Wellesnet: The Orson Welles Web Resource

By RAY KELLY

The book "My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles," which Wellesnet reported on back in October, will also be released as an unabridged audio book on July 9.

Presumably the audio book will utilize the recordings made by Jaglom during Welles' final years. While the hardcover book will carry a $27 list price, Macmillan/ Metropolitan Books has listed the audio book at $39.99. It will be issued on compact disc. A running time has not been announced.

Peter Biskind (”Easy Riders, Raging Bulls”) is editing the book using transcripts of conversations taped by Jaglom.

Jaglom has stated he recorded their frequent lunchtime chats at Ma Maison with Welles’ knowledge. However, some Welles associates have maintained he was unaware he was being taped until shortly before his death. (more...)

By LAWRENCE FRENCH

Orson Welles had completed most of the principal photography on The Other Side of the Wind by 1976, and shortly afterwards the film became embroiled in legal entanglements with it's Iranian backers. As a result, Welles found himself once again forced to abandon a cherished project, in this case the movie that he hoped would be his testament, as well as his triumphant comeback film, especially after the renewed interest in Welles work that was generated by the AFI Lifetime achievement award, held in March, 1975.

In this 1977 letter to the film’s primary backer, Medhi Bouscheri of Les Films de l’Astrophore, Welles explains why he had finally decided to abandon work on the film: (more...)

By LAWRENCE FRENCH

Having seen a nearly complete rough cut of The Other Side of the Wind, I can easily see why it has baffled so many people. But having studied the script in some depth, and having seen many of the clips in isolation many times, (including the material recently posted by Henry Jaglom on YouTube), I find the film becomes more exciting and fascinating  every time I view footage from it. I was especially taken with John Huston's performance in the Jaglom clips, and this footage clearly shows him to his best advantage, since it features him more prominently than any of the other scenes that have been shown publicly (and after all JAKE is the main character in the movie).

I think part of the problem for a great many people is that the material is in a very "rough cut" state, with wildly varying picture and sound quality. This, of course can be easily corrected, if access to the original negative is ever granted. The other problem is Welles' own very fragmented cutting style, where single lines are often played out over multiple very quick cuts, making it sometimes difficult to know who is speaking, or indeed what is even happening, as many scenes are played in semi-darkness after the lights have failed. (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...)

There is one town that would be better than Aranjuez to see your first bullfight in if you are only going to see one and that is Ronda. That is where you should go if you ever go to Spain on a honeymoon or if you ever bolt with anyone. The entire town and as far as you can see in any direction is romantic background... If a honeymoon or an elopement is not a success in Ronda, it would be as well to start for Paris and commence making your own friends.
— Ernest Hemingway, "Death in the Afternoon" (1932)

A man is not from where he is born, but where he chooses to die.
— Orson Welles
_____

By LAWRENCE FRENCH

Listening to Orson Welles talking about Spain and bullfighting in the Maysles brothers short film, Orson Welles in Madrid, 1966, and in the 1974 Michael Parkinson interview, (both on (more...)

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...)

In response to a reader question, Playbill.com recently offered a condensed history of The Mercury Theatre on Broadway.

Worth checking out for those unfamiliar with young Orson Welles' pre-Hollywood career, the article chronicles his partnership with John Houseman from their days with the Federal Theatre Project, as well as the fate of the Manhattan building that once housed the Mercury. (It was renamed Artef, a Yiddish theater, in 1940 and demolished two years later). (more...)

By RAY KELLY

The stage of the Woodstock Opera House will be dedicated in honor of Orson Welles next month.

The ceremony will take place on February 10 at 2 p.m., according to Woodstock Celebrates, Inc., which is planning events to honor Welles in 2014 and 2015. The nonprofit group spearheaded the dedication effort.

The Woodstock, Illinois, City Council voted unanimously on November 6, 2012 to place a plaque on the 124-year old opera house stage. It will read: “Orson Welles first mined the vein of his golden talent in Woodstock as a student at Todd School for Boys. In 1934, at 19, he made his American debut as a professional theater director upon this stage, now named in his honor.”

During the November meeting, (more...)

"War of the Worlds: The True Story," filmmaker Timothy Hines' ambitious faux documentary about a Martian invasion, has drawn opposing views from two prominent West Coast critics.

The film opened in select theaters on October 30, but has only recently gained notices from the Hollywood press as the Pendragon Pictures release now plays in Los Angeles theaters.

The Hollywood Reporter noted this was Hines second attempt at dramatizing H.G. Wells' sci-fi classic. (more...)

The East Village's latest bar is the kind of watering hole where would-be Holly Martins can order up a Harry Lime while zither music plays in their head.

Located at 116 Avenue C near 7th Street in the Big Apple, The Third Man takes its name from the classic 1949 Carol Reed thriller starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten.

The Third Man boasts cocktails and appetizers from Austrian-native chefs Eduard Frauneder and (more...)

By RAY KELLY

It was a little more than a year ago we learned of Josh Karp’s planned book about The Other Side of the Wind.

Due in late 2013 for St. Martin’s Press, An Adventure Shared By Desperate Men (That Finally Came to Nothing) will chronicle the making and status of Orson Welles’ unfinished film, which stars John Huston as aging movie director Jake Hannaford and Peter Bogdanovich as Brooks Otterlake, a young successful director. (more...)

By RAY KELLY

Newstalk 106-108 FM, Ireland’s independent national radio station, will feature an hour-long look at the life and career of Orson Welles on Sunday, December 9.

Included on the award-winning “Talking History” broadcast will be Welles’ oldest daughter, Chris Welles Feder.

“Talking History,” hosted by Trinity College Dublin's Patrick Geogheagan, airs at 7 p.m. UTC. Programs are available on online at newstalk.ie/talkinghistory (more...)