Five Minutes Mr Welles and Fade to Black

[Kane76]

So, I've just come across references to Five Minutes Mr. Welles, a film by Vincent D'Onofrio, and Fade to Black, an Argentinian film, where Welles is played by Danny Huston.

Have these been covered in the forum before? Are they worth checking out? Fade to Black seems to only be available in Region 2 DVD.

Does anyone have any opinions on these? (That's a loaded question for this group, I know.)

[Roger Ryan]

FIVE MINUTES MR. WELLES is quite charming. Here's the "YouTube" link courtesy of Mr. D'Onofrio himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-4PPr3r_r0

I think the writer/director is quite adept at portraying Welles and this is an interesting (albeit fictional) exploration of the creative process.

FADE TO BLACK has been discussed here at length, but not as a finished film since it has been difficult to find. With ORSON WELLES & ME coming out next year, it seems like Welles is a much-in-demand fictional character these days!

[RayKelly]

A 10-minute clip of Fade to Black is on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZNT3VDJfYs

[Roger Ryan]

Those FADE TO BLACK excerpts look pretty good; certainly the "magic show" sequence has a very Wellesian sense of suspense. Huston makes for a fairly appealing "Welles" although he sounds a lot more like his father (John) than Orson. The "Welles" character's ambivalent relationship with the young communist reminds me of how Welles scripted his own relationship with Marc Blitzstein in his screenplay for THE CRADLE WILL ROCK.

[Alan Brody]

Thanks for that link, Ray. You're right Roger, that Danny Huston's Welles seems very much a Welles/John Huston hybrid, but based on these scenes it looks like an appealing portrayal. The Magic Show sequence also provides a possible clue as to why the film has had trouble getting U.S. distribution. The politics of that scene seem in line with the leftist theory that CIA infiltration in western European affairs was done not so much to protect those countries from Communism, but to prevent those countries from going Communist on their own. In this sense, Hollywood stars were seen as a vital propoganda tool. But this film asserts that Welles was trying to play a similar game in post-war Italy to the one he played in South America.

Interview with Director Oliver Parker:

http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Welles, ... eo_count=4