Lewis Gilbert, Ferry to Hong Kong director 1921-2018

[Wellesnet]

Directed Welles in Ferry to Hong Kong.Also directed three Bond movies:
https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment ... Live-Twice

"Gilbert: Working with Laurance Olivier was one of the great moments of my life, and it taught me a very important lesson on how to be kind to your fellow actors. That lesson came back years later when I worked with Orson Welles, which was a nightmare beyond all imagining. He never cared about his fellow actors, went his own way, didn't want to listen to the director, didn't care. He was a nightmare.

BBC: You were directing him. Did you take him on? He was infamous for being a very tough, big character. Did you have fights with him?

Gilbert: I tried, but it was very difficult, because he was clever, and he knew that if he got sick, I would get the blame because eventually there was no more insurance.

BBC: This was the film, FERRY TO HONG KONG. How did it turn out, given Orson's behavior?

Lewis: Dreadful. It was my nightmare film. Everything was wrong with it.

BBC: But principally him?

Lewis: Principally him.

[Terry]

That's one I've managed never to see. Curt Jurgens seems far worse in it than Welles, who appears to have been filmed with extras after the rest of the cast went home. Someone gave him pants that were too tight to boot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdb1HhnnZak

[Le Chiffre]

Maybe those tight pants helped Welles get in touch with his inner twit. I think one could make a fairly amusing 1-hour cut of the film, just by eliminating most of the non-Welles scenes. I think Curt Jurgens just phoned it in once he realized Welles had turned the whole thing into a farce.