The long-awaited domestic Blu-ray release of “Touch of Evil” is set for April 15. Amazon.com lists the single disc, limited edition release at $29.98, but now available for $20.99. Amazon reports the aspect ratio at 1.85:1 on an all-region release. According to Bluray.com the disc will feature three versions of the film: the Preview Version, […]
By RAY KELLY Orson Welles’ Othello, last seen in U.S. theaters in 1992, will be re-released to cinemas this spring. Carlotta Films has acquired the theatrical rights to Othello in the United States and France. A new digitally restored release of the 1992 “restored” version commissioned by the late director’s youngest daughter, Beatrice Welles, will […]
The past 12 months have been a rewarding time for Orson Welles’ fans. Sure, a completed The Other Side of the Wind is still a dream and no one has discovered Welles’ cut of The Magnificent Ambersons, but there was much to celebrate. • First, there was the discovery of silent footage intended for use […]
Launched in 1974 and running for a decade on NBC, “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts” gathered some legendary show biz names together to salute and snipe at each other. StarVista/Time Life has released a dozen of these roasts in a new six-DVD collection, which carries a suggested list price of $59.99. Martin was the genial […]
“The Stranger,” Orson Welles’ 1946 thriller about a Nazi war criminal hiding out in a sleepy Connecticut town, will get a proper Blu-ray release this fall. Kino Classics is promising a brand new 1080p HD transfer of a 35mm restoration from the Library of Congress on Oct. 15. The release will carry a $34.95 list […]
“Jane Eyre’ starring Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine will make its debut on Blu-ray this fall. Twilight Time, which specializes in limited edition classic films on home video, is listing the 1943 drama, directed by Robert Stevenson, for release on November 12. On the same day, Twilight Time will release the 1968 musical “Oliver!” (1968) […]
Universal Studios is readying “Touch of Evil” for domestic release on Blu-ray. Wellesnet veteran Roger Ryan alerted us to a remark made by Michael Daruty, head of Universal’s Technical Operations, in TIME. While the article focused on the restoration and home video release of “Schindler’s List,” Daruty revealed that Welles’ 1958 thriller is undergoing its […]
By KYP HARNESS Finally released last month on DVD to little fanfare, having been unavailable for 20 years in its country of origin, Orson Welles’s The Magnificent Ambersons is surrounded by a mythology
By ROGER L. RYAN On September 13th The Magnificent Ambersons made its very belated DVD debut in North America as an Amazon.com exclusive “add-on” for customers who buy the Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray of Citizen Kane. Even though fans had been very vocal about wanting Ambersons released on DVD for a decade or more, the […]
When Welles didn’t work, he drank, bragged, ran through women, ate like a beast and hated himself. He’d eat supper at his dressing table–two steaks, each with a baked potato; an entire pineapple; triple pistachio ice cream; and a bottle of Scotch. Appetite drove him. Applause wasn’t enough. He wanted amazement, the gasp of a […]
Warner Bros. has released the official press release for their 70th Anniversary edition of Citizen Kane, due out on September 13, 2011. It will come in three editions: a DVD 3-disc set, priced at $49.99; a Blu ray 3-disc set priced at $64.99, and the Amazon exclusive edition which will include a fourth disc […]
Given that “The Greatest Film Ever Made” certainly deserves a Deluxe release on it’s 70th anniversary, which also happens to be how many years Orson Welles lived on the planet Earth, I would like to propose my own wish list of extras and improvements that Warner Bros Home Video can make to their upcoming Blu […]
By LAWRENCE FRENCH I have recently been talking with Michael Dawson, the producer of the 1992 restored version of Othello, who explained some of the many problems he encountered while working on the restoration of the film. The interview will be published shortly on Wellesnet’s main page, and hopefully may led to a three-DVD reissue […]
Ciro Giorgini has written to let us know that his fine documentary Rosabella is now available on DVD, with new interviews with Elsa Martinelli and Suzanne Cloutier as extras. It can be ordered from Minimum Fax in Italy For 19. Euros, and comes with the book Orson Welles: Interviews on the art of the Cinema […]
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 […]
Christian McKay and Richard Linklater spent one-and-a-half days in San Francisco to talk about their new film Me and Orson Welles and dazzled the preview audience at the Embarcadero Center Cinemas. Having arrived in SF from the Austin premiere the night before, the San Francisco event was a much more low-key affair, since teen heart-throb […]
It’s hard to complain too loudly when Warner Home Video finally brings out one of their many movies people have been waiting to see on Blue Ray and DVD. Yet, the way Warners has been carelessly dropping film gems on the marketplace without any advance publicity, is rather disheartening, to say the least. Such classics […]
Orson Welles had a perception of everything in the film, including the music. He knew. He truly understood film scoring. …Touch of Evil was one of the best things I’ve ever done. —Henry Mancini ************************* While Orson Welles often had trouble in his dealings with producers and studio executives, he usually attracted the highest calibre […]
An Interview with RICK SCHMIDLIN The re-edit producer of ORSON WELLES’ masterpiece TOUCH OF EVIL ************************************************************************** The following interview with Rick Schmidlin took place shortly after the re-edited version of the film debuted in 1998. Since that time I’ve not spoken with Rick, although I was quite happy that he posted many comments about his […]
Vargas: You framed that boy, Captain. Framed him! _____________________________________________________ Firstly, Universal Home Entertainment must be greatly commended for finally releasing all three versions of Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil on DVD. This is, in itself, a rather historic milestone and one which Criterion helped paved the way for, with it’s own groundbreaking three-disc set for […]
