Pat McMahon, left, greets John Huston in a scene from “The Other Side of the Wind.”
Orson Welles’s Last Movie, Josh Karp’s telling chronicle on the making of The Other Side of the Wind, will be published on April 21, but it is already being praised by top authors and Welles experts.
Karp, an award-winning author and journalist, conducted interviews with many of the participants and screened footage from the soon-to-completed film. Full of fresh information and revelations, Orson Welles’s Last Movie is clearly a must-read for Welles aficionados.
Amazon.com has posted six of the first reviews collected by Macmillan, including comments from Welles authors Simon Callow and Peter Biskind.
Entertainment writers and observers give a thumbs up to Karp’s well-researched 352-page book:
- “Everything Welles ever did was a kind of adventure: The Other Side of the Wind — a film made up as it went along—was perhaps the greatest, maddest adventure of all. Josh Karp’s absolutely riveting book recreates the whole tragic, comic enterprise, creating an unforgettable portrait of a middle-aged Welles thrashing around as only a frustrated genius could thrash around, in quest of an ever-elusive dream of film, assembled from a hundred thousand fragments of spur-of-the-minute inspirations. Like some semi-mythic warlord, Welles lays about him, bullying, terrifying, charming, lying, cheating, cajoling, manipulating, destroying, creating in pursuit of a goal he himself barely understands. Orson Welles’s Last Movie is a massive contribution to Welles scholarship, and an unputdownable read.” — Simon Callow, author of Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu and Orson Welles: Hello Americans
- “If you’re writing a biography of a movie, especially one by Orson Welles, it’s not such a great idea to compete with your subject, unless you’re sure you can pull it off. Happily, Karp does. This is the most entertaining film book I’ve read in years — informative, funny, and least expected, freshly researched. Orson would have loved it.” — Peter Biskind, My Lunches With Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles
- “Like the best Hollywood stories, Josh Karp’s entertaining book veers between slapstick and tragedy, and is filled with larger-than-life characters who are charmed and doomed by their own hopefulness and cynicism, charisma and buffoonery. With wit and insight, Karp has made a valuable contribution to the enduring legend of Orson Welles, and proved once again that in the movie business, improbability may be the one enduring truth.” — Julie Salamon, author of The Devil’s Candy and Wendy and the Lost Boys
- “A maverick director, shady dealings, and the Iranian revolution make up the often incredible true story behind The Other Side of the Wind. Packed with revealing first-hand accounts, Orson Welles’s Last Movie recounts the making and downfall of the ill-fated comeback of the film industry’s most talented prodigal son.”— Ray Kelly, Wellesnet.com
- “Josh Karp has written a Hollywood epic as grand as any shot by Frank Capra, Preston Sturges or Orson Welles. In the end, this book is about more than a movie that was never quite finished. It’s about an industry, an era and the artistic process. Funny and profound, too weird and heartbreaking to believe — Karp has added an indelible chapter to the literature of show biz.”— Rich Cohen, author of Monsters, The Avengers, and Tough Jews
- “What became of The Other Side of the Wind, that crazy movie that took up the last 15 years of the life of Orson Welles? Karp puts that question to rest with this hilarious and sobering saga of one of the greatest films never finished. Luckily, there’s nothing unfinished in Karp’s retelling. He follows every story, dollar and last legal battle in full detail. Whether the film sees a 2015 release on the anniversary of Welles’ birth, as was speculated as of late last year, we at least have Karp to thank for the next best thing.” — Kirkus Reviews
_________
[br]
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.