Wellesnet: The Orson Welles Web Resource

By LAWRENCE FRENCH

Orson Welles appearance on The David Frost Show recorded on May 12, 1970 came before most of the numerous biographies about Welles had been published, providing us with Welles' own point of view on some very interesting aspects of his life and work.

This interview also took place in the midst of the cultural revolution of the late sixties, when Welles was still at work on his planned TV show, Orson's Bag, and in a few months would begin shooting on The Other Side of the Wind. Both projects related rather heavily on various aspects of the counter-culture and youth movement that was so much a part of (more...)

Dann Cahn, who worked as an assistant editor on Orson Welles' 1948 film "Macbeth" and an editorial supervisor eight years later on "Fountain of Youth," died Wednesday at his California home.

Cahn, 89, was the last surviving member of the original creative team behind "I Love Lucy," according to the Los Angeles Times.

He began his Hollywood career as a child actor, appearing in the 1938 movie "Newsboys' Home" with Jackie Cooper. (more...)

The Archive of American Television in partnership with E1 Entertainment has just released Orson Welles 1953 Television debut as King Lear in a deluxe DVD package. It is highly recommended, since although this historic TV show is still mastered from a kinescope copy, it looks far better than the blurry VHS copies that have long been in circulation.

The DVD also comes with over 90-minutes of bonus features, including:

* A 5-minute preview of King Lear, including rehearsal footage of the blinding of Glouster's eyes, along with interviews with director Peter Brook and composer Virgil Thompson. Peter Brook also shows us a series of drawings, (presumably rendered by production designer Henry May), which are much more detailed and elaborate then what eventually ended up in the production itself. See a excerpt on YouTube HERE.

* A discussion on staging Shakespeare by Walter Kerr, including scenes from Hamlet.

* A 43-minute report from the Yale University Shakespeare Festival in 1954 by Omnibus host Alastair Cooke.

* Dr. Frank Baxter on the Globe Theater, with Mr. Baxter explaining William Shakespeare’s famed theatre (10 minutes).

* A nicely designed 16-page booklet with rare photos taken during the performance, and a comprehensive background essay by Simon Callow, along with a short introduction from director Peter Brook, who relates his memories of working with Orson Welles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is a review of King Lear that appeared in The New York Herald-Tribune:

ORSON WELLES AS KING LEAR ON TV IS IMPRESSIVE

By John Crosby
October 22, 1953 – The New York Herald Tribune

Orson Welles, a great ham of an actor, undertook the role of King Lear, a great ham of a part, on Omnibus last Sunday and was, I thought, enormously impressive. This was the great Orson’s television debut and it was a fortunate inspiration to cast him as Lear. No other part is big enough for Welles who suffers from gigantism of manner and mind.

Welles, whose five year sojourn abroad has added quite a lot of poundage to his face and the rest of him, was every inch a king, a phrase that came from Lear, and his voice, a redoubtable organ, was superb in declaiming some of the most sweeping poetry in all of Shakespeare.

(more...)

The recent BBC Four showing of the first episode from Orson Welles Sketchbook dovetails nicely into something Christian McKay and I recently discussed during dinner when Mr. McKay was in San Francisco to promote Me and Orson Welles.

Namely, how Welles work in television, which has probably remained the least celebrated aspect of his work, is also in many regards, quite as sensational as his work in film, theatre and radio.

What is amazing to me, is that it took my talk with Mr. McKay, along with a article by Ben Walters on Welles television work at Columbia University's website, to make me realize just how much Welles did for the artistry of television.

Ah, but therein lies the rub...

Because for me, at least just the mention of the words "artistry" and "television" makes me blanch. Yet there is no doubt Welles brought his artistic gifts to television, as can be attested by his TV shows such as Fountain of Youth, In The Land of Don Quixote, Orson's Bag, The Immortal Story, and even his many guest appearances on television shows like Dean Martin, Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett.

Christian McKay and I discussed Orson Welles and his work for television in this excerpt from our long talk, below, which is followed by a complete transcript of the first episode of Orson Welles Sketchbook.

I found this missing episode from the Sketchbook series especially entertaining, as it sets the tone and ideas that will be presented in the following five shows, and even if the events Welles talks about are not totally believable, they are certainly quite entertaining. I for one would love to hear Welles expound about the night "The police had to be called out to protect him from the wrath of an Irish audience. But that’s another story. Maybe I’ll tell that some other time..."

What I also found to be especially interesting, is that both Mr. Welles and Mr. McKay talk about the innocence they experienced when working as actors for the first time (albeit in different mediums.)

In Welles case, on the stage in Dublin in 1931, and Mr. McKay, his first major role in a movie shot at the Gaiety Theater, on the Isle of Man, just off the east coast of Ireland, over 75 years later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LAWRENCE FRENCH: If you should get a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Me and Orson Welles, I’m sure you’d want to promote a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Orson Welles work in the theatre.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: But I’ve already seen two of them for Welles.

LAWRENCE FRENCH: Yes, but you can get three. Welles doesn’t have a star for theatre yet, and you can get one for television as well. Bob Hope actually has four stars, but I don’t think Welles will ever get a star for his work in American television.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: You don’t think so?

LAWRENCE FRENCH: No, not in this country, anyway.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: What about The Fountain of Youth?

LAWRENCE FRENCH: Oh, that’s right!

CHRISTIAN McKAY: That was astonishing!

LAWRENCE FRENCH: You’re absolutely right, and if you consider all the TV shows he did in Europe, he should have four stars. Wouldn’t that be terrific! Bob Hope and Orson Welles would each have four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! It's just that I don’t know if they would actually consider Welles for his television work in America.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: What about Around the World with Orson Welles, and Orson Welles Sketchbook?

LAWRENCE FRENCH: They are great, but I’m not sure if they would consider that work, because they were made in England. Here they remember Welles for his appearances on the Dean Martin Roasts and Johnny Carson.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: But what about all the skits he did? Putting on his make-up for Falstaff on The Dean Martin Show. That is absolutely brilliant.

LAWRENCE FRENCH: You're right! He also did a staggering version of Shylock on The Dean Martin Show. It was the best scene of Shylock I’ve ever seen. Stefan Drossler used it in his compilation of scenes from the various versions Welles made for The Merchant of Venice, and the version Welles did on Dean Martin is far and away the best reading of “Hath not a Jew eyes” he ever did.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: Orson was absolutely brilliant on those shows! And that was all television work.

LAWRENCE FRENCH: And one of the greatest speeches ever given on an awards show was Welles acceptance speech after he received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1975. That was a television show broadcast on his old station, CBS.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: Where he talks about “My own particular contrariety.” That’s the title of my book, you know.

LAWRENCE FRENCH: Yes, it's where Welles quotes Samuel Johnson.

CHRISTIAN McKAY: I love that speech and I wrote a book called My Own Particular Contrariety, which is about me playing Orson. I had a publisher in London who wanted to do it, but I suddenly got cold feet. I thought, “No, this is ridiculous this is one the first good roles I’ve ever had, so it’s silly." I wanted to share the experience, but it was brutally honest about other people, as well as myself. My own failings, and it talks at great length about preparing for the role and playing Welles, but I thought it was too early.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Orson Welles' Sketchbook

Episode One - April 24, 1955

On: Stage props, an earthquake in Hollywood and debuting at the Gate Theatre in Dublin

ORSON WELLES: I hope you haven’t gathered from the title of this that you are in for a televised art exhibit. The sketchbook part of it is frankly, just a prop. A prop is a stage term, it’s an abbreviation of the expression, stage property. Anything that you may see up on stage besides an actor and the scenery is likely to be a prop. For example Yorick’s skull is a prop, Romeo’s vial of poison and the telephone in Dial M For Murder, they’re all props. There are also props in real life -- when we are self-conscious we put our hands to our neckties and light a cigarette -- all that sort of thing. In other words a prop is just what it means in the dictionary. It is something to prop us with. It’s a crutch, something to lean on. So the sketchbook is exactly that, it’s a prop, something for me to turn to when I lose the thread of what I’m talking about and it’s something for you to look at besides my face which ought to come as a nice break in the horrid monotony.

I remember the first night I was ever in Hollywood, I would have been very grateful indeed for a prop like the sketchbook, because I did lose the thread. I was speaking after dinner. I had been introduced as a great after dinner speaker, I don’t know quite why, because I’m not, but I had been and this was a great Hollywood dinner with every star I’d ever seen in my life. I was tremendously impressed and there they all were with a lot of other grand people besides: Maharajahs and all kinds of titled folk. I had been called upon and of course, being very frightened and very eager to please I started a funny story which I heard that day. I had gone on for a while when it dawned on me that I had forgotten how it ended. I continued with the story and I hoped that somehow I would find an ending. Somehow find a way to invent one. The people were all looking at me very eagerly, waiting for the finish, because they knew that although the story was very boring, it must be boring for a purpose. Obviously it was boring because the end was going to be so tremendously amusing that they all looked up at me eagerly and I continued and continued and I thought “how in heavens name can I get of this thing? I could pretend to faint or drop dead, or rush out and yell “fire,” or continue to invent comical finishes that elicited no titters whatsoever -- quietly and secretly praying to myself to heaven -- and then my prayer was granted. Ever since then I’ve been a great believer in the efficacy of prayer because just as I’d given up hope, just as I was wondering how I could get out of the situation, the walls started to shake, the chandelier fell down from the ceiling onto the table, people jumped under the table – this was California, remember – it was an earthquake! So I was saved and my Hollywood career was saved by an earthquake. I can’t pretend my drawings are any sort of an earthquake, but they’ll have to stand in for that sort of distraction.

(more...)

England's BBC Four has launched it's celebration of Orson Welles this holiday season by showing episodes from the 1955 BBC program Orson Welles Sketchbook.

Although only viewers in the UK will be able to see the 15-minute episodes, here is a link to Wellesnet's written transcripts of the shows, as recorded by Jeff Wilson, as well as audio versions of the shows hosted by The Museum of Orson Welles. Antony in Dublin tells me that the first Sketchbook shown on December 18 was indeed the rare episode that is missing from our transcription and audio files. Terry's report from the message board states, "Welles talks about props, a fortuitous and apocryphal Californian earthquake, his audition at the Gate Theatre and subsequent premiere (with sketches of the characters he played,) the malevolent pranks of Opening Night gremlins, and the revelation that he began his professional career by falling on his head."

Another highlight of the BBC Four series will no doubt be the debut of a new documentary Orson Welles Over Europe hosted and written by Welles biographer Simon Callow. The hour long show will concentrate on Welles career in Europe after he left Hollywood in 1948 and went to Italy to make Black Magic for producer Edward Small. This was famously followed by the frenetic off-and-on again shooting of Othello which went on across many countries in Europe and Africa for several years, before the film was finally completed and shown at the the 1952 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Grand Prize.

Orson Welles Over Europe is directed by Hans Petch and produced by Alan Campbell, assisted by Lesley Smith-Glasgow. It will debut on the BBC Four in the UK on December 27 at 9:30 pm.

Leslie Megahey's wonderful Arena documentary The Orson Welles Story will also be shown in two installments on BBC Four, but it appears this will be the 165 minute version, rather than the more complete 210 minute version.

John Hodson quotes Leslie Magahey talking about interviewing Welles in Las Vegas at The Film Journal, and has a complete rundown the the BBC schedule of Welles films.

Ambrose Heron at Film Detail also provides a round up of the five Welles films that will be shown, including video and trailers from Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Journey Into Fear and The Third Man.

R. Michael Stringer, a longtime friend of Orson Welles and Gary Graver has posted a wonderful video of Orson Welles to celebrate July 4th on his FaceBook page. You can view it HERE.

Here's a letter Orson Welles wrote to his good friend Joseph Cotten asking him to consider appearing in his forthcoming production of The Immortal Story, that Welles was scheduled to start shooing in September of 1966. Cotten, was at the time, apparently staying near Welles's house outside of Madrid while filming his role in Sergio Corbucci's western, The Hellbenders.

It appears that Welles wanted Cotten to play Mr. Clay's head clerk, Elishama Levinsky, a part that eventually went to actor Roger Coggio. As Welles notes, he would have enjoyed working with Cotten again, and casting Cotten as Mr. Clay's clerk would have given the film more star power, as well as better balancing the film between its four principal actors.

Sadly, after reading this letter, one also realizes just how frustrated Welles was in simply trying to cast his movies, since even when he actually had the backing to make a film, he still had to essentially ask his friends to work for nothing and then hope whoever he wanted to use might actually agree.

Presumably, after Welles gave Joseph Cotten a copy of the script, Cotten didn't especially take a liking to the screenplay or to his part - so in this letter Welles tries to convince "Jo" that while the film is obviously not "commercial" the role is still worth doing. Of course, Cotten did not do the role, and instead he went back to America to be directed by another old friend (Norman Foster), in Brighty of Grand Canyon - a sort of variation on the story of a boy and his burrow that was perhaps inspired by Foster's and Welles's My Friend Bonita episode of It's All True.

__________________________

10th August, 1966

Dearest Jo,

That remark of yours about a "radio show" has brought me down with a mild case of alarm and despondency. I know there's a staggering amount of talk in that script I sent you, but I did think there was enough story to keep it moving (admittedly at it’s own rather curious and crab-like gait). Not a film for the drive-ins, certainly — but, I'd fondly hoped, worth making all the same. If you should be tempted to comfort me by agreeing to this, you should realize that you'd be trapping yourself into ten day's hard work for almost no money. So, I’m writing this by way of fair warning.

(more...)

Introduction

_________________________________

Although In the Land of Don Quixote is essentially a travelogue about Spain, it’s done by a film artist, and as such, it is possibly one of the most poetic documentaries I’ve yet to see on any country. Seeing it today, years later, it still seems quite unique. Unfortunately, like most of Welles work, it’s no real surprise that it has never been widely seen. It was first broadcast on RAI, the Italian TV station in 1964, and afterwards seems to have disappeared almost entirely. As far as I can tell it was never shown in America until 1986, when it appeared as part of the AFI’s National video festival, which offered a comprehensive survey on most of the work Orson Welles had made for television.

However, back in 1964, RAI supposedly felt that using Welles own voice as the narrator would be too "American" so they added a new narration, written by the Italian playwright Gian Paolo Callegari with the assistance of Antonio Navarro Linares. It was spoken by the actor Arnoldo Foa, who had appeared in The Trial. Naturally, Welles had wanted to either use his own narration, or else have none at all! Based on seeing the first episode, I think having no narration at all works quite beautifully.

Recently RAI restored the series closer to Welles original intentions, by re-working the soundtrack so that the offending voice-over track was eliminated and the music and effects tracks are now much closer to the plan indicated by Welles. Hopefully, some enterprising DVD company will attempt to buy the rights to this series for an eventually DVD release in America. It would certainly be a welcome addition to the Welles oeuvre!

Meanwhile, to fill in the gaps on this seldom seen Welles documentary, I asked Juan Cobos, the assistant director to Orson Welles on Chimes at Midnight, to provide Wellesnet with some details. Juan wrote back in great detail, both before and after he viewed his own sub-standard video copy of In The Land of Don Quixote, that he had recorded from Italian TV (with the offending narration intact.)

Below is Juan's report. Also, there is a link to Juan Cobo's article THE SAD STORIES OF A NOBLEMAN FROM WISCONSIN. The article follows the efforts of Orson Welles to make his film version of DON QUIXOTE from 1956 in Mexico until the last days of his life in Hollywood. Juan tells me he gathered all the facts about DON QUIXOTE from the very best sources, including letters Welles wrote to his leading players Akim Tamiroff and Francisco Reiguera. Unfortunately, the article is entirely in Spanish  -  So if anyone out there is fluent in Spanish and would like to help translate the article, please get in touch with me at: (lrfrench@yahoo.com ), as Juan would like to add a few corrections and additions to the piece, if someone can help us translate the piece for posting at Wellesnet in English! The article also has many rare pictures from Welles's Don Quixote:

www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/67925171981246129343457/p0000001.htm

_________________________________

IN THE LAND OF DON QUIXOTE

By JUAN COBOS

_________________________________

In the Land of Don Quixote is nearer in approach to Welles first trip to Spain as a young man in the early thirties, than to the present day Spain, but some of the things in the series are very nice. It was produced by RAI (Italian State TV) but was never shown in Spain. Welles always liked to visit many places in Spain, which I discovered after he sent me looking for locations he could use for Chimes at Midnight. However, Andalucia (in the south of Spain) was undoubtedly his favorite destination. In the beginning, Welles thought of In the Land of Don Quixote as a visit to Spain by an American family, which explains the presence of (his wife) Paola and (daughter) Beatrice in many of the shots. It also shows Orson’s proud regard for little Beatrice, who was only six years old.

The first time I asked Welles about the series, he said to me, “Juan, it’s just a travelogue.” I agree and I cannot imagine that he ever approved the final cut that was shown on RAI-TV in 1964. I think he only partially cut the series, and he certainly didn’t want the spoken narration that was used.

It seems the main reason he made In the Land of Don Quixote was to get help and travel expenses for financing the making of his film version of Don Quixote. In fact, there was a whole episode with Akim Tamiroff that Welles filmed twice for Don Quixote, first in Mexico in 1957 and then again in Spain, in the early sixties at the festivities of San Fermin in Pamplona (that Hemingway made famous with his novel The Sun Also Rises).

I included some explanations about it in my book, Orson Welles: España Como Obsession, published in 1992 by the Filmoteca de España. Unhappily, I only have a rather poor video copy of In the Land of Don Quixote, taped from Italian TV. It has never been for sale in Spain in any format, including DVD.

(more...)

Thanks to Karl for posting the YouTube link to Orson Welles Fountain of Youth Television show at the messageboard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKYw6aImTmA

To compliment a viewing of the show, here is a chapter from Rick Jason's autobiography, in which he tells some interesting stories about the making of the show.

___________________________________

ORSON WELLES AND FEET OF CLAY

A chapter from

Scrapbooks of My Mind: A Hollywood Autobiography

By Rick Jason

___________________________________

You can read Rick Jason's entire delightful autobiography online here: http://www.scrapbooksofmymind.com/

___________________________________

...Someone at the agency telephoned and said that Orson Welles wanted to see me about a pilot film for an anthology series he was going to make for Desilu.

Orson Welles wanted to see me?

I raced down to what had been the old RKO studios on Gower. This Desilu was one of three studio lots that had been acquired by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball from the profits of I Love Lucy.

I entered Orson Welles’ presence. One didn’t walk into his office, one entered his presence.

He was just an inch shy of my six-feet-four and his weight was in the neighborhood of 340 or so pounds. He had his suits made with straight up and down lines to the jacket, sort of boxy, but they didn’t really hide his girth. He was all charm. Smiling me to a chair, shaking my hand like we were long lost brothers, telling me how much he’d enjoyed my work. I had finally met my hero.

Warning! If you have a hero in your life whom you idolize from afar and you have an opportunity to meet him: WARNING! They may just have feet of clay. In this case, it was a dichotomy. I would have given anything to work with him, and afterwards I would have given anything to never work with him again.

The Fountain of Youth was from a short story that Welles adapted for his first (and last) venture into television. He produced, directed, edited, and did the on-screen and off-screen narration. He also dubbed some of the actors’ lines and had a hand in the music.

(more...)