1971-85
Note: Welles narrated or provided vocal work for numerous films during the latter part of his career, and I have left the majority of those out of this listing, preferring to focus on his onscreen roles.
Treasure Island (1971) Director: John Hough; Starring: Kim Burfield, Lionel Stander, Walter Slezak. 94 minutes. Co-written by Welles under the pen name O.W. Jeeves, Welles played Long John Silver in this adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic. Available on video.
Malpertuis (1971): Director: Harry Kumel; Starring: Susan Hampshire, Michel Bouquet, Mathieu Carriere. 125 minutes. Welles plays a dying man who forces his family to stay in his house if they wish to inherit his fortune. Strange events ensue.
Ten Days Wonder (aka La Decade Prodigieuse) (1972): Director: Claude Chabrol; Starring: Anthony Perkins, Michel Piccoli, Marlene Jobert. 101 minutes. A subversion of the typical mystery story, playing part off of the Oedipus myth. Available on video.
Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972): Director: Brian DePalma; Starring: Tom Smothers, John Astin, Katherine Ross, Susanne Zenor. 91 minutes. An early film from the prolific director so adept at "homaging" Hitchcock. Smothers plays a young man wishing to become a magician, and Welles plays the magician teaching Smothers.
Necromancy (1972): Director: Bert I. Gordon; Starring: Pamela Franklin, Michael Ontkean. 83 minutes. Schlockmeister Bert I. Gordon made plenty of awful, cheapo films in his career, and this is just another of them, although with more ambition than usual. Available on video if you really want to track it down.
The Fifth Offensive (1973) Director: Stipe Delic; Starring: Richard Burton. 117 minutes. Starring Burton as Marshal Tito, this is a look at the Yugoslav army during World War II, fighting the battle of Sutjeska.
Voyage of the Damned (1977): Director: Stuart Rosenberg; Starring: Faye Dunaway, Max von Sydow, Oskar Werner, Malcom McDowell, Katherine Ross, Ben Gazzara, James Mason, Lee Grant, and many more. 155 minutes, also listed at 137. A major big budget box office failure telling the story of nearly 1000 German Jews who set sail for Cuba, believing they are escaping the Nazis. The whole thing is a set-up, however, and they are sent back to die after being refused landing in Cuba. Available on video and DVD.
It Happened One Christmas (1977) Director: Donald Wrye; Starring: Marlo Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Cloris Leachman. A remake of It's a Wonderful Life, with Marlo Thomas playing the George Bailey role. Why did anyone need to see this made? TV movie.
The Muppet Movie (1979): Director: James Frawley; Starring: the Muppets, numerous star cameos. 97 minutes. The humorous puppet enclave's first motion picture included a cameo by Welles as Lew Lord, a movie producer. Clean fun for the kiddies. Available on video and DVD.
The Secret of Nikola Tesla (1980): Director: Kristo Papic; Starring: Peter Bozovic, Oja Kodar, Strother Martin. 115 minutes. Welles plays J.P. Morgan in this story of the famed Russian scientist.
Butterfly (1981): Director: Matt Cimber; Starring Pia Zadora, Stacy Keach, Stuart Whitman, Ed McMahon, June Lockhart, James Franciscus, Lois Nettleton. 107 minutes. A vehicle for the overhyped and stunningly untalented Pia Zadora, Welles played the judge of the small town where the film takes place. Available on video. Stacy Keach discusses his memories of working with Welles in Gary Graver's documentary Working With Orson Welles.
Hot Money (1983) Director: Zale Magder; Starring: a lot of nobodies, frankly.
Where is Parsifal? (1983): Director: Henri Helman; Starring: Tony Curtis, Erik Estrada, Peter Lawford, Ron Moody, Donald Pleasance, Cassandra Domenica. With a cast like the above, you almost have to see this bomb, don't you? Yeesh. A massive bomb produced by the Salkinds largely as a vanity project for Berta Dominguez, who stars under the name Cassandra Domenica. It was supposed to be a satirical look at advertising.
Transformers: The Movie (1986) 86 minutes. Welles essayed the voice of Unicron, a planet devouring planet. I think. Sitting through this painfest caused parts of my brain to shut down, so I don't remember much. I can tell you that Welles' voice was run through electronics that render it somewhat unrecognizable. Also, his lines are spoken in a monotone, so really, getting him for the role was pointless, unless they meant to have some kind of joke at Welles' expense, since he was overweight and playing the voice of a planet, ha ha. It also features the voices of Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy and Robert Stack among others, should you feel compelled to seek this out. Available on video and DVD.
Someone to Love (1987) Director: Henry Jaglom; Starring Jaglom, Andrea Marcovicci, Sally Kellerman, Oja Kodar. 111 minutes. Welles' final onscreen appearance essentially consists of him speaking words of wisdom directly to the camera, in the role of the main character Danny's friend.