Wellesnet: The Orson Welles Web Resource

Producer Michael Dawson brought a restored version of Orson Welles' "Othello" to movie-goers in 1992. He has been actively working with Woodstock Celebrates Inc. to organize a proper 100th birthday celebration honoring Welles' legacy in 2015. Dawson took time to discuss the 1992 restoration and future Welles projects with Wellesnet's Mike Teal.

By MIKE TEAL

Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the restoration of "Othello," which you produced in conjunction with Beatrice Welles and the Paola Mori Estate. What are your thoughts as you look back on that project?

I’m glad we did it. It catalyzed an interest in Welles, and turned up the Bunsen burner on studios looking at the other art fare in their archives, polishing that stuff up and getting a restoration industry going. I look at it as hopefully having been the basis for promoting the concept of restoration in general, but it was also a factor in restoring Orson Welles’ reputation, and correcting the misassumption that he went downhill after "Citizen Kane".

How did you get involved in the project?

I had been working on a documentary, called "Citizen Welles," for about two years, and I did many interviews for the film. One of them was with Beatrice herself, who later contacted me regarding "Othello" and said it was one of the few films that she inherited from her mother’s estate. She said that some company in Italy was going to try and release the film, and I said that what she should do to try and stop that is to get a hold of the original elements of the film. (more...)

Cult filmmaker Jess Franco, director of more than 180 films, died today in Málaga,Spain, at the age of 82.

Franco made his feature directing debut with "We Are 18 Years Old" in 1959. His final film, "Al Pereira Vs The Alligator Women," opened last month in Spain.

His other films include “Necronomicon,” (1967), “Count Dracula” (1969), “Vampyros Lesbos” (1970), “Dracula vs. Frankenstein” (1971), and “Oasis of the Zombies” (1983).

Franco was the second unit director on Orson Welles’ "Chimes at Midnight" and worked on an aborted "Treasure Island" film with Welles in 1964. He oversaw the poorly received assembly of Welles’ unfinished “Don Quixote" footage in 1992.

In an interview with HorrorGarage.com, Franco offered an unflattering summary of "Chimes." He said, "The production of 'Chimes at Midnight' was a total mess, not because the film was too expensive, but because Orson lied with the budget and the film was 10 times more expensive. You can imagine...what a disaster." (more...)

By RAY KELLY

Interviews with Orson Welles' longtime love and collaborator Oja Kodar are rare to come by, but the Hungarian website mozinet.hu recently spoke with the Croatian actress-writer.

Sadly, none of the six questions asked of Kodar delved into the status of "The Other Side of the Wind" or any of Welles' unfinished film projects.

Even with the best (more...)

By RAY KELLY

Welles scholars now have access to the exciting additions to the Special Collections Library at the University of Michigan.

The first collection, “The Orson Welles – Chris Welles Feder Collection,” is a gift from Welles’ eldest daughter, Chris Welles Feder. It includes photographs of the family and letters from Welles to his first wife, Virginia Nicolson Welles. Among the letters is a series written by Welles when he made the transition from New York to Hollywood in the summer of 1939, which documents his activities and thoughts during his introduction to movie making.

The second collection, “The Alessandro Tasca di Cutò – Orson Welles Collection,” is from the personal papers of Alessandro Tasca and was purchased at auction in London. (more...)

By LAWRENCE FRENCH

Orson Welles began his career as a stage actor at the Gate Theatre, in Dublin, Ireland on October 13, 1931.  At the time Herbert Hoover was the President of  The United States of  America.

Orson Welles ended his career as a stage actor at the Gaiety Theate, in Dublin, Ireland in March, 1960. At the time John Kennedy (an Irishman) was President of  The United States of America.
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Since I've always considered Orson Welles Falstaff (the movie) to be his greatest cinematic acheivement, I've often wondered why his ghost staging of Chimes at Midnight in Dublin in 1960 has been so ignored in most Welles biographies.  (more...)

Chimes at Midnight is Welles's masterpiece, the fullest, most completely realized expression of everything he had been working toward since Citizen Kane, which itself was more an end than a beginning.

--Joseph McBride, ORSON WELLES.

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Bonham's Auction house will be selling an archive of rare production material on November 22 in London that belonged to the executive producer of Chimes at Midnight, Alessandro Tasca, who was a cousin of Guiseppe Lampedusa, the author of the classic Sicilian novel The Leopard.

The presale estimate for the collection is between £40,000 and 60,000 (British pounds).  Ideally, it would be wonderful if an archive could obtain the material, such as The University of Michigan or the Lilly Library, where it could be available for Welles scholars, but (more...)

Wellesnet members Craig Weinstein and Leigh Gordon attended the Dax Foundation screening of Falstaff on July 30th and provided some interesting news about the event.

Leigh tells me that besides the original promotional material from Falstaff, the Dax Foundation also had the Academy Award Orson Welles won for Citizen Kane on display.

You can see pictures of the Citizen Kane Oscar at the Wellesnet Facebook page HERE.

The Dax Foundation acquired the Oscar directly from Beatrice Welles and apparently also brought the rights to Othello from Beatrice. Which means a new, double or even triple disc version of Othello may now be possible!

Peter Bogdanovich is urging the Dax foundation to consider releasing a DVD of both the original Welles 1955 United Artists version of the film, alongside the restored Castle Hill version, with it's supposedly "improved" soundtrack.

What could even further enhance such a DVD release, would be to include the complete version of Filming Othello, and possibly even the third European cut of Othello, which had titles spoken by Welles.

Below is Craig's report on the Falstaff screening, which was totally sold-out!

Falstaff at the Egyptian

By Craig Weinstein

Arriving at Graumann’s Egyptian Theater on July 30th, 2009 I was just in time to see a great cinematic gem—Orson Welles’ 1965 Falstaff (Chimes At Midnight). I had only seen the film on a Japanese laserdisc dub to VHS in the past and obviously the transfer couldn’t do justice to a film that deserves much better than bootleg viewer-ship in the USA on small television screens. Imagine how happy I was when I got a chance from Wellesnet to see the film projected on a large screen!

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On Thursday July 30 2009 The Dax Foundation is hosting a rare screening of Orson Welles masterpiece Chimes at Midnight at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

The Dax Foundation has provided Wellesnet with a limited number of tickets for this very special showing, which will be introduced by Dave Weisman, the executive director of the Dax Foundation. Mr. Weisman will discuss the historical context of the Shakespeare plays that Chimes at Midnight is based on. In addition, Peter Bogdanovich may also speak, if his schedule permits.

To win a pair of tickets, all you need to do is e-mail me (at:
lrfrench@yahoo.com) with the correct answer to one of the following questions:

1. What are the titles of the five plays by William Shakespeare that Welles based Chimes at Midnight on?

2. In 1939 Orson Welles staged a Mercury Theater production titled Five Kings that closed before reaching Broadway. Name two cities where Five Kings played before closing?

3. What role did Beatrice Welles play in Chimes at Midnight and what is her last line in the film?

4. What is the name of the Tavern in Eastcheap frequented by Falstaff and Prince Hal?

Tickets will be awarded in the order received and obviously you will have to be in the Los Angeles area on July 30 in order to attend.

Below is the original press release prepared for the American release of FALSTAFF

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While talking to Gary Graver a few years before he died, he mentioned a list of people that he called, "The enemies of film."

Well, I think it is quite fair to say that ADRIANA SALTZMAN will no doubt go down in cinematic history as not just the footnote she might have been, as the widow of Harry Saltzman, but also as the selfish and very wealthy woman who prevented the greatest film in Orson Welles career from ever being shown.

Yes, ADRIANA SALTZMAN is a true "enemy of film," as defined by Gary Graver. I think most of Wellesnet's readers would agree with me about this point, especially after reading the two articles below, about what has been holding up theatrical showings and a DVD release of FALSTAFF for the last 25 years. Thus the Harry Saltzman legacy becomes one that most film lovers will find truly heinous.

Mrs. Saltzman’s actions are especially despicable since, as the widow of Harry Saltzman, the co-producer of all the James Bond movies until the mid-70's, she cannot by any means be considered in desperate need of funds.

Indeed, she is quite a rich lady, which is why one has to wonder why this modern Lady Macbeth is demanding such an outrageous amount of money for the rights to FALSTAFF?

Does Adriana Saltzman really think FALSTAFF is going to be some sort of huge box-office success if it is ever re-issued in theaters or on DVD?

Is she really hoping to get back the reported $750,000. that Harry Saltzman paid for the rights to FALSTAFF?

Well, I've got some important news for Mrs. Saltzman: FALSTAFF isn’t going to make anywhere near $750,000. if that is what you hope to get for it. What's more, I don't believe any sane person could believe that Harry Saltzman paid $750,000. for the rights to FALSTAFF in 1966. Perhaps I am wrong in doubting this figure, but if so where is the documentation to prove such a wild claim?

Of course, even if Harry Saltzman did pay such a extravagant sum, it clearly would have only been as a "patron" of Orson Welles art, because he surely couldn't believe he would see any huge profits from a Shakespearian film by Orson Welles, especially along the lines of what his other 1967 release, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE would eventually gross.

Here is what Adriana Saltzman 'supposedly' wrote when she granted special permission for FALSTAFF to be shown at the Locarno tribute to Orson Welles:

"I hope that this exceptional screening will mark the beginning of the unknotting of all the ties imprisoning this great gift from Orson Welles to our cinematic heritage."

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Back in March of 1967, when Falstaff was first released in New York, it was a time of great social upheaval in America. Protests against the war in Viet Nam were about to reach critical mass. LSD made the cover of Life Magazine. Hippies and flower children were preparing for the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco. The new freedom of the screen was just around the corner. So seeing Jack Falstaff as a "swinger," as Welles so aptly called him on the Dean Martin TV show in 1968 was quite correct.

Unfortunately, the staid old reviewer from The New York Times, Mr. Bosley Crowther was so out of touch with the films of the era, he would shortly find himself out of a job!

Presumably, articles like this one by Andrew Sarris, defending Falstaff against Mr. Crowther's bad critical judgment, had considerable influence in getting Crowther fired from The Times in 1968. Of course, what speaks volumes, is that today, I doubt if many film-goers under the age of 40 even know who Bosley Crowther was. Andrew Sarris, on the other hand is still around and writing reviews for The New York Observer!

Below is Andrew Sarris' Village Voice article defending Welles's film, Falstaff, followed by Bosley Crowther's original review of the film in The New York Times.

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Orson Welles's FALSTAFF: Humpty-Dumpty from Wisconsin

By Andrew Sarris -- The Village Voice, March, 30, 1967

Orson Welles's Falstaff deserves the support of every serious moviegoer. Bosley Crowther has panned the film in no uncertain terms, but Mr. Crowther panned Citizen Kane in its time. I don't wish to single out Mr. Crowther as a critic, only as an awesome power on the New York film scene. He is certainly not alone in panning Falstaff. Happily Falstaff has found powerful defenders in Joseph Morgenstern of Newsweek, Judith Crist of the World-Journal Tribune, and Archer Winsten of the N.Y. Post. Even so, Mr. Crowther is entitled to his opinion, and he is scarcely the least enlightened of American film critics. Henry Hart of Films in Review has earned that dubious distinction with ease. The problem with Crowther is power. Not only can he still make or break most "art" films in New York; he can dictate to distributors what films they may or may not import. Lately he has been credited even with determining what will or will not be produced.

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Working with Orson Welles, he re-invented you for the purpose of his picture. From then on you became "God" and what you gave him was whatever he needed. This made you a real musician.

—Angelo Francesco Lavagnino in Roseabella

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The Italian composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino first worked with Welles right at the start of his career, on Othello in 1951 and found it to be a wonderful experience, although he says he was paid either nothing or very little.

Lavagnino's next score for Welles came about in 1965, while Welles was editing Chimes of Midnight. Juan Cobos, Welles assistant throughout the production of Chimes related his memories about Lavagnino's work on the film when I talked to him in Spain a few years ago:

JUAN COBOS: One day while working on the editing of Chimes at Midnight, Welles asked me: “Who did the music for my Othello?” I told him “Francesco Lavagnino,” so he called Lavagnino in Italy and invited him to write the music for Chimes at Midnight.

As you know, we had money troubles while finishing Chimes at Midnight, but in Italy the record companies would pay for everything to do with the recording of the music, the orchestration and everything else, because they kept all the rights. So when the Spanish producer of Chimes was running out of money, it was fortunate Welles used Francesco Lavagnino again, as it meant the producer wouldn’t have to pay for the expense of recording the score with a complete orchestra.

We already had a temporary soundtrack that was mostly made of German records I had brought when we were in Paris. Orson told me to get all the medieval music I could find and sent me to the Champs Élysées to buy any suitable records. I brought all these German recordings of medieval music that were used for the temp track. Then afterwards, Lavagnino took the medieval music and reworked it into his own score for the movie. But right up until the last moment, Welles was working in the editing room with a transcription of the German recordings and then with the music Lavagnino composed for the film.

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This explains why a soundtrack album for Falstaff was issued by CAM in Italy when the film first came out there. CAM also licensed a LP for release on the Fontana Records label in the UK, under the title of Chimes at Midnight. Presumably, CAM also attempted to get an American record company interested in putting out a soundtrack LP, but obviously, there was very little interest.

Luckily, CAM reissued the soundtrack on CD in 1993 and it is now available as a digital download at Amazon, for only $6.99 HERE.

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In these excerpts from Sir John Gielgud's wonderful book, A Life in Letters, which covers his entire career from 1930 to 1999, we get to see how his view of Orson Welles changed, starting from when he first saw Citizen Kane in 1941, to his being somewhat put off by Welles's antics at their first meeting, until he finally fell completely under Welles's spell when he worked with him as a director on Chimes at Midnight.

The letters also show that Gielgud always hoped to work with Welles again, and was especially keen on having Welles direct him as Prospero in a film version of The Tempest.

Strangely enough, after winning an Oscar for Arthur in 1982, Gielgud was chosen to replace Welles as the spokesman for Paul Masson wines on American TV, which Gielgud admits was sometimes a humiliating experience, but obviously one that paid both him and Welles a great deal of money.

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London, October 25, 1941

To Alec Guinness:

…London is full of people and plays and films in comparative abundance, rather a joy after being away for so many weeks. …Citizen Kane is quite unimaginably good, and an amazing feat all round on the part of Welles and his really brilliant cast. You must not fail to see it.

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New York, January 1, 1951

To His Mother:

I saw Orson Welles’ film of Macbeth. Not uninteresting and some fine effects of battle and Birnam Wood, but slow and dragged out despite huge cuts and transpositions and the acting unmoving and conventional. Splendid costumes but the fine language is defeated by the limitations of the screen!

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London, November 11, 1951

To Stark Young:

Orson Welles has had a certain amount of success with his Othello (the stage version at London’s St. James Theater) – I have not been able to see it myself. I gather he promises better than he can perform and the thunder grumbles but never breaks, and he is ill disciplined, they say, in the theatre and something of a terror to his company and management. Still the enfant terrible of Hollywood. He amused me when I met him, but he was rather stupidly touchy and lacked humility, must have the floor all the time or he fears he is not noticed. A pity, for he is obviously extremely intelligent and full of (rather disorderly) talent in many directions.

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