectacle. This caused delays on the film’s production, since Welles was working on

Awards and Honors

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Academy Awards Won Best Original Screenplay, Citizen Kane. 1941. (shared with Herman Mankiewicz) Academy Honorary Award--”Superlative and distinguished service in the making of motion pictures.” 1970 Nominated Outstanding Motion Picture, Citizen Kane. 1941 Best Director, Citizen Kane. 1941 Best Actor, Citizen Kane. 1941 Outstanding Motion Picture, The Magnificent Ambersons. 1942 Grammy Awards Won Best Spoken Word Recording, Great American Documents (shared with James Earl Jones, Helen Hayes , and Henry Fonda ) 1976 Best Spoken Word Recording, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Citizen Kane. 1978 Best Spoken Word Recording. Donovan’s Brain. 1981 Other Film Awards Won Palme d’Or 1952 Cannes Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award 1970 Venice Film Festival American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, 1975 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Career Achievement Award, 1978 Nominated Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival, The Stranger. 1947

Popular Culture

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Welles had high-brow tastes, but because he was legendary for Citizen Kane and because he had such a strong and colorful personality, he became the object of a few tributes and pop culture references near the end of his life and thereafter Mork and Mindy In this sitcom starring Robin Williams as a humanoid alien, Mork from Ork, which aired from 1978-’82, Mork would end each episode by giving a report to his Orkian boss, Orson. Orson, as was the case with his namesake for some of his career, appeared only in voice over. The frequent jokes as to his large stature serve as the clues that he was, indeed, meant as a reference to the Citizen Kane director. SCTV John Candy of SCTV had a recurring Welles impression, sometimes lampooning the commercials that dotted Welles’ late career, and sometimes just caricaturing Orson’s imperious nature. Anno Dracula In this series of horror novels by British author Kim Newman, Orson Welles is a recurring character. Pinky and the Brain Ma

References

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Beacham, Frank. Orson Welles and His Brief, Passionate Love with the Betacam. Frank Beacham’s Journal. http://www.beachamjournal.com/journal/orson-welles-and-his-brief-passionate-love-affair -with-betacam.html The Black Museum. Radiohorrorhosts.com. http://www.radiohorrorhosts.com/blackmuseum.html Citizen Kane. Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/ Command Performance. Old Time Radio Catalog. http://www.otrcat.com/command-performance-p-2132.html Command Performance (Radio). Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_Performance_(radio) Higham, Charles. Orson Welles: The Rise and Fall of An American Genius. New York: St. Martin’s. 1985. Kelly, Ray. “Something Cloudy, Something Clear: a book on Orson Welles’ ‘The Other Side of the Wind’ due out in 2013” Wellesnet.comLeaming, Barbara. Orson Welles. New York: Viking. 1983. McBride, Joseph. Orson Welles. London: Secker and Warburg. 1972. Naremore, James. The Magic Wo

Orson Welles 1984

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While Orson Welles never acted in or produced any version of George Orwell’s Novel 1984 , he is associated with the work because of the similarity in named. Some people think Orville Wright invented really good popcorn, or that Bill Cosby sang “White Christmas.” This is the same phenomenon. However, there’s no reason not to know what Welles was doing in 1984. It was the year in which he voiced the lead chipmunk in a film called Enchanted Journey . He also played a supportive role (Klingsor) in Where is Parsifal ? a film that holds the distinction of bringing together Tony Curtis and Erik Estrada. For Orson Welles, 1984 was not the highlight of his career, but I’d guess that for Welles, Orwell’s 1984 was a great read.

Orson Welles Julius Caesar

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Shakespeare was always a favorite of Welles’. When he was a student at the Todd School in Woodstock, IL, he conceived and produced a Shakespeare festival, directing such plays as Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, and Julius Caesar. He would later make a film version of Macbeth. So it is no surprise that when, along with John Houseman, he founded the Mercury Theatre company, their first production was Julius Caesar. Orson Welles’ Broadway production of Julius Caesar, debuting Nov. 11, 1937, was staged in modern dress and was intended as a polemic against the fascist forces growing dangerously in Europe. Upon the birth of the Mercury Theatre company, Welles and (to what degree is unknown) Houseman drafted and presented a Declaration of Principles, published on the front page of the New York Times drama section. On the company’s political intentions, it declared that aesthetics came first and that it would never choose a play on the basis of political content. Since Welles had