Welles' short on Kino Avant-garde disc - Is everybody aware of this?

[etimh]

Not sure if this is old news or not, but I got an e-mail note the other day from Kino video announcing a pre-order for a DVD called "Avant-garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920s and 30s." Included is the Welles' short film "The Hearts of Age," 1934.

I'm not sure if this film is available anywhere else but Kino puts out good stuff so this DVD should include a quality print of the film. Website is:

http://www.kino.com/video/index.php

Any information or insights on this short film from Welles?

Tim

[Roger Ryan]

I have "The Hearts Of Age" on videotape and it's nothing to get too excited over. I believe Welles shot it on a lark at the Todd School For Boys in Woodstock, Illinois with a friend of his. There's a few "Wellesian" camera angles in the film which Welles had called a parody of European avant-garde films, but the overall effect is what you'd expect from somewhat highbrow teenagers goofing for an afternoon and mugging for the camera. One gets the impression that much of the film was edited "in camera" with the occasional mistake simply left in (a few shots are simply out-of-focus). Most noteworthy is the chance to see the 19-year-old Welles himself made up as an old man (of course!) and Virginia Nicholson (his wife-to-be) made up as an old woman.