Welles's tv work as director

[Tony]

Just for fun, I made a list of Welles's productions for television: people always say that he changed theatre, radio and film but his tv work is always pushed to the side. I think that this is a mistake, as he did quite a lot of innovative directing for the box. I hope that one day someone can put together a nice box set of dvds of Welles's work for tv, that is before they stop making them.

1. Sketchbook: BBC, 1955: six 15 minute shows, total time: 1.5 hours
2. Around the world with Orson Welles: ITV, 1955: six 30 minute shows, total time: 4 hours
3. Fountain of Youth: Desilu, 1956: 30 minutes
4. Viva Italia (Portrait of Gina): ABC, 1958: 30 minutes 5. The Immortal Story: Organisation Radio-Télévision Française, 1966: 1 hour
5. Merchant of Venice: CBS, 1969: 40 minutes
6. Filming of Othello: West German TV, 1977: 90 minutes
7. Magic show: 1969-1985: 30 minutes

The total time is about 9 hours, which would make for a very nice package. I've left off some productions:

1. Don Quixote: CBS, Frank Sinatra, 1959-1969: started out as a TV show, morphed into a movie. Never finished (unless you count the Franco cut).
2. The Deep: 1967-1969: apparently Welles originally saw it as a TV show; unfinished
3. Dumas: CBS, 1958: rejected by CBS, lost.
4. Orson's Bag: A CBS 90 minute program Welles worked on in 1969, including some very unfunny bits and the wonderful Merchant of Venice; exists in a reconstructed form.
5. In the Land of Don Quixote: RAI TV, 1964: A travelogue not narrated by Welles.

[RayKelly]

Add on The Orson Welles Show, the unsold talk show pilot from 1979.