Alternate "Journey Into Fear" Edit Discovered

[Glenn Anders]

Todd: Yes, in both JOURNEY INTO FEAR and THE STRANGER, Welles said that what interested him most, what he considered best in those films, were the scenes and sequences cut.

Glenn

[ToddBaesen]

Store's frame grabs from the JIF credits also bring up this interesting point.

Pauline Kael famously claimed Welles did not write CITIZEN KANE.

Yet a mere two years later, when RKO released JOURNEY INTO FEAR, Orson Welles wasn't even credited on the script - at least on the American version - although there's no big controversy about that, at least as far as I've ever heard.

The point being, as the famous saying goes, when a film is a success it has many authors, but when it's a failure, no one wants to be associated with it!

And by 1943 RKO's new regime certainly didn't want to be associated with Orson Welles. There new motto, presumably dictated by new studio boss Charles Koener: "Showmanship in place of genius."

[Glenn Anders]

It is also interesting, Todd, that while the Mercury PR Unit was always building up the star qualities of Orson Welles, the man himself paradoxically undercut and deprecated himself by listing his name last in production credits, or mentioning it almost as an afterthought, or emphasizing that he was only one of a talented company of artists.

That latter quality, this family formulation of the Mercury Theater, was one of the most endearing, long-lasting, and apparently authentic (in many cases) surrounding the Mercury experience.

In some sense, it must have been damaging to Welles, to have to leave all of that behind when he went to Europe under the on-coming shadow of McCarthyism in the latter years of the 1940's.

Glenn

[MartynH]

As Welles told Leslie Megahy in the Arena interview, he didn't want to be a star and that's why he didn't play the lead in Ambersons. He said he wanted to 'incidentally play great roles'. He admitted to Megahy he made a mistake in not playing this role, he should of promoted himself as he was in position to have done so.

[Roger Ryan]

Since Welles took that ridiculously low billing in KANE (he's given greater prominence as an actor in JOURNEY!), I think it's safe to assume that he really wanted to be known as a director/writer/producer instead of an actor. I'm sure Welles always intended his name to be last in the acting credits on JOURNEY, but I suspect he asked for his writing and producing credits to be removed after seeing the hack job the studio had done on the film.

[RayKelly]

I've just acquired the Spanish DVD ('Estambul'), and it is indeed the alternate print with opening credits, map, etc. Not a brilliant quality print but acceptable. Removable subs (not on menu but can be blanked during playback).

Chrissie, Can you -- or anyone else here -- answer a question I received via email. Is the Spanish DVD of "Journey into Fear" the alternate cut with no narration?

[chrissie]

Hi, Ray! I only just saw this... I was getting rid of an old password on various logins, that has been hacked. Long time since I wrote that -- do not have that particular DVD any longer (can't remember why; maybe ditching stuff during a house move)... so I can't answer the question with certainty. But I do believe it was an alternative cut.

I do still check out the board, BTW! I should visit more often though.

[tonyw]

Good to see you back, Chrissie. As you can see, a lot of good things have happened since your last posting.