“Citizen Kane” was released by RKO Pictures in 1941.
Happy birthday Orson Welles.
Tributes to the late director on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth fill newspapers, websites and new books this week.
Here is a sampling:
- “In life, Welles was maligned and worshiped and deserved neither. What he deserved was money to make his movies, and he rarely got that.” – Reflecting on the career and life Orson Welles at 100 by Mick La Salle of the San Francisco Chronicle
- “He was an artist on his own terms struggling outside the world of American commercial success for most of his life, which ended in 1985 when he was 70.” – Remembering Orson Welles by Bob Hoover of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- “If Welles were starting out today, new technologies would enable him to realize his most ambitious visions. His independent films could be assembled quickly, easily and cheaply using digital video editing tools. He could crowdfund his projects using sites like Kickstarter, while maintaining creative control over his work. – from On His 100th Birthday, Rethinking Orson Welles by Robert Nason of the Wall Street Journal
- Few filmmakers have been as multi-talented, publicly outspoken, inventive, and culturally adventurous as Orson Welles. In addition to completing twelve feature-length films, and scripting and shooting at least a half-dozen other projects, including the soon to be reconstructed The Other Side of the Wind, Welles sustained a twenty-year radio career in the United States and the United Kingdom, produced television shows in the 1950s, performed Shakespeare on television shows in the 1970s and early 1980s, and staged occasional theatrical productions in Europe and the United States. – Orson Welles at 100 by Catherine Benamou for blog.oup.com
- “One of the things I most like about Welles is that we can never take him for granted… Each time he’s making a film, it’s as if he’s never made a film before. And that’s very exciting.” – from Rosenbaum on Welles at 100, an interview with Jonathan Rosenbaum in Fandor
- “Welles was always ahead of his time and we’re still catching up with him.” – from Crítico Joseph McBride: “Hasta cierto punto, todos los directores se inspiran en Orson Welles” in Latercera. Also, a wonderful audio interview with McBride by Pauline Lampert at Flixwise.
- “Though his total output was by the end small, it was monumental in ambition and dramatic scope, and would be an inspiration to generations of filmmakers who followed.” –The Orson Welles centenary by David Morgan of CBS News.
- “Not only did he direct several of the best films ever made, but he was absolutely right about so many things, including the fact that everyone would love him after he wad dead. He deserved better.” – Josh Karp, author of Orson Welles’s Last Movie.
________
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.