Tony,
I can assure you that in his essence, Welles was a good man who was capable of great kindness and generosity to those he loved and trusted. Unfortunately, their number dwindled as the years wore on and he admitted fewer and fewer people to his innermost circle. There are reasons for this, of course, such as the shabby way he was treated in Hollywood, the gross and malicious attacks on him personally and on his films -- at one point, Welles lamented, "They don't review my films anymore. They review me." In any event, McBride did not gain admittance to Welles's inner circle, and we will never know why exactly -- what it was in the chemistry or dynamics between them that made Welles behave as he did, but certainly his awareness that McBride would undoubtedly write another book about him would not have gained his confidence.
I think it is very much to McBride's credit that in spite of his personal disappointment in the way Welles treated him, he retained his respect for the man and his admiration for the work. The way I read McBride's book, he is narrating in a very honest and touching way his own experience with Welles, but he is not ever suggesting that this was the way Welles behaved with most people. Also, please remember that the man McBride met in 1970 was not the man he had been even a decade before. His glory years as a movie director were behind him and he had been the butt of scurrilous biographies, scathing reviews, and so on. Although, amazingly, he did not become bitter, he did become wary of anyone anxious to gain access to him, and with reaason, given how some of his so-called friends behaved. But that is another story.
What I mainly wanted to communicate to you, Tony, is that Orson Welles was a good man, which does not mean that he was perfect or that he behaved perfectly with everyone who crossed his path, but there wasn't a mean bone in him, his heart was in the right place, his values were impeccable, and if he did not always behave as well as we might wish, it was because, for all his sterling qualities, he was also flawed, as we all are.
'What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?' by Joseph McBride
-
Christopher
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Christopher:
I know exactly what you mean, and since I had no personal contact with Welles, I can only go on personal testimony. However, there are enough horror stories in his history that I know I would have been very fearful of, and intimidated by, him. Do you recall when Robert Arden met Welles? He said "hi!" and Welles exploded in a temper tantrum. I recall Welles himself telling how he humiliated some man who had treated him badly during the RKO years; I think this was during the filming of Compulsion, and Welles said he wouldn't work unless the man left. Welles gloried in the revenge and what he perceived to be the humiliation of this individual. Do you recall the story of Welles in the cab? Someone accompanying him was giving detailed instructions to the cabbie when Welles interrupted and proclaimed: "Don't give them too much information- their brains can't handle it! Just say 'left' or 'right'!" And when Welles reduced some crew member to tears on a set so that finally the man said "You're not a very nice man, Mr. Welles!". Do you recall in the Maurice Bessy book, when Welles said that he had an affair (with Lea Padovani) and in three months she had paid him back for all the terrible things he had done to women over the years, but that in three days he paid her back for that. Do you recall on the set of TOSOTW, when what became known as the Saturday night massacre occurred? That was when Welles, in a pique, fired the entire crew. Of course, he had to hire them back the next day. And of course when Welles exploded at Houseman and threw the flaming can of sterno at him. Do you recall how Louis Dolivet sued Welles for drunkeness and unprofessional behaviour on the set of Mr. Arkadin? And what about Welles getting drunk and throwing the furniture of his hotel room out the window in Brazil? Do you recall on the set of David and Goliath, when Welles started off well, surprising everyone who had heard that he was a monster, but then slowly started to drink and become more and more sullen that people were afraid to even go near him? Unfortunately, there are many more stories just like those few examples.
Christopher, I have no doubt that Welles was a genius; I also have no doubt that, when in a good mood, he could charm the birds off of the trees. But I also have no doubt I would never have wanted to meet him. I like his charming part, and detest the cruel monster he could become. But this is insignificant to me in terms of his work, which is genius. This is where I differ from Glenn and Thomson: if they hold that the work and the man are the same, and that the man's deep psychology is embodied in the work, then they are in trouble, because the man was often a monster, and represented the opposite values of his work. I don't have this problem, because the work stands alone for me.
But it's still unerving to read McBride's account of his relationship with Welles. And disappointing. McBride is an observant, intelligent person, and his up-close account sent a chill through my soul. What always amazes me is that people have to turn Welles into an all-round nice guy, a "hero", in order to like his work; this whitewashing of his character has never rung true with me, and merely results in idol worship.
I know exactly what you mean, and since I had no personal contact with Welles, I can only go on personal testimony. However, there are enough horror stories in his history that I know I would have been very fearful of, and intimidated by, him. Do you recall when Robert Arden met Welles? He said "hi!" and Welles exploded in a temper tantrum. I recall Welles himself telling how he humiliated some man who had treated him badly during the RKO years; I think this was during the filming of Compulsion, and Welles said he wouldn't work unless the man left. Welles gloried in the revenge and what he perceived to be the humiliation of this individual. Do you recall the story of Welles in the cab? Someone accompanying him was giving detailed instructions to the cabbie when Welles interrupted and proclaimed: "Don't give them too much information- their brains can't handle it! Just say 'left' or 'right'!" And when Welles reduced some crew member to tears on a set so that finally the man said "You're not a very nice man, Mr. Welles!". Do you recall in the Maurice Bessy book, when Welles said that he had an affair (with Lea Padovani) and in three months she had paid him back for all the terrible things he had done to women over the years, but that in three days he paid her back for that. Do you recall on the set of TOSOTW, when what became known as the Saturday night massacre occurred? That was when Welles, in a pique, fired the entire crew. Of course, he had to hire them back the next day. And of course when Welles exploded at Houseman and threw the flaming can of sterno at him. Do you recall how Louis Dolivet sued Welles for drunkeness and unprofessional behaviour on the set of Mr. Arkadin? And what about Welles getting drunk and throwing the furniture of his hotel room out the window in Brazil? Do you recall on the set of David and Goliath, when Welles started off well, surprising everyone who had heard that he was a monster, but then slowly started to drink and become more and more sullen that people were afraid to even go near him? Unfortunately, there are many more stories just like those few examples.
Christopher, I have no doubt that Welles was a genius; I also have no doubt that, when in a good mood, he could charm the birds off of the trees. But I also have no doubt I would never have wanted to meet him. I like his charming part, and detest the cruel monster he could become. But this is insignificant to me in terms of his work, which is genius. This is where I differ from Glenn and Thomson: if they hold that the work and the man are the same, and that the man's deep psychology is embodied in the work, then they are in trouble, because the man was often a monster, and represented the opposite values of his work. I don't have this problem, because the work stands alone for me.
But it's still unerving to read McBride's account of his relationship with Welles. And disappointing. McBride is an observant, intelligent person, and his up-close account sent a chill through my soul. What always amazes me is that people have to turn Welles into an all-round nice guy, a "hero", in order to like his work; this whitewashing of his character has never rung true with me, and merely results in idol worship.
-
Christopher
- Wellesnet Veteran
- Posts: 220
- Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2003 8:03 pm
- Location: New York City
Tony,
I know what you mean, too. There are a great many stories about Welles that cast him in a poor light, and I could add to their number. So I am not trying to excuse Welles or "whitewash" his behavior. He was, as I have already said, deeply flawed, but he was not really cruel or a monster. Rather, he was a child who never grew up, capable of throwing a tantrum when something upset him, of behaving in hurtful ways without realizing the consequences of his behavior. And what makes him so complex is that this child-man was also a genius, a supreme artist, an exceptionally brilliant man with a fascinating personality. Just look at the number of books that have been written about him. I can't think of any other figure who has inspired as many, can you? That in itself is remarkable. So I think you would have wanted to meet him, Tony, and you would have been surprised at how humble and unintimidating he could be. Think of his soliloquy in front of Chartres cathedral in F FOR FAKE. That was spoken from his heart. That was the true Welles.
I know what you mean, too. There are a great many stories about Welles that cast him in a poor light, and I could add to their number. So I am not trying to excuse Welles or "whitewash" his behavior. He was, as I have already said, deeply flawed, but he was not really cruel or a monster. Rather, he was a child who never grew up, capable of throwing a tantrum when something upset him, of behaving in hurtful ways without realizing the consequences of his behavior. And what makes him so complex is that this child-man was also a genius, a supreme artist, an exceptionally brilliant man with a fascinating personality. Just look at the number of books that have been written about him. I can't think of any other figure who has inspired as many, can you? That in itself is remarkable. So I think you would have wanted to meet him, Tony, and you would have been surprised at how humble and unintimidating he could be. Think of his soliloquy in front of Chartres cathedral in F FOR FAKE. That was spoken from his heart. That was the true Welles.
All the above discussion merely reveals that Welles was a very complex human being full of bad, as well as good, traits very similar to his conception of Falstaff as the llst "good man" in Merrie England who was also a rogue but far more preferable to the future King Henry V and his court circle.
Had McBride not mentioned these problematic aspects of Welles's personality then his book would have laid itself open to being a 100% artificial whitewash of the director and its findings open to the charge of personal bias. Quite often great directors are not nice human beings as the characters of Ford, Mizoguchi, Peckinpah and many others show. Sometimes, personal contact is not necessary. The biographer (and executor of the estate) of Cornel Wolorich once mentioned to me that if he had met the aithor while he was alaw student at Columbia University, New York during the late 60s, he would probably never have devoted his energies to promoting his work.
"Woolrich began life as a nasty young man and he died a nasty old man."
Fortunately, this was not true of Welles. But by mentioning these negative features, McBride has avoided the pitfall of making a director he admires into the stereotype of an innocent martyred saint and presented us with further evidence of a complex personality, another piece of the jigsaw puzzle that Alland's reporter refers to in the concluding scenes of a film very well known to all of us.
Had McBride not mentioned these problematic aspects of Welles's personality then his book would have laid itself open to being a 100% artificial whitewash of the director and its findings open to the charge of personal bias. Quite often great directors are not nice human beings as the characters of Ford, Mizoguchi, Peckinpah and many others show. Sometimes, personal contact is not necessary. The biographer (and executor of the estate) of Cornel Wolorich once mentioned to me that if he had met the aithor while he was alaw student at Columbia University, New York during the late 60s, he would probably never have devoted his energies to promoting his work.
"Woolrich began life as a nasty young man and he died a nasty old man."
Fortunately, this was not true of Welles. But by mentioning these negative features, McBride has avoided the pitfall of making a director he admires into the stereotype of an innocent martyred saint and presented us with further evidence of a complex personality, another piece of the jigsaw puzzle that Alland's reporter refers to in the concluding scenes of a film very well known to all of us.
-
Le Chiffre
- Site Admin
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I've always suspected that this statement about Welles by Michael Macliamior was pretty close to the truth:
"His courage, his ruthlessness, his generosity, and his egotism were all magnificently out-of-proportion."
I've also always wondered what Welles thought of McBride's first book on him, ORSON WELLES. A good, scholarly look at the directorial efforts, and not at all unflattering, as I remember. Anybody have any info on what he may have said about it?
"His courage, his ruthlessness, his generosity, and his egotism were all magnificently out-of-proportion."
I've also always wondered what Welles thought of McBride's first book on him, ORSON WELLES. A good, scholarly look at the directorial efforts, and not at all unflattering, as I remember. Anybody have any info on what he may have said about it?
-
Glenn Anders
- Wellesnet Legend
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- Location: San Francisco
- Contact:
Ray: I've been gathering material for a little comparative review of these latest books by McBride and Callow. Nothing may come of that project, given my circumstances, but I can tell you how balanced I found the assessments from both these authors, one formerly very much a critic, the other a fairly longtime colleague. Both matched Welles' personal flaws against Studio fears or jealousies, and then, with national politics, in explaining the destruction of his Hollywood career.
I think your review is fair and thoughtful.
----------------
Tony: We are agreed that Welles was a difficult man, but I can also guarantee that if you and I had been given the incredible build-up Welles had, if we had abetted the build-up, and things had gone wrong for us, later in life, there would be dozens and dozens of acquaintances and co-workers, when interviewed, who could come forward with "funny" or angry stories about how we had either freaked them out or been cruelly indifferent to them. Neither of us was Orson Welles, and so neither Time Magazine, Acess Hollywood, nor "E" will be seeking those people out for interviews, articles and books.
If we had such a career, it might have gone like this:
---------------
INTERVIEWER: And so Glenn, about Tony, who is in the news again,
attacking Orson Welles: What can you tell us?
GLENN ANDERS: Well, Mr. King, I don't really know Tony, but he is
a strange kind of guy.
INTERVIEWER: How so, Glenn?
GLENN ANDERS: Tony has an obsession about me and my twin
brother, who went by the pseudonym of "Thomson
Anders" on the Internet. You remember him as the
guy who wrote some stuff on Orson Welles. Tony is
convinced Thomson and I believed that Welles was
"Charles Foster Kane," that he was "Franz Kindler,"
in THE STRANGER, that kind of thing.
INTERVIEWER: Obsessive-compulsive?
GLENN ANDERS: I wouldn't say that, Larry, but he wouldn't admit to
the possibility that Orson Welles, more than most
artists, used autobiographical references in his
creations. It really disturbed my poor brother.
INTERVIEWER: Whatever happened to old "Thomson Anders"? I
had him on the program a couple of times. He
used to be as famous as you or Tony. Some said
he was better known in Frisco than Todd Baesen.
GLENN ANDERS: It's very sad, Larry. There were rumors that Tony
was writing a peer-reviewed study, "The Symptoms
and Psychopathology of Autobiographicalism."
Thomson fell under a delusion that he was the
book's subject.
INTERVIEWER: [leaning forward] Would you say that Autobiogra --
I can't pronounce it. [chuckles] The condition
bugged him?
GLENN ANDERS: Tony couldn't have known. What did he care? He's
an Anti-Autobiographicalist . . . [wipes tears from
his eyes] But when Thomson saw CITIZEN KANE at
the Tooting Bec Classic one rainy Sunday in 1955,
he suffered a "loss of connectedness fugue," which
conflated with Labour Socialist Politics to haunt
him the rest of his life.
INTERVIEWER: And?
GLENN ANDERS: [beginning to weep] He began to get into violent
confrontations with cab drivers, especially female
cab drivers. He thought that they were cheating on
him, taking him "around the block." He would
shout, "Left -- no, Right, I said Right! RIGHT!"
Then, he would begin to curse.
INTERVIEWER: [chuckles sympathetically] I don't get it.
GLENN ANDERS: It was the "political thing," you see? Thomson
never recovered from the end of the Cold War!
INTERVIEWER: And where is Thomson now, Glenn?
GLENN ANDERS: [weeping uncontrollably] After the book on Nicole
Kidman, we had to commit him. Thomson Anders is
in the sub-cellar of the Lima State Hospital for the
Criminally insane in Ohio. With treatment, he now
is able to shout, "Right, Right!" consistently, but he
can never be allowed in the general population
again.
INTERVIEWER: That's the story of Thomson Anders, folks, a poor
devil who fell prey to "Autobiographicalism." We'll
be back in our closing moments with his brother,
Glenn Anders. Don't go away!
------------------
Seriously, Tony: Orson Welles' Art was not very pure, as you claim. It was drawn from the Literature, History and the Nations of the World, in a time when only a few American Artists might say that. But it was also very much wrenched from within himself. He did not follow your dictum of "Art for Art's sake," though he was very much an Artist.
Anyone who wishes to be an artist, a dramatic artist, at least, had better be prepared to understand in his or her own life the nature of conflict, and what the World calls Sin. Otherwise, he is relegating himself to dramas on "The Lives of the Saints" -- and there will be some surprises there, too.
Welles, after all, in his young manhood, was very close to Thornton Wilder.
We should do well to agree with the wisdom of Christopher and tonyw.
[Sorry, it has taken me a long time to finish anything this week. I see you agree with me, Tony. GOOD!]
-----------------
Christopher: What a beautiful summing up of Orson Welles as a man and as an artist! It strikes me that a number of his later completed works follow, or move toward, the same theme as his magnificent soliloquy before Chartres -- in CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, for instance, and in a strangely different way, in TOUCH OF EVIL.
BTW, I have not forgotten my promise to you. I just have a lot on my plate, in recent weeks.
Glenn
I think your review is fair and thoughtful.
----------------
Tony: We are agreed that Welles was a difficult man, but I can also guarantee that if you and I had been given the incredible build-up Welles had, if we had abetted the build-up, and things had gone wrong for us, later in life, there would be dozens and dozens of acquaintances and co-workers, when interviewed, who could come forward with "funny" or angry stories about how we had either freaked them out or been cruelly indifferent to them. Neither of us was Orson Welles, and so neither Time Magazine, Acess Hollywood, nor "E" will be seeking those people out for interviews, articles and books.
If we had such a career, it might have gone like this:
---------------
INTERVIEWER: And so Glenn, about Tony, who is in the news again,
attacking Orson Welles: What can you tell us?
GLENN ANDERS: Well, Mr. King, I don't really know Tony, but he is
a strange kind of guy.
INTERVIEWER: How so, Glenn?
GLENN ANDERS: Tony has an obsession about me and my twin
brother, who went by the pseudonym of "Thomson
Anders" on the Internet. You remember him as the
guy who wrote some stuff on Orson Welles. Tony is
convinced Thomson and I believed that Welles was
"Charles Foster Kane," that he was "Franz Kindler,"
in THE STRANGER, that kind of thing.
INTERVIEWER: Obsessive-compulsive?
GLENN ANDERS: I wouldn't say that, Larry, but he wouldn't admit to
the possibility that Orson Welles, more than most
artists, used autobiographical references in his
creations. It really disturbed my poor brother.
INTERVIEWER: Whatever happened to old "Thomson Anders"? I
had him on the program a couple of times. He
used to be as famous as you or Tony. Some said
he was better known in Frisco than Todd Baesen.
GLENN ANDERS: It's very sad, Larry. There were rumors that Tony
was writing a peer-reviewed study, "The Symptoms
and Psychopathology of Autobiographicalism."
Thomson fell under a delusion that he was the
book's subject.
INTERVIEWER: [leaning forward] Would you say that Autobiogra --
I can't pronounce it. [chuckles] The condition
bugged him?
GLENN ANDERS: Tony couldn't have known. What did he care? He's
an Anti-Autobiographicalist . . . [wipes tears from
his eyes] But when Thomson saw CITIZEN KANE at
the Tooting Bec Classic one rainy Sunday in 1955,
he suffered a "loss of connectedness fugue," which
conflated with Labour Socialist Politics to haunt
him the rest of his life.
INTERVIEWER: And?
GLENN ANDERS: [beginning to weep] He began to get into violent
confrontations with cab drivers, especially female
cab drivers. He thought that they were cheating on
him, taking him "around the block." He would
shout, "Left -- no, Right, I said Right! RIGHT!"
Then, he would begin to curse.
INTERVIEWER: [chuckles sympathetically] I don't get it.
GLENN ANDERS: It was the "political thing," you see? Thomson
never recovered from the end of the Cold War!
INTERVIEWER: And where is Thomson now, Glenn?
GLENN ANDERS: [weeping uncontrollably] After the book on Nicole
Kidman, we had to commit him. Thomson Anders is
in the sub-cellar of the Lima State Hospital for the
Criminally insane in Ohio. With treatment, he now
is able to shout, "Right, Right!" consistently, but he
can never be allowed in the general population
again.
INTERVIEWER: That's the story of Thomson Anders, folks, a poor
devil who fell prey to "Autobiographicalism." We'll
be back in our closing moments with his brother,
Glenn Anders. Don't go away!
------------------
Seriously, Tony: Orson Welles' Art was not very pure, as you claim. It was drawn from the Literature, History and the Nations of the World, in a time when only a few American Artists might say that. But it was also very much wrenched from within himself. He did not follow your dictum of "Art for Art's sake," though he was very much an Artist.
Anyone who wishes to be an artist, a dramatic artist, at least, had better be prepared to understand in his or her own life the nature of conflict, and what the World calls Sin. Otherwise, he is relegating himself to dramas on "The Lives of the Saints" -- and there will be some surprises there, too.
Welles, after all, in his young manhood, was very close to Thornton Wilder.
We should do well to agree with the wisdom of Christopher and tonyw.
[Sorry, it has taken me a long time to finish anything this week. I see you agree with me, Tony. GOOD!]
-----------------
Christopher: What a beautiful summing up of Orson Welles as a man and as an artist! It strikes me that a number of his later completed works follow, or move toward, the same theme as his magnificent soliloquy before Chartres -- in CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, for instance, and in a strangely different way, in TOUCH OF EVIL.
BTW, I have not forgotten my promise to you. I just have a lot on my plate, in recent weeks.
Glenn
-
Glenn Anders
- Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1906
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- Contact:
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Glenn Anders
- Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1906
- Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:50 pm
- Location: San Francisco
- Contact:
I fully agree with the MacLiammoir quotation above. It's actually longer in "This is Orson Welles":
"Orson's courage, like everything else about him, imagination, egotism, generosity, ruthlessness, forbearance, impatience, sensitivity, grossness and vision is magnificently out of proportion."
That was Welles in a nutshell. (A very large nutshell.)
"Orson's courage, like everything else about him, imagination, egotism, generosity, ruthlessness, forbearance, impatience, sensitivity, grossness and vision is magnificently out of proportion."
That was Welles in a nutshell. (A very large nutshell.)
-
Christopher
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I would leave out "ruthlessness." Welles could be very singleminded about achieving what was important to him, but ruthlessness was not in his makeup.
MacLiammoir, a very flamboyant and theatrical person who lived on the edge of hysteria and was himself "magnificently out of proportion," did not altogether approve of Welles. In his published memoirs, his descriptions of the young Welles at the Gate Theatre in Dublin are unnecessarily harsh and at times even vicious.
MacLiammoir, a very flamboyant and theatrical person who lived on the edge of hysteria and was himself "magnificently out of proportion," did not altogether approve of Welles. In his published memoirs, his descriptions of the young Welles at the Gate Theatre in Dublin are unnecessarily harsh and at times even vicious.
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Christopher
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