Your favorite Welles performance in a film he didn't direct

[Jay]

I feel like I know a lot about Welles as a director but not as an actor in films he didn't also direct, especially since he took so many parts to fund his directorial efforts. This is why I'm asking this question, which comes with a caveat--what is your favorite Welles performance in a film he did not direct? Here's the caveat--which performance, other than Harry Lime, is your favorite? I only say this because I think it's commonly accepted that The Third Man is the best film in which he appeared, and the best part he played, outside of his own directorial efforts, so I'm wondering what other performances you've enjoyed. For instance, I've heard very good things about his work in Tomorrow is Forever, but I have yet to see it.

[mteal]

Jeff Wilson did a nice writeup on Welles's acting career in the Wellesnet Legacy section, but apparently those were among the pages he wasn't able to restore. Here's ten that I like:

Lord Mountdrago in THREE CASES OF MURDER
Cagliostro in BLACK MAGIC
Jonathon Wilk in COMPULSION
Rochester in JANE EYRE
Colonel Haki in JOURNEY INTO FEAR
Jonathon Lute in I'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT'S HIS NAME
Will Varner in THE LONG HOT SUMMER
Captain Cecil Hart in FERRY TO HONG KONG
Col Cascarro in TEPEPA
Cardinal Wolsey in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

[Roger Ryan]

I would agree with most of ones "mteal" listed. Probably Welles as Cardinal Wolsey in MAN FOR ALL SEASONS is my favorite apart from THE THIRD MAN. I like him in MOBY DICK as well, although it's not a large role.

I didn't find Welles to be particularly good in TOMORROW IS FOREVER, but given how contrived the storyline is* and how awful Welles' make-up is**, there is a lot working against the film.

*Welles plays a solider believed to have been killed in action during WWI who returns home twenty years later. Even though he is living in the house of his former wife, the wife doesn't recognize the soldier is the man she used to be married to.

**The above conceit is explained by the soldier's face being disfigured during wartime...the disfigurement consists of black charcoal rings around his eyes!

[mteal]

Ah yes, I forgot about Father Mapple, probably the best of all his cameo appearances. Another thing I found implausible about TIF is that Welles' character would return home with a thick German accent, even if it was 20 years or so.

[brenbar]

There's a few others not mentioned yet that I'm partial to. Man in the shadow and Prince of Foxes are both decent if not classic movies and both feature fine performances from Orson as Virgil Renchler and Cesare Borgia respectively. I've also a very soft spot for Trent's Last Case and thoroughly enjoyed both the movie and Orson's performance as Sigsbee Manderson (though NOT the dreadful make-up !!) Particularly noteworthy is in the in-joke in the car scene approximately 68 minutes in where Orson as Manderson talks about Shakespeare and then quotes from Othello. He goes on to ask his fellow passenger if he's familiar with Othello. When the reply is negative Orson goes on to explain that he saw the play "last year in the St. James Theatre but didn't like the lead actor very much" !!! Of course he was the lead actor in the production which played in the St. James Theatre commencing on 18th Oct. 1951 and running for 6 weeks. Wonderful !! Of the ones already mentioned, Compulsion, Jane Eyre and A man for all seasons are excellent. I've yet to see Tomorrow is forever. One I'm very curious about is Crack in the mirror. It's from 1960 and was directed by Richard Fleischer. Has anyone seen this ? It looks pretty interesting.

[mteal]

I'm curious about CRACk IN THE MIRROR as well. Strange that it's never been released on video at all, not even VHS.

[Jay]

Crack in the Mirror does sound interesting. If Fox would catch up with the times and start up a MOD program like almost every other major studio, maybe we'd see an eventual release--a pressed DVD seems too much to ask for a film like this one.