1960s
1961 -
- Ernest Hemingway commits suicide. Orson Welles, having known Hemingway since 1937 - when they worked together on a documentary about the Spanish Civil War, and Hemingway berated the 22-year-old Welles for his "faggoty" narration - conceives of a script idea based on the incident.
- The young critic Peter Bogdanovich writes a monograph on Welles's film career for a retrospective at MOMA, the first major retrospective of Welles's film work in the U.S.. The monograph pleases Welles.
1962
- During the making of THE TRIAL in Paris, Welles begins an affair with a young Croatian sculptress, Oja Kodar.
- British magazine Sight and Sound conducts an international poll of critics and filmmakers, and Welles's CITIZEN KANE is named as the greatest film ever made.
1963-65
- While preparing to film his Shakespearean adaptation, CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, in Spain, Welles attends many bullfights and mulls over the idea of a film on bullfighting, which was his main bond with Hemingway.
- He receives funding for Chimes from the Piedra family of Spain, on the condition that he also make a film of TREASURE iSLAND, but Welles only makes Chimes. The Piedras go bankrupt during the filming, and Welles gets his end money from James Bond producer Harry Saltzmann.
1966
- Welles is filmed by the Maysles Bros., pitching the idea of a bullfight-related film based on a macho character to a group of tourists in Spain. He says the film would be essentially improvised, and would take about eight weeks to complete.
- Italian arthouse filmmaker Michaelangelo Antonioni's first English-language film, BLOW-UP, becomes a huge international hit, its sexual content influencing the abandonment of the old Hollywood Production Code in 1968, in favour of a new MPAA film rating system.
- Producer Roger Corman tries to offer Welles the role of Al Capone in THE SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE, but the studio nixes the idea, saying Welles is unreliable and box-office poison.
1967
- Welles develops a screenplay called THE SACRED BEASTS, about an old, Hemingway-like macho filmmaker named Jake Hannaford, who turns out to be a repressed homosexual. Hannaford becomes infatuated with a young man who he casts as a bullfighter for his next film, trying to turn him into an idealized version of himself.
- CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT is released in the U.S. but is not a success.
1968
- Welles completes a short film with Jeanne Moureau for French television based on Isak Dineson's THE IMMORTAL STORY, about a rich merchant named Mr. Clay, trying to make a sailor's erotic legend come true by manipulating hired people. Welles later describes Mr. Clay as "a kind of director."
- French filmmaker Francois Reichenbach completes a documentary on Welles featuring footage from the making of Immortal Story. Welles dislikes the documentary, but maintains a friendly bond with Reichenbach.
- Welles casts Oja Kodar in a sea thriller called THE DEEP, but there is tension and animosity between Kodar and Jeanne Moureau, also in the film.
- He meets and befriends Bogdanovich, who has just finished his first film, TARGETS, for Roger Corman's studio, known for its low-budget exploitation films. They agree to collaborate on a book on Welles's film career.
1969
- After an Italian tabloid story about his affair with Kodar, Welles leaves Italy and moves back to the US. He also considers relocating the Hemingway story to Hollywood.
- Dennis Hopper's EASY RIDER becomes a huge hit, signaling the rise of a "New Hollywood", dominated by younger filmmakers making modest-budgeted films with complete artistic freedom.
- Richard Nixon is sworn in as president, and Welles narrates a political Lp called THE BEGATTING OF THE PRESIDENT. The program satirizes both LBJ and Nixon. The U.S. government, under Nixon, rekindles its interest in Welles's doings, including his old tax problems from the 40s.
Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1970
Winter
- Orson Welles has two film projects collapse in short order: the almost completed THE DEEP, when Jeanne Mureau refuses to dub her lines, and the TV special ORSON'S BAG, when the negative to a short abridgement of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is stolen.
- Michaelangelo Antonioni's highly anticipated first American film, ZABRISKIE POINT, about two young radicals who travel to the desert, bombs at the box office after mostly scathing reviews.
March
- Francois Reichenbach wins an Oscar for his feature length documentary on Arthur Rubenstein, LOVE OF LIFE.
- By letter, Welles is informed by his second daughter Rebecca that she has married.
May
- Reichenbach's 50-minute episode for the BBC series REVIEW, airs on the 30th. Titled ELMYR - THE TRUE PICTURE?, It concerns art forger Elmyr D'Hory, who was also the subject of a recent well-received book by American writer Clifford Irving. Right around the same time, Irving meets with publisher Richard Susskind on the Spanish island of Ibiza to hatch a plot for a fake biography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.
June
- Charles Higham's THE FILMS OF ORSON WELLES is published, angering Welles with its "fear of completion" theory, and even quoting Jeanne Mureau as saying she never received the plane tickets necessary to dub her lines for THE DEEP.
- Russ Meyer's X-rated BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS becomes a big hit for 20TH-Century Fox, although it is vilified by critics as trash. Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of Fox for decades and a good friend of Welles, is ousted shortly afterwards, the last of the "Old Hollywood" dictators to fall.
July 4
- Welles meets and hires another Roger Corman alumnus, Gary Graver, as his cinematographer. OW and Kodar redo the old screenplay about Jake Hannaford, relocating the story to Hollywood, eliminating the bullfighting angle, and adding a film-within-the-film about two young radicals, a'la Zabriskie Point.
- Welles appears in Henry Jaglom's A SAFE PLACE and provides narration for Peter Bogdanovich's documentary DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD.
August
- Welles starts shooting THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND in Hollywood. While acting for Welles, Bogdanovich writes a rebuttal to Higham's book called, "Is it True What They Say About Orson?". The article appears in The New York Times and increases publicity for Higham's book. https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/30/arch ... orson.html
- Two weeks later Higham does a mock interview with himself, disputing Bogdanovich's rebuttal, and pointing out that Bogdanovich's forthcoming interview book with Welles makes his objectivity not credible.
September
- Welles continues shooting footage for the film-within-the-film scenes of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, including scenes on the MGM back lot, plus an improvised sex scene in Graver's Mustang. Welles is heard to say, "Russ Meyer rides again!" during the filming of this scene. Peter Bogdanovich, preparing to direct his second movie, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, shoots a few scenes for Wind as "Higgam", an obnoxious writer based on Charles Higham. Welles persuades Bogdanovich to shoot The Last Picture Show in Black and White.
Fall
- To raise money for Wind, Welles does numerous narration jobs and also makes appearances on Dick Cavett, Laugh-In, and the Dean Martin show.
October
- Welles does not respond to an invitation to attend his eldest daughter Chris's wedding until one month after the wedding.
November 3rd
- Welles writes an article for Look Magazine, "But Where Are We Going?", warning about the excesses of the "New Hollywood", and criticizing Antonioni in particular as a "filmer of empty boxes." http://www.wellesnet.com/orson-welles-b ... -we-going/
November
- Welles shoots improvised B&W footage of "New Hollywood" filmmakers Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom and Paul Mazursky. He tells Jaglom that he wants John Huston to play Jake Hannaford. Welles also instructs Jaglom to imply that Hannaford is not only a homosexual, but a fascist who fought on Franco's side during the Spanish Civil War.
- Shortly afterwards, Mazursky's second film, ALEX IN WONDERLAND, a disguised autobiography about a filmmaker trying to make his next film, bombs at the box-office after bad reviews.
Winter
- Orson Welles has two film projects collapse in short order: the almost completed THE DEEP, when Jeanne Mureau refuses to dub her lines, and the TV special ORSON'S BAG, when the negative to a short abridgement of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is stolen.
- Michaelangelo Antonioni's highly anticipated first American film, ZABRISKIE POINT, about two young radicals who travel to the desert, bombs at the box office after mostly scathing reviews.
March
- Francois Reichenbach wins an Oscar for his feature length documentary on Arthur Rubenstein, LOVE OF LIFE.
- By letter, Welles is informed by his second daughter Rebecca that she has married.
May
- Reichenbach's 50-minute episode for the BBC series REVIEW, airs on the 30th. Titled ELMYR - THE TRUE PICTURE?, It concerns art forger Elmyr D'Hory, who was also the subject of a recent well-received book by American writer Clifford Irving. Right around the same time, Irving meets with publisher Richard Susskind on the Spanish island of Ibiza to hatch a plot for a fake biography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.
June
- Charles Higham's THE FILMS OF ORSON WELLES is published, angering Welles with its "fear of completion" theory, and even quoting Jeanne Mureau as saying she never received the plane tickets necessary to dub her lines for THE DEEP.
- Russ Meyer's X-rated BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS becomes a big hit for 20TH-Century Fox, although it is vilified by critics as trash. Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of Fox for decades and a good friend of Welles, is ousted shortly afterwards, the last of the "Old Hollywood" dictators to fall.
July 4
- Welles meets and hires another Roger Corman alumnus, Gary Graver, as his cinematographer. OW and Kodar redo the old screenplay about Jake Hannaford, relocating the story to Hollywood, eliminating the bullfighting angle, and adding a film-within-the-film about two young radicals, a'la Zabriskie Point.
- Welles appears in Henry Jaglom's A SAFE PLACE and provides narration for Peter Bogdanovich's documentary DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD.
August
- Welles starts shooting THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND in Hollywood. While acting for Welles, Bogdanovich writes a rebuttal to Higham's book called, "Is it True What They Say About Orson?". The article appears in The New York Times and increases publicity for Higham's book. https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/30/arch ... orson.html
- Two weeks later Higham does a mock interview with himself, disputing Bogdanovich's rebuttal, and pointing out that Bogdanovich's forthcoming interview book with Welles makes his objectivity not credible.
September
- Welles continues shooting footage for the film-within-the-film scenes of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, including scenes on the MGM back lot, plus an improvised sex scene in Graver's Mustang. Welles is heard to say, "Russ Meyer rides again!" during the filming of this scene. Peter Bogdanovich, preparing to direct his second movie, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, shoots a few scenes for Wind as "Higgam", an obnoxious writer based on Charles Higham. Welles persuades Bogdanovich to shoot The Last Picture Show in Black and White.
Fall
- To raise money for Wind, Welles does numerous narration jobs and also makes appearances on Dick Cavett, Laugh-In, and the Dean Martin show.
October
- Welles does not respond to an invitation to attend his eldest daughter Chris's wedding until one month after the wedding.
November 3rd
- Welles writes an article for Look Magazine, "But Where Are We Going?", warning about the excesses of the "New Hollywood", and criticizing Antonioni in particular as a "filmer of empty boxes." http://www.wellesnet.com/orson-welles-b ... -we-going/
November
- Welles shoots improvised B&W footage of "New Hollywood" filmmakers Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom and Paul Mazursky. He tells Jaglom that he wants John Huston to play Jake Hannaford. Welles also instructs Jaglom to imply that Hannaford is not only a homosexual, but a fascist who fought on Franco's side during the Spanish Civil War.
- Shortly afterwards, Mazursky's second film, ALEX IN WONDERLAND, a disguised autobiography about a filmmaker trying to make his next film, bombs at the box-office after bad reviews.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1971
January
- Welles guest hosts the Colgate hour (known in America as "THE KOPYKATS") where he meets and befriends impressionist Rich Little.
- To relieve his suddenly revived tax burden, Welles agrees to rework footage by Francois Reichenbach of art faker Elmyr D'Hory, for an hour-long television special. The footage includes an interview with D'Hory's biographer, Clifford Irving.
February 20
- Pauline Kael's essay RAISING KANE is published in The New Yorker, accusing Welles of stealing writing credit on CITIZEN KANE from Herman Mankewicz. An infuriated Welles discusses a possible lawsuit with his lawyer, but is advised against it.
April 15
- Welles is given a lifetime achievement Oscar, but fails to show up to accept it, even though he is in Los Angeles at the time. John Huston accepts the award for him.
May
- Frank Marshall, a friend of Bogdanovich's who had worked on TARGETS, joins the small Wind crew. Welles shoots bus footage of Hannaford's "Mafia", including Mercedes McCambridge, Paul Stewart, Edmond O'Brien, and Cameron Mitchell. He also shoots some party scenes at a rented house near Carefree AZ, next to the house used by Antonioni in Zabriskie Point. He also films some scenes at a local drive-in for the film's climax.
July
- Through September, Welles hosts a 12-film series for PBS called THE SILENT ERA, introducing:
- THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME with Lon Chaney (1923)
- BLOOD AND SAND with Rudolph Valentino (1922)
- SALLY OF THE SAWDUST by D.W. Griffith, with W.C. Fields and Glenn Anders (1925)
- ORPHANS OF THE STORM by D.W. Griffith, with Lilian Gish and Dorothy Gish, Kenny Delmar (1921)
- THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD with Douglas Fairbanks (1924)
- THE EXTRA GIRL produced by Mack Sennett, with Mabel Normand (1923)
- BELOVED ROGUE with John Barrymore and Conrad Veidt (1927)
- THE GENERAL by Buster Keaton (1925)
- THE MARK OF ZORRO with Douglas Fairbanks (1920)
- INTOLERANCE by D.W. Griffith (1916)
- SON OF THE SHIEK with Rudolph Valentino (1926)
- THE GOLD RUSH by Charlie Chaplin (1925)
August
- Bogdanovich begins shooting his third feature. WHAT'S UP DOC?, an old-fashioned screwball comedy.
September
- Dennis Hopper's follow-up to Easy Rider, THE LAST MOVIE, a semi-autobigraphical film about the making of a film in Peru, opens in New York to poor reviews and box-office.
October
- Clifford Irving announces his Hughes book to an astonished literary world. Skeptics immediately begin to question the book's authenticity.
- Peter Bogdanovich's THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is released in America to great acclaim.
- The Shah of Iran, a U.S.-installed dictator, holds an elaborate four-day celebration of the 2500th anniversary of the Persian empire, infuriating his Islamic fundamentalist opponents.
November
- According to Wiki, Filming on Wind grinds to a halt when the U.S. government, having changed the tax laws to include European earnings, decides that Welles' Swiss production company is actually a holding company, and presents him with a retroactive tax bill of $37,000.
December
- Possibly as an olive branch to the Piedras, Welles stars as Long John Silver in a British film of TREASURE ISLAND, based on his own script, and produced by Spanish distributor Andre Vincent Gomez, a loose associate of the Piedra family.
January
- Welles guest hosts the Colgate hour (known in America as "THE KOPYKATS") where he meets and befriends impressionist Rich Little.
- To relieve his suddenly revived tax burden, Welles agrees to rework footage by Francois Reichenbach of art faker Elmyr D'Hory, for an hour-long television special. The footage includes an interview with D'Hory's biographer, Clifford Irving.
February 20
- Pauline Kael's essay RAISING KANE is published in The New Yorker, accusing Welles of stealing writing credit on CITIZEN KANE from Herman Mankewicz. An infuriated Welles discusses a possible lawsuit with his lawyer, but is advised against it.
April 15
- Welles is given a lifetime achievement Oscar, but fails to show up to accept it, even though he is in Los Angeles at the time. John Huston accepts the award for him.
May
- Frank Marshall, a friend of Bogdanovich's who had worked on TARGETS, joins the small Wind crew. Welles shoots bus footage of Hannaford's "Mafia", including Mercedes McCambridge, Paul Stewart, Edmond O'Brien, and Cameron Mitchell. He also shoots some party scenes at a rented house near Carefree AZ, next to the house used by Antonioni in Zabriskie Point. He also films some scenes at a local drive-in for the film's climax.
July
- Through September, Welles hosts a 12-film series for PBS called THE SILENT ERA, introducing:
- THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME with Lon Chaney (1923)
- BLOOD AND SAND with Rudolph Valentino (1922)
- SALLY OF THE SAWDUST by D.W. Griffith, with W.C. Fields and Glenn Anders (1925)
- ORPHANS OF THE STORM by D.W. Griffith, with Lilian Gish and Dorothy Gish, Kenny Delmar (1921)
- THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD with Douglas Fairbanks (1924)
- THE EXTRA GIRL produced by Mack Sennett, with Mabel Normand (1923)
- BELOVED ROGUE with John Barrymore and Conrad Veidt (1927)
- THE GENERAL by Buster Keaton (1925)
- THE MARK OF ZORRO with Douglas Fairbanks (1920)
- INTOLERANCE by D.W. Griffith (1916)
- SON OF THE SHIEK with Rudolph Valentino (1926)
- THE GOLD RUSH by Charlie Chaplin (1925)
August
- Bogdanovich begins shooting his third feature. WHAT'S UP DOC?, an old-fashioned screwball comedy.
September
- Dennis Hopper's follow-up to Easy Rider, THE LAST MOVIE, a semi-autobigraphical film about the making of a film in Peru, opens in New York to poor reviews and box-office.
October
- Clifford Irving announces his Hughes book to an astonished literary world. Skeptics immediately begin to question the book's authenticity.
- Peter Bogdanovich's THE LAST PICTURE SHOW is released in America to great acclaim.
- The Shah of Iran, a U.S.-installed dictator, holds an elaborate four-day celebration of the 2500th anniversary of the Persian empire, infuriating his Islamic fundamentalist opponents.
November
- According to Wiki, Filming on Wind grinds to a halt when the U.S. government, having changed the tax laws to include European earnings, decides that Welles' Swiss production company is actually a holding company, and presents him with a retroactive tax bill of $37,000.
December
- Possibly as an olive branch to the Piedras, Welles stars as Long John Silver in a British film of TREASURE ISLAND, based on his own script, and produced by Spanish distributor Andre Vincent Gomez, a loose associate of the Piedra family.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1972
January 7th
- Howard Hughes calls a press conference to denounce (by telephone) Clifford Irving's book as a fake.
January 28th
- Irving pleads guilty to forgery. His wife Edith is also indicted.
- Welles and ex-wife Rita Hayworth get trashed as neglectful in a tabloid article about their daughter Rebecca, living in poverty in Washington state.
February
- Amazed by the Irving/Hughes situation, Welles decides to expand the almost-finished TV special on D'Hory into a feature length film to include the Irving hoax. He buys up Reichenbach's discarded footage of Irving and D'Hory. Andre Vicente Gómez agrees to have his production company put up some money for the expanded project.
February
- For the second time, Sight and Sound names CITIZEN KANE as the greatest film ever made. Welles's second film from 1942, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, also makes the top ten list. Welles is voted the greatest filmmaker of all time.
March
- William Friedkin's THE FRENCH CONNECTION wins the Oscar for Best Picture of the year at the Oscars, and Francis Coppola's THE GODFATHER becomes a massive success with critics and audiences
April
- Bogdanovich's WHAT'S UP DOC is released to critical acclaim and becomes the third biggest grosser of the year.
June
- Irving and his wife plead guilty and are sentenced to prison for 18 months. In a burst of inspiration, Welles creates footage of his own of the Irving/Hughes scandal and mixes it into the existing Reichenbach footage. Welles spends the rest of the year working furiously on the project.
August
- Paramount announces the Director's Company, a unit consisting of Friedkin, Coppola and Bogdanovich, designed to give them complete creative control within a certain budget. It marks the zenith of the director's power in "New Hollywood."
September
- Bogdanovich begins directing his fourth feature, PAPER MOON, after John Huston drops out of it. The Huston version would have starred Paul Newman and his daughter Nell. Paper Moon is the first film made by The Director's Company.
October
- TREASURE ISLAND receives a small release in the U.S., with Welles's performance as Long John Silver panned by critics. Welles scholar Joseph McBride calls it, "probably the worst performance of Welles's career." Andre Vincent Gomez is one of six producers credited.
November
- Richard Nixon is re-elected as president by a landslide. The war in Viet Nam continues. Welles and Joseph McBride, acting in Wind, have an argument when Welles contends that anti-war protesters are justified in committing terrorist acts.
- Welles plays the lead in a modernized TV production of the classic George Kauffman play, THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER about an obnoxious snob who refuses to leave another person's house for months. The show gets mixed reviews.
January 7th
- Howard Hughes calls a press conference to denounce (by telephone) Clifford Irving's book as a fake.
January 28th
- Irving pleads guilty to forgery. His wife Edith is also indicted.
- Welles and ex-wife Rita Hayworth get trashed as neglectful in a tabloid article about their daughter Rebecca, living in poverty in Washington state.
February
- Amazed by the Irving/Hughes situation, Welles decides to expand the almost-finished TV special on D'Hory into a feature length film to include the Irving hoax. He buys up Reichenbach's discarded footage of Irving and D'Hory. Andre Vicente Gómez agrees to have his production company put up some money for the expanded project.
February
- For the second time, Sight and Sound names CITIZEN KANE as the greatest film ever made. Welles's second film from 1942, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, also makes the top ten list. Welles is voted the greatest filmmaker of all time.
March
- William Friedkin's THE FRENCH CONNECTION wins the Oscar for Best Picture of the year at the Oscars, and Francis Coppola's THE GODFATHER becomes a massive success with critics and audiences
April
- Bogdanovich's WHAT'S UP DOC is released to critical acclaim and becomes the third biggest grosser of the year.
June
- Irving and his wife plead guilty and are sentenced to prison for 18 months. In a burst of inspiration, Welles creates footage of his own of the Irving/Hughes scandal and mixes it into the existing Reichenbach footage. Welles spends the rest of the year working furiously on the project.
August
- Paramount announces the Director's Company, a unit consisting of Friedkin, Coppola and Bogdanovich, designed to give them complete creative control within a certain budget. It marks the zenith of the director's power in "New Hollywood."
September
- Bogdanovich begins directing his fourth feature, PAPER MOON, after John Huston drops out of it. The Huston version would have starred Paul Newman and his daughter Nell. Paper Moon is the first film made by The Director's Company.
October
- TREASURE ISLAND receives a small release in the U.S., with Welles's performance as Long John Silver panned by critics. Welles scholar Joseph McBride calls it, "probably the worst performance of Welles's career." Andre Vincent Gomez is one of six producers credited.
November
- Richard Nixon is re-elected as president by a landslide. The war in Viet Nam continues. Welles and Joseph McBride, acting in Wind, have an argument when Welles contends that anti-war protesters are justified in committing terrorist acts.
- Welles plays the lead in a modernized TV production of the classic George Kauffman play, THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER about an obnoxious snob who refuses to leave another person's house for months. The show gets mixed reviews.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1973
January
- Welles continues to work furiously on the expanded D'Hory project. Welles and Graver also shoot footage for several educational films by the Sears Company. The films are later issued for a prototype laserdisc player by Magnavox called Magnavision.
May 15th
- An auspicious start to The Director's Company, Bogdanovich's PAPER MOON is released to great critical acclaim and becomes his third smash hit in a row. He is now one of the hottest directors of the "New Hollywood".
June
- Paul Theroux's novel SAINT JACK is published. Welles is impressed with it and tells Bogdanovich it would make a great movie. As part of the Director's Company, Welles prepares a script for a film of Joseph Conrad's novel, VICTORY, to star Ryan O'Neal and Oja Kodar.
July
- Gomez helps negotiate a deal for Welles with the Iranian-owned, Paris-based "Les Films de l'Astrophore", to help finance both the expanded D'Hory project and THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. As part of the deal, Gomez agrees to act as intermediary between Welles and Dominique Antione, the Iranians' French representative at Astrophore. Also, Welles agrees to narrate a documentary praising the Shah of Iran, whose brother-in-law, Mehdi Bouscheri, is the owner of Astrophore. While negotiating in Paris, Welles and Graver shoot scenes of Lilli Palmer as Sara Valeska for TOSOTW, after Marlene Dietrich declines the role.
August
- John Ford dies five months after receiving the first AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, his last public act declaring "God bless Richard Nixon", at the AFI ceremony.
- Avenel, Welles and Kodar's production company, signs an agreement with Gomez's production company and with Astrophore under which Orson and Oja's interest in the film is $750,000, while the Iranians and the Gomez's production company are each obligated to provide $150,000 toward completion of the movie.
September
- An early version of the D'Hory project, tentatively called "?", has its world premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival in the Basque country, although other sources say the premiere takes place in Tehran.
October
- The Shah further infuriates his fundamentalist opposition in Iran when he supplies Israel with oil after it is attacked by other Arab countries. Gas prices triple in the U.S., and the Shah becomes richer, expanding his modernization plans, including Astrophore.
November
- Scandal over the Watergate burglary explodes in the press after Nixon refuses to turn over tape recordings made in the White House. The scandal will end his presidency the following summer.
December
- As his second film for The Director's Company, Bogdanovich completes the shooting of his fifth feature, DAISY MILLER, with his girlfriend Cybill Shepard, after Welles declines his offer to direct. Welles had told Bogdanovich that Shepard was born to play Daisy. Bogdanovich's decision to make Daisy with his girlfriend angers William Friedkin, who considers it too risky. Friedkin, riding high from the runaway success of THE EXORCIST, also feels stifled by the budget limit the Director's Company agreement imposes.
January
- Welles continues to work furiously on the expanded D'Hory project. Welles and Graver also shoot footage for several educational films by the Sears Company. The films are later issued for a prototype laserdisc player by Magnavox called Magnavision.
May 15th
- An auspicious start to The Director's Company, Bogdanovich's PAPER MOON is released to great critical acclaim and becomes his third smash hit in a row. He is now one of the hottest directors of the "New Hollywood".
June
- Paul Theroux's novel SAINT JACK is published. Welles is impressed with it and tells Bogdanovich it would make a great movie. As part of the Director's Company, Welles prepares a script for a film of Joseph Conrad's novel, VICTORY, to star Ryan O'Neal and Oja Kodar.
July
- Gomez helps negotiate a deal for Welles with the Iranian-owned, Paris-based "Les Films de l'Astrophore", to help finance both the expanded D'Hory project and THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. As part of the deal, Gomez agrees to act as intermediary between Welles and Dominique Antione, the Iranians' French representative at Astrophore. Also, Welles agrees to narrate a documentary praising the Shah of Iran, whose brother-in-law, Mehdi Bouscheri, is the owner of Astrophore. While negotiating in Paris, Welles and Graver shoot scenes of Lilli Palmer as Sara Valeska for TOSOTW, after Marlene Dietrich declines the role.
August
- John Ford dies five months after receiving the first AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, his last public act declaring "God bless Richard Nixon", at the AFI ceremony.
- Avenel, Welles and Kodar's production company, signs an agreement with Gomez's production company and with Astrophore under which Orson and Oja's interest in the film is $750,000, while the Iranians and the Gomez's production company are each obligated to provide $150,000 toward completion of the movie.
September
- An early version of the D'Hory project, tentatively called "?", has its world premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival in the Basque country, although other sources say the premiere takes place in Tehran.
October
- The Shah further infuriates his fundamentalist opposition in Iran when he supplies Israel with oil after it is attacked by other Arab countries. Gas prices triple in the U.S., and the Shah becomes richer, expanding his modernization plans, including Astrophore.
November
- Scandal over the Watergate burglary explodes in the press after Nixon refuses to turn over tape recordings made in the White House. The scandal will end his presidency the following summer.
December
- As his second film for The Director's Company, Bogdanovich completes the shooting of his fifth feature, DAISY MILLER, with his girlfriend Cybill Shepard, after Welles declines his offer to direct. Welles had told Bogdanovich that Shepard was born to play Daisy. Bogdanovich's decision to make Daisy with his girlfriend angers William Friedkin, who considers it too risky. Friedkin, riding high from the runaway success of THE EXORCIST, also feels stifled by the budget limit the Director's Company agreement imposes.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1974
January
- Welles suddenly adds several characters to the Wind script, including Dr. Bouroghs, Billy Boyle, Mavis Hensher, Jack Simon, and The Baron. Mavis is clearly based on Bogdanovich's girlfriend, Cybil Shepard.
February
- With the first installment of Iranian money, Welles casts John Huston and shoots for six weeks in Carefree, Arizona, with Rich Little playing Brooks Otterlake. Little drops out of the project after three weeks and is replaced by Peter Bogdanovich. Wind's Spanish producer, Andre Vincent Gomez later comments bitterly, "I've replaced actors after one or two weeks, but after seven weeks? It's impossible!" During refilming of scenes with Bogdanovich as Otterlake, Welles requests that Bogdanovich finish the film if anything happen to the elder filmmaker.
March
- Welles's old nemesis and former partner, John Houseman, wins an Oscar for his performance in The Paper Chase.
April
- Gomez drops out of the project and is accused by Welles of embezzling money from the film. Filming stops.
- Francis Coppola's THE CONVERSATION is the second Director's Company film to be released, and gets high critical praise and good box office. But Friedkin is angered by the film, considering it a rip-off of Antonioni's BLOW-UP.
May
- Bogdanovich's DAISY MILLER is released and becomes his first critical and box office flop. The film's failure spells a quick end for The Director's Company, which ends in bitterness, taking Welles's Conrad film with it.
- A warrant is issued for Andre Vincent Gomez's arrest by Arizona police for failure to pay hotel bills near Carefree, but Gomez is already back in Spain, never to return.
June
- Welles abandons Carefree AZ and moves the production to Bogdanovich's home near Hollywood.
Summer
- John Huston directs a passion project of his, THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING while on break from shooting WIND. He also receives critical raves for his performance as Noah Cross in Polanski's recently released CHINATOWN.
- Bogdanovich begins directing his sixth feature, a musical called AT LONG LAST LOVE, forced to use Burt Reynolds under studio pressure, even though Reynolds has no musical experience.
- Sam Peckinpah's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA opens in theaters. Welles, still filming sporadically at Bogdanovich's Bel-air home with little money, is heard to say at times, when angry, "Bring me the head of Andres Gomez!".
August
- A legal agreement dissolves Orson's partnership with everyone but Astrophore, and specifies that [Gómez's] company "failed to" provide its own investment of $150,000 and also had failed to open a production account as it had been obligated to do under the 1973 agreement. Additionally, it claims that the producer's company had misappropriated a whole or substantial part of the money received from Astrophore.
September 1st
- "?", now retitled F FOR FAKE, has its American debut at the NYFF
October
- To make ends meet, Welles's cameraman, Gary Graver, directs a porn film with Georgina Spelvin called 3AM. Welles, in order to free up Graver for work on TOSOTW, edits a lesbian shower scene for 3AM.
November
- Stafford Repp becomes the first cast member to die, of heart failure at age 56.
December
- Welles is informed that he will be the third recipient of the AFI's lifetime acheivement award. Hoping to use the occasion to get financing to complete Wind, he flies to Rome and edits several TOSOTW sequences with Sophie-Marie Dubus, the editor of F FOR FAKE.
January
- Welles suddenly adds several characters to the Wind script, including Dr. Bouroghs, Billy Boyle, Mavis Hensher, Jack Simon, and The Baron. Mavis is clearly based on Bogdanovich's girlfriend, Cybil Shepard.
February
- With the first installment of Iranian money, Welles casts John Huston and shoots for six weeks in Carefree, Arizona, with Rich Little playing Brooks Otterlake. Little drops out of the project after three weeks and is replaced by Peter Bogdanovich. Wind's Spanish producer, Andre Vincent Gomez later comments bitterly, "I've replaced actors after one or two weeks, but after seven weeks? It's impossible!" During refilming of scenes with Bogdanovich as Otterlake, Welles requests that Bogdanovich finish the film if anything happen to the elder filmmaker.
March
- Welles's old nemesis and former partner, John Houseman, wins an Oscar for his performance in The Paper Chase.
April
- Gomez drops out of the project and is accused by Welles of embezzling money from the film. Filming stops.
- Francis Coppola's THE CONVERSATION is the second Director's Company film to be released, and gets high critical praise and good box office. But Friedkin is angered by the film, considering it a rip-off of Antonioni's BLOW-UP.
May
- Bogdanovich's DAISY MILLER is released and becomes his first critical and box office flop. The film's failure spells a quick end for The Director's Company, which ends in bitterness, taking Welles's Conrad film with it.
- A warrant is issued for Andre Vincent Gomez's arrest by Arizona police for failure to pay hotel bills near Carefree, but Gomez is already back in Spain, never to return.
June
- Welles abandons Carefree AZ and moves the production to Bogdanovich's home near Hollywood.
Summer
- John Huston directs a passion project of his, THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING while on break from shooting WIND. He also receives critical raves for his performance as Noah Cross in Polanski's recently released CHINATOWN.
- Bogdanovich begins directing his sixth feature, a musical called AT LONG LAST LOVE, forced to use Burt Reynolds under studio pressure, even though Reynolds has no musical experience.
- Sam Peckinpah's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA opens in theaters. Welles, still filming sporadically at Bogdanovich's Bel-air home with little money, is heard to say at times, when angry, "Bring me the head of Andres Gomez!".
August
- A legal agreement dissolves Orson's partnership with everyone but Astrophore, and specifies that [Gómez's] company "failed to" provide its own investment of $150,000 and also had failed to open a production account as it had been obligated to do under the 1973 agreement. Additionally, it claims that the producer's company had misappropriated a whole or substantial part of the money received from Astrophore.
September 1st
- "?", now retitled F FOR FAKE, has its American debut at the NYFF
October
- To make ends meet, Welles's cameraman, Gary Graver, directs a porn film with Georgina Spelvin called 3AM. Welles, in order to free up Graver for work on TOSOTW, edits a lesbian shower scene for 3AM.
November
- Stafford Repp becomes the first cast member to die, of heart failure at age 56.
December
- Welles is informed that he will be the third recipient of the AFI's lifetime acheivement award. Hoping to use the occasion to get financing to complete Wind, he flies to Rome and edits several TOSOTW sequences with Sophie-Marie Dubus, the editor of F FOR FAKE.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1975
February 11
- Hoping to get end money from a Hollywood investor, Welles shows two sequences from the film at the ceremony for his AFI Lifetime Acheivement Award. AFI tries to veto the idea, but Welles refuses to show up unless they budge. He shows the scenes, but no money is offered from anyone.
- Welles also shoots more scenes for TOSOTW at Peter Bogdanovich's Bel-air home, and mocks Bogdanovich, who is away promoting his musical ("If I owned a place like this I'd be having parties every night! Peter just sits around like an old man who can't get it up anymore").
March
- F FOR FAKE is released in France as VERITES & MENSONGES ("Truths and Lies"), and gets a good reception.
- Bogdanovich's AT LONG LAST LOVE opens in America to brutal reviews and poor box office.
April
- Welles appears on Tommorrow with Tom Snyder and declares TOSOTW to be pretty much finished, except for a few pickup shots.
- Soon after, Gary Graver is hospitalized from overwork on the film.
- Antonioni's latest film, THE PASSENGER, starring Jack Nicholson, opens to mixed reviews from critics, and modest box office. He will live another 32 years, but make only three more films, none of which gets an American release.
May
- Welles, shortly after his 60th birthday, moves back into Bogdanovich's Bel-air home and continues shooting TOSOTW there, including the footage of midgets. Welles also changes the Wind script to include a new, Hemingway-esque character, a reporter named Lou Martino. John Caroll is hired to play the part.
- Welles also completes the filming of another newly added character: a 14-year-old girl who has a suggestive exchange with Oja Kodar's character in the bathroom of a seedy hippy bar.
- According to Cybil Shepard, Welles accidentally starts a small fire at Bogdanovich's house when he puts a lit cigar in his pocket.
June 20
- Steven Spielberg's JAWS, produced by Darryl Zanuck's son Richard, is released and becomes a runaway blockbuster, spelling the beginning of the end for the personal cinema of New Hollywood.
- Suddenly realizing that his satire of New Hollywood is becoming obsolete, an exasperated Welles fires his entire Wind crew after they balk at coming back at noon after an all-night shoot. He later hires most of them back.
July
- To quell unrest among his subjects, The Shah dials back his modernization plans, and the expenditures of Astrophore begin being monitored by Iranian bankers.
- Welles complains about Astrophore's decision to stop sending money until Welles meets with them.
August
- After many delays, Bogdanovich's 7th feature, NICKELODEON, begins filming. However Columbia Pictures refuses to let Cybil Shepherd play the female lead out of fear of a public backlash against her, following the poor box office performance of DAISY MILLER and AT LONG LAST LOVE. Brian Keith plays the part Bogdanovich wanted Welles to play, after Welles declines the role over money, causing friction with Bogdanovich, who shortly afterwards asks Welles to leave his house. Bogdanovich also puts pressure on Astrophore to repay the $17,000 in loans he had made to Welles for the making of Wind.
September
- Welles's older brother Richard dies from pneumonia, aged 69.
October
- To raise desperately needed money, Welles shoots several commercials for the Japanese whiskey company, Nikka.
He also spends an enormous amount of time and effort editing the scene set in the seedy hippy bar where Oja changes her clothes in front of the fourteen-year-old girl. The edited scene is later lost.
December
- Huston's THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING is released to great acclaim and becomes a box-office success.
February 11
- Hoping to get end money from a Hollywood investor, Welles shows two sequences from the film at the ceremony for his AFI Lifetime Acheivement Award. AFI tries to veto the idea, but Welles refuses to show up unless they budge. He shows the scenes, but no money is offered from anyone.
- Welles also shoots more scenes for TOSOTW at Peter Bogdanovich's Bel-air home, and mocks Bogdanovich, who is away promoting his musical ("If I owned a place like this I'd be having parties every night! Peter just sits around like an old man who can't get it up anymore").
March
- F FOR FAKE is released in France as VERITES & MENSONGES ("Truths and Lies"), and gets a good reception.
- Bogdanovich's AT LONG LAST LOVE opens in America to brutal reviews and poor box office.
April
- Welles appears on Tommorrow with Tom Snyder and declares TOSOTW to be pretty much finished, except for a few pickup shots.
- Soon after, Gary Graver is hospitalized from overwork on the film.
- Antonioni's latest film, THE PASSENGER, starring Jack Nicholson, opens to mixed reviews from critics, and modest box office. He will live another 32 years, but make only three more films, none of which gets an American release.
May
- Welles, shortly after his 60th birthday, moves back into Bogdanovich's Bel-air home and continues shooting TOSOTW there, including the footage of midgets. Welles also changes the Wind script to include a new, Hemingway-esque character, a reporter named Lou Martino. John Caroll is hired to play the part.
- Welles also completes the filming of another newly added character: a 14-year-old girl who has a suggestive exchange with Oja Kodar's character in the bathroom of a seedy hippy bar.
- According to Cybil Shepard, Welles accidentally starts a small fire at Bogdanovich's house when he puts a lit cigar in his pocket.
June 20
- Steven Spielberg's JAWS, produced by Darryl Zanuck's son Richard, is released and becomes a runaway blockbuster, spelling the beginning of the end for the personal cinema of New Hollywood.
- Suddenly realizing that his satire of New Hollywood is becoming obsolete, an exasperated Welles fires his entire Wind crew after they balk at coming back at noon after an all-night shoot. He later hires most of them back.
July
- To quell unrest among his subjects, The Shah dials back his modernization plans, and the expenditures of Astrophore begin being monitored by Iranian bankers.
- Welles complains about Astrophore's decision to stop sending money until Welles meets with them.
August
- After many delays, Bogdanovich's 7th feature, NICKELODEON, begins filming. However Columbia Pictures refuses to let Cybil Shepherd play the female lead out of fear of a public backlash against her, following the poor box office performance of DAISY MILLER and AT LONG LAST LOVE. Brian Keith plays the part Bogdanovich wanted Welles to play, after Welles declines the role over money, causing friction with Bogdanovich, who shortly afterwards asks Welles to leave his house. Bogdanovich also puts pressure on Astrophore to repay the $17,000 in loans he had made to Welles for the making of Wind.
September
- Welles's older brother Richard dies from pneumonia, aged 69.
October
- To raise desperately needed money, Welles shoots several commercials for the Japanese whiskey company, Nikka.
He also spends an enormous amount of time and effort editing the scene set in the seedy hippy bar where Oja changes her clothes in front of the fourteen-year-old girl. The edited scene is later lost.
December
- Huston's THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING is released to great acclaim and becomes a box-office success.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1976
January/February
- Principal photography wraps on TOSOTW, with the final shooting sessions, including the Lou Martino character leading party-goers in a chorus of "Glo-worm", done at Bogdanovich's Bel-air home.
- Welles makes the first of several 1976 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
March
- ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST wins Best Picture at the Oscars. Jack Nicholson wins Best Actor. Welles befriends Nicholson who tells Welles he'll happy to play any part for him.
April 18
- Charles Higham's article THE FILM THAT ORSON WELLES HAS BEEN FINISHING FOR SIX YEARS is published in The New York Times, ridiculing Welles once again for his "fear of completion.". Higham's article also repeats a story about Welles shooting midgets on the roof that Rich Little had told on a talk show. Welles complains the Higham retelling makes him look "certifiable."
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/18/arch ... -will.html
May
- F FOR FAKE has a small arthouse release in America, where it does poorly after a mixed reception from critics. Welles calls the poor reception, "One of the great shocks of my life. I really thought I was on to something."
June
- Now worried about his investment, Boushehri orders Coopers and Lybrand to do a full audit of both Astrophore and the production of The Wind. The audits repeat the accusation that producer Gomez misappropriated money he was supposed to transmit from Astrophore to Orson. However, much guesswork is needed due to Welles's shoddy accounting practices and his habit of working on several projects at once. The audit concludes that less then half of the money given by the Iranians to Welles was used for the production of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. As a result, Boushehri refuses to allow the Wind material to be distributed or moved from Paris until he gets his investment back.
July
- Norman Foster dies of cancer, aged 72.
- The film's French producer, Dominique Antoine, provides Welles with three solutions for buying out the Iranians in order to finish the picture, but none of them are accepted.
August
- Cybill Shepard settles a lawsuit with Playboy magazine over nude photos. As part of the settlement, she gets the rights to Thoreux's SAINT JACK novel in order to have Welles direct it. Hefner and Bogdanovich agree to co-produce and, at Welles's request, Jack Nicholson is lined up to play the title role.
September
- Welles and Kodar write a script with author Donald Freed about Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy, but financing on the project falls through.
December
- Faced with extradition to stand trial in France, Elmyr D'Hory commits suicide. Welles is thrown into a black depression by this.
- Bogdanovich's NICKELODEON opens to mediocre reviews and poor box office, Bogdanovich's third flop in a row.
January/February
- Principal photography wraps on TOSOTW, with the final shooting sessions, including the Lou Martino character leading party-goers in a chorus of "Glo-worm", done at Bogdanovich's Bel-air home.
- Welles makes the first of several 1976 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
March
- ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST wins Best Picture at the Oscars. Jack Nicholson wins Best Actor. Welles befriends Nicholson who tells Welles he'll happy to play any part for him.
April 18
- Charles Higham's article THE FILM THAT ORSON WELLES HAS BEEN FINISHING FOR SIX YEARS is published in The New York Times, ridiculing Welles once again for his "fear of completion.". Higham's article also repeats a story about Welles shooting midgets on the roof that Rich Little had told on a talk show. Welles complains the Higham retelling makes him look "certifiable."
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/18/arch ... -will.html
May
- F FOR FAKE has a small arthouse release in America, where it does poorly after a mixed reception from critics. Welles calls the poor reception, "One of the great shocks of my life. I really thought I was on to something."
June
- Now worried about his investment, Boushehri orders Coopers and Lybrand to do a full audit of both Astrophore and the production of The Wind. The audits repeat the accusation that producer Gomez misappropriated money he was supposed to transmit from Astrophore to Orson. However, much guesswork is needed due to Welles's shoddy accounting practices and his habit of working on several projects at once. The audit concludes that less then half of the money given by the Iranians to Welles was used for the production of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. As a result, Boushehri refuses to allow the Wind material to be distributed or moved from Paris until he gets his investment back.
July
- Norman Foster dies of cancer, aged 72.
- The film's French producer, Dominique Antoine, provides Welles with three solutions for buying out the Iranians in order to finish the picture, but none of them are accepted.
August
- Cybill Shepard settles a lawsuit with Playboy magazine over nude photos. As part of the settlement, she gets the rights to Thoreux's SAINT JACK novel in order to have Welles direct it. Hefner and Bogdanovich agree to co-produce and, at Welles's request, Jack Nicholson is lined up to play the title role.
September
- Welles and Kodar write a script with author Donald Freed about Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy, but financing on the project falls through.
December
- Faced with extradition to stand trial in France, Elmyr D'Hory commits suicide. Welles is thrown into a black depression by this.
- Bogdanovich's NICKELODEON opens to mediocre reviews and poor box office, Bogdanovich's third flop in a row.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1977
January
- After Welles changes his mind about Jack Nicholson for the lead in SAINT JACK and decides he wants Dean Martin instead, Bogdanovich and Hugh Hefner angrily remove him from the project, and Bogdanovich agrees to direct, further straining his friendship with Welles.
February
- With the money from narration, TV appearances, and acting jobs, Welles purchases a home in Sedona, AZ, 100 miles from Carefree, for his wife, Paola, and their 22-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
March
- The low-budget film ROCKY wins Best Picture at the Oscars. Welles describes the film as "amazing" to his daughter Beatrice.
- Famed director Roman Polanski is arrested on a charge of drugging and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl.
April 13
- Welles goes on The Tonight Show with guest host Burt Reynolds. The two take shots at Bogdanovich. Bogdanovich writes a letter of complaint to Welles. Welles writes two letters back; one apologizing, the other justifying his actions.
May 25th
- George Lucas' STAR WARS, an old-fashioned space opera, opens and becomes a box office phenomenon, further accelerating the decline of New Hollywood. William Friedkin, worried about his big-budget thriller, SORCERER, scheduled to open the next weekend, goes to see Star Wars to see what all the fuss is about. At the end of it, he exclaims, "Oh God, I'm doomed!"
June
- Welles and Oja Kodar break off their relationship.
September
- The Shah begins a propaganda war across the Iranian media with the Ayatolla Khomieni, living in exile in Iraq. In this stricter atmosphere, Astrophore falls more and more under the control of the Iranian bankers, who demand a final budget and final completion date from Welles. The negative for Wind is stored in a Paris vault by Bousheri and Astrophore until ownership and a definite completion plan can be determined.
October
- In response, Welles writes an impassioned letter to Bousheri, saying he forfeited $2 million in job opportunities over the last four years trying to finish THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, and that the failure to finish the film is becoming a lethal blow to his reputation and career.
November
- Welles is given a lucrative offer from George Lucas about narrating an audio-only version of STAR WARS for Lp, but turns it down. Roscoe Lee Brown narrates instead.
January
- After Welles changes his mind about Jack Nicholson for the lead in SAINT JACK and decides he wants Dean Martin instead, Bogdanovich and Hugh Hefner angrily remove him from the project, and Bogdanovich agrees to direct, further straining his friendship with Welles.
February
- With the money from narration, TV appearances, and acting jobs, Welles purchases a home in Sedona, AZ, 100 miles from Carefree, for his wife, Paola, and their 22-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
March
- The low-budget film ROCKY wins Best Picture at the Oscars. Welles describes the film as "amazing" to his daughter Beatrice.
- Famed director Roman Polanski is arrested on a charge of drugging and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl.
April 13
- Welles goes on The Tonight Show with guest host Burt Reynolds. The two take shots at Bogdanovich. Bogdanovich writes a letter of complaint to Welles. Welles writes two letters back; one apologizing, the other justifying his actions.
May 25th
- George Lucas' STAR WARS, an old-fashioned space opera, opens and becomes a box office phenomenon, further accelerating the decline of New Hollywood. William Friedkin, worried about his big-budget thriller, SORCERER, scheduled to open the next weekend, goes to see Star Wars to see what all the fuss is about. At the end of it, he exclaims, "Oh God, I'm doomed!"
June
- Welles and Oja Kodar break off their relationship.
September
- The Shah begins a propaganda war across the Iranian media with the Ayatolla Khomieni, living in exile in Iraq. In this stricter atmosphere, Astrophore falls more and more under the control of the Iranian bankers, who demand a final budget and final completion date from Welles. The negative for Wind is stored in a Paris vault by Bousheri and Astrophore until ownership and a definite completion plan can be determined.
October
- In response, Welles writes an impassioned letter to Bousheri, saying he forfeited $2 million in job opportunities over the last four years trying to finish THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, and that the failure to finish the film is becoming a lethal blow to his reputation and career.
November
- Welles is given a lucrative offer from George Lucas about narrating an audio-only version of STAR WARS for Lp, but turns it down. Roscoe Lee Brown narrates instead.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1978
February
- Desperate for the money to regain control of Wind, Welles signs a contract and begins appearing in commercials for Paul Masson wine. He rationalizes, "I'd rather do an honest commercial than a dishonest movie."
March
- ANNIE HALL wins Best Picture at the Oscars; written, directed by and starring Woody Allen. Allen wins writing and directing Oscars. Allen shortly afterwards calls Ingmar Bergman "the one true genius in film". Welles says he would rather die then sit through one of Bergman's films. Bergman later calls Welles "terribly overrated."
May
- Bogdanovich begins shooting SAINT JACK in Singapore with Ben Gazarra in the title role. During the shoot, he has an affair with one of the film's actresses, ending what's left of his relationship with Shepard.
August
- The Shah, in declining health due to cancer, imposes martial law to quell growing demonstrations.
September
- Welles begins THE ORSON WELLES SHOW a pilot talk show that does not sell. Guests include Burt Reynolds and Jim Henson's Muppets.
November
- At the urging of Canadian actress Suzanne Cloutier, who played Desdemona in Welles's film of OTHELLO, Canadian ambassador to Iran, James George, works up a plan to buy out the Iranians and give Welles ten months to complete the film. Welles expresses no interest in the offer.
December
- The Orson Welles hosted film, THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH, based on the bestselling book about biblical prophecy, receives a small release in the U.S., and is generally dismissed by critics.
February
- Desperate for the money to regain control of Wind, Welles signs a contract and begins appearing in commercials for Paul Masson wine. He rationalizes, "I'd rather do an honest commercial than a dishonest movie."
March
- ANNIE HALL wins Best Picture at the Oscars; written, directed by and starring Woody Allen. Allen wins writing and directing Oscars. Allen shortly afterwards calls Ingmar Bergman "the one true genius in film". Welles says he would rather die then sit through one of Bergman's films. Bergman later calls Welles "terribly overrated."
May
- Bogdanovich begins shooting SAINT JACK in Singapore with Ben Gazarra in the title role. During the shoot, he has an affair with one of the film's actresses, ending what's left of his relationship with Shepard.
August
- The Shah, in declining health due to cancer, imposes martial law to quell growing demonstrations.
September
- Welles begins THE ORSON WELLES SHOW a pilot talk show that does not sell. Guests include Burt Reynolds and Jim Henson's Muppets.
November
- At the urging of Canadian actress Suzanne Cloutier, who played Desdemona in Welles's film of OTHELLO, Canadian ambassador to Iran, James George, works up a plan to buy out the Iranians and give Welles ten months to complete the film. Welles expresses no interest in the offer.
December
- The Orson Welles hosted film, THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH, based on the bestselling book about biblical prophecy, receives a small release in the U.S., and is generally dismissed by critics.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1979
January
- Welles completes FILMING OTHELLO, a small-budgeted essay film made for German television to appease the Janus company, a minor investor in TOSOTW who had complained about their Wind investment going down the drain. The film is shown that June in Germany, but receives only a very small release in America.
February - According to Wiki, Welles has edited about 30-35 more minutes of Wind using workprint footage, in addition to the 5-6 minutes already edited in 1975 for the AFI award ceremony. This makes a total of about 40 minutes of footage edited in the three years since the filming finished in early 1976.
March
- THE DEER HUNTER, considered a New Hollywood film and set in Viet Nam, wins best picture at the Oscars. Michael Cimino wins best director, and is courted by Hollywood studios as one of the hottest new directors. He quickly signs a contract to make a western called HEAVEN'S GATE.
May
- Bogdanovich's SAINT JACK opens to modest box office but respectable reviews.
August
- Revolution in Iran overthrows the Shah, who flees to New York for asylum and continued cancer treatments. The U.S. Embassy is seized. The overthrow brings more funding trouble and the rights to Wind "slip into oblivion." During this time, Welles's weight reportedly balloons to an estimated 400 pounds, and he becomes the butt of fat jokes by comedians.
- Leading New Hollywood director Francis Coppola's long-awaited APOCALYPSE NOW opens, based on Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS, which Orson Welles had wanted to make as his first film in 1940. Dennis Hopper, struggling with drug addiction, has his first significant role in years for the film.
September
- The AFI offers a multi-session workshop called "Working With Orson Welles". Welles talks extensively about Wind and blames its travails on Bousheri. He also laments, in good humor, that "it's hard to imagine a career more littered with sensational catastrophes than mine."
October
- Trying to woo Oja back, Welles tries to interest financiers in a screenplay based on THE DREAMERS by Isak Dineson, to star Oja, and receives several generous offers from Hollywood studios to make the picture, but only if he replaces Oja Kodar with a bigger star. Welles refuses and the project collapses.
November
- Making good money from the Paul Masson commercials, Welles purchases a home near Las Vegas for his wife Paola and daughter Beatrice. He also begins appearing regularly on the Merv Griffin Show, which is filmed in Vegas. He also purchases a home in Los Angeles and a villa in Croatia for himself and Oja Kodar.
December
- The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, and Welles narrates a propaganda film for his friend Charles Fawcett praising Afghan resistance fighters, who are led by Osama Bin Laden.
January
- Welles completes FILMING OTHELLO, a small-budgeted essay film made for German television to appease the Janus company, a minor investor in TOSOTW who had complained about their Wind investment going down the drain. The film is shown that June in Germany, but receives only a very small release in America.
February - According to Wiki, Welles has edited about 30-35 more minutes of Wind using workprint footage, in addition to the 5-6 minutes already edited in 1975 for the AFI award ceremony. This makes a total of about 40 minutes of footage edited in the three years since the filming finished in early 1976.
March
- THE DEER HUNTER, considered a New Hollywood film and set in Viet Nam, wins best picture at the Oscars. Michael Cimino wins best director, and is courted by Hollywood studios as one of the hottest new directors. He quickly signs a contract to make a western called HEAVEN'S GATE.
May
- Bogdanovich's SAINT JACK opens to modest box office but respectable reviews.
August
- Revolution in Iran overthrows the Shah, who flees to New York for asylum and continued cancer treatments. The U.S. Embassy is seized. The overthrow brings more funding trouble and the rights to Wind "slip into oblivion." During this time, Welles's weight reportedly balloons to an estimated 400 pounds, and he becomes the butt of fat jokes by comedians.
- Leading New Hollywood director Francis Coppola's long-awaited APOCALYPSE NOW opens, based on Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS, which Orson Welles had wanted to make as his first film in 1940. Dennis Hopper, struggling with drug addiction, has his first significant role in years for the film.
September
- The AFI offers a multi-session workshop called "Working With Orson Welles". Welles talks extensively about Wind and blames its travails on Bousheri. He also laments, in good humor, that "it's hard to imagine a career more littered with sensational catastrophes than mine."
October
- Trying to woo Oja back, Welles tries to interest financiers in a screenplay based on THE DREAMERS by Isak Dineson, to star Oja, and receives several generous offers from Hollywood studios to make the picture, but only if he replaces Oja Kodar with a bigger star. Welles refuses and the project collapses.
November
- Making good money from the Paul Masson commercials, Welles purchases a home near Las Vegas for his wife Paola and daughter Beatrice. He also begins appearing regularly on the Merv Griffin Show, which is filmed in Vegas. He also purchases a home in Los Angeles and a villa in Croatia for himself and Oja Kodar.
December
- The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, and Welles narrates a propaganda film for his friend Charles Fawcett praising Afghan resistance fighters, who are led by Osama Bin Laden.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1980s
1980
- Hoping to demonstrate that Kodar is a viable choice to star in THE DREAMERS, a few scenes from the screenplay are filmed in Welles and Kodar's Hollywood home. No interest is shown from financiers.
- Paola and Beatrice discover one of Welles's love letters to Oja and kick him out of their Vegas home.
1981
- The new Iranian regime of the Ayatollah Khomenei declares the negative of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND to be "worthless". Welles later says it was the only time he was ever happy to hear his work declared worthless.
- Wind producer Frank Marshall begins working with Spielberg and Lucas as producer of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the first of many hugely successful collaborations. At the premiere, Marshall is asked why he switched allegiance from Welles to Lucas/Spielberg. Marshall reportedly replies, "Because Lucas and Spielberg actually finish their films."
1982
- In March, Welles does a lengthy interview with the BBC, summarizing his illustrious career in film.
- On June 10th, Spielberg buys the Citizen Kane Rosebud sled at auction for $55K. The next day, his film ET: THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL opens to rapturous reviews and record-breaking box office. A few days later, Welles humiliates Spielberg by publicly declaring his opinion that the sled Spielberg bought was a fake.
- On July 23rd, The Twilight Zone tragedy kills three people, including two children. An omnibus film co-directed by Spielberg and John Landis, and produced by Frank Marshall. The next year, Landis is indicted on manslaughter charges.
- Welles goes to Paris to try and get the TOSOTW negative back from the Iranians. The courts rule in his favor, but also demand that he finish the film in France, which Welles refuses because of his lucrative commercial contracts in America.
1983
- Welles writes an original screenplay about politics called THE BIG BRASS RING, but is unable to convince a bankable actor to star in it, with the exception of Warren Beatty, who insists on final cut. Welles declines, and the project collapses.
- Charles Higham's second Welles book, THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN GENIUS, is published, and opines that F FOR FAKE is the reason why Wind was not finished ('Just when THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND required his undivided attention, Welles frittered away his energies on an academic exercise called F FOR FAKE.")
1984
- Welles tells his own version of the Wind debacle to author Barbra Leaming, who is writing a biography on him. The book is published in September of the following year, and becomes a bestseller, shortly before Welles's death.
- He writes a screenplay for THE CRADLE WILL ROCK to star Spielberg's wife Amy Irving, but Spielberg himself shows no interest in investing in it. John Landis, recently indicted in the Twilight Zone tragedy, agrees to produce it, but eventually the project collapses because of insufficient funds and the issue of final cut.
1985
- Welles attempts to launch a film of KING LEAR in France, but the financing falls through once again over the issue of final cut.
- Welles dies in October, and gives the rights of TOSOTW to Oja Kodar in his will. In his last few months, Welles and Bogdanovich had patched things up to some extent, enough for Bogdanovich to host Welles's subsequent memorial celebration in Hollywood. However, Bogdanovich's remarks to a magazine the next year make clear the ambivalence of their reconciliation: "There came a point in a lot of people's lives when they had to decide whether they were going to live their own lives or take care of Orson. Or at least help Orson take care of himself."
1987
- Kodar and Gary Graver begin showing the Wind footage to potential investors in Hollywood, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Oliver Stone, all of whom decline to participate in the project.
1989
- Oja Kodar directs her first film, JADED, with Gary Graver as her cinematographer.
1980
- Hoping to demonstrate that Kodar is a viable choice to star in THE DREAMERS, a few scenes from the screenplay are filmed in Welles and Kodar's Hollywood home. No interest is shown from financiers.
- Paola and Beatrice discover one of Welles's love letters to Oja and kick him out of their Vegas home.
1981
- The new Iranian regime of the Ayatollah Khomenei declares the negative of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND to be "worthless". Welles later says it was the only time he was ever happy to hear his work declared worthless.
- Wind producer Frank Marshall begins working with Spielberg and Lucas as producer of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the first of many hugely successful collaborations. At the premiere, Marshall is asked why he switched allegiance from Welles to Lucas/Spielberg. Marshall reportedly replies, "Because Lucas and Spielberg actually finish their films."
1982
- In March, Welles does a lengthy interview with the BBC, summarizing his illustrious career in film.
- On June 10th, Spielberg buys the Citizen Kane Rosebud sled at auction for $55K. The next day, his film ET: THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL opens to rapturous reviews and record-breaking box office. A few days later, Welles humiliates Spielberg by publicly declaring his opinion that the sled Spielberg bought was a fake.
- On July 23rd, The Twilight Zone tragedy kills three people, including two children. An omnibus film co-directed by Spielberg and John Landis, and produced by Frank Marshall. The next year, Landis is indicted on manslaughter charges.
- Welles goes to Paris to try and get the TOSOTW negative back from the Iranians. The courts rule in his favor, but also demand that he finish the film in France, which Welles refuses because of his lucrative commercial contracts in America.
1983
- Welles writes an original screenplay about politics called THE BIG BRASS RING, but is unable to convince a bankable actor to star in it, with the exception of Warren Beatty, who insists on final cut. Welles declines, and the project collapses.
- Charles Higham's second Welles book, THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN GENIUS, is published, and opines that F FOR FAKE is the reason why Wind was not finished ('Just when THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND required his undivided attention, Welles frittered away his energies on an academic exercise called F FOR FAKE.")
1984
- Welles tells his own version of the Wind debacle to author Barbra Leaming, who is writing a biography on him. The book is published in September of the following year, and becomes a bestseller, shortly before Welles's death.
- He writes a screenplay for THE CRADLE WILL ROCK to star Spielberg's wife Amy Irving, but Spielberg himself shows no interest in investing in it. John Landis, recently indicted in the Twilight Zone tragedy, agrees to produce it, but eventually the project collapses because of insufficient funds and the issue of final cut.
1985
- Welles attempts to launch a film of KING LEAR in France, but the financing falls through once again over the issue of final cut.
- Welles dies in October, and gives the rights of TOSOTW to Oja Kodar in his will. In his last few months, Welles and Bogdanovich had patched things up to some extent, enough for Bogdanovich to host Welles's subsequent memorial celebration in Hollywood. However, Bogdanovich's remarks to a magazine the next year make clear the ambivalence of their reconciliation: "There came a point in a lot of people's lives when they had to decide whether they were going to live their own lives or take care of Orson. Or at least help Orson take care of himself."
1987
- Kodar and Gary Graver begin showing the Wind footage to potential investors in Hollywood, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Oliver Stone, all of whom decline to participate in the project.
1989
- Oja Kodar directs her first film, JADED, with Gary Graver as her cinematographer.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
1990s
1992 - Welles's 1952 OTHELLO receives a sound and visual restoration and, for a 40-year-old black & white Shakespeare movie, does rather well at the box office.
THIS IS ORSON WELLES, the interview book that Peter Bogdanovich and Orson Welles had collaborated on in 1969, is finally published, edited by Welles scholar Jonathon Rosenbaum, who does a massive chronology of Welles's career at the end of the book.
Welles's CITIZEN KANE is once again selected by Sight and Sound magazine as the greatest film ever made.
1993 - The recently re-discovered footage from Welles's unfinished 1943 Brazilian film project, IT'S ALL TRUE, is assembled into a documentary and gets good reviews from the critics. Interest in Welles's other unfinished film work begins to grow.
1994 - Gary Graver's video documentary, WORKING WITH ORSON WELLES, does interviews with surviving Wind cast members, who express the hope that the film is someday completed.
1995 - Rumors circulate that Clint Eastwood has offered to buy out the Bousheri family's share of the film, but as soon as they hear Eastwood's name is involved, they jack up their asking price. Thus, the Bousheris are seen as the main obstructors of the film's completion.
1996 - A fully edited version of the sex scene filmed in Graver's Mustang is featured in the Welles documentary, ONE MAN BAND, and makes a very positive impression. As one critic puts it, "if the rest of the film is at that level, then the world is being denied an out-and-out masterpiece."
1997 - David Thomson's ROSEBUD, a negative appraisal of Welles's film career, becomes a bestseller, and expresses the hope that THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND is never completed ("A completion would be so deflating").
1998 - An alternate version of Welles's 1958 thriller TOUCH OF EVIL is assembled by Walter Murch, using a 58-page memo of recommendations made by Welles after viewing Universal Studio's preview version of the film. The film gets accolades from critics and does surprisingly well at the box office, further reviving interest in Welles's film work.
1999 - Gary Graver and editor Frank Mazzola put together an incomplete rough cut of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND using workprint materials. Joseph McBride: "It is a sort of version of the film, part of the history of OTHER WIND and worth preserving, just as a writer's very rough draft is a version worth studying in the context of the final version and all that went before it. But the Graver/Mazzola version was only an assemblage of scenes Welles edited, along with other material put together rather roughly by Graver and Mazzola from various scenes in the film that Gary had available (he did not have access to all 100 hours of footage, and indeed neither he nor Orson ever saw all that material). The Graver/Mazzola assemblage did not tell a coherent story but was a series of teasers, yet that was not understood clearly by people who saw it (other than Matthew Duda of Showtime). It did not go over well with other potential investors or with creative people such as Spielberg, Lucas, Oliver Stone, and even Walter Murch. Partly that was because it was long enough to give the false impression that it was some kind of rough cut of a feature, from beginning to end, though so much that was essential to the story was missing. Rough cuts are notoriously impossible for "civilians" to understand, and in the case of the Graver/Mazzola version, even professionals had trouble following it or relating to the material Gary and I showed. After a while I suggested to Gary that since it was not helping the cause to show it, we go back into the editing room and cut it down to no more than an hour, focusing on the forty-two minutes Welles shot and a few other scattered but impressive scenes and not give the impression it was a rough cut of the whole film. Gary did not want to do that. I tried my best in my verbal introductions to warn people they were just seeing selected scenes, but it didn't help. Viewers tended to find the material unacceptably disorganized and spotty, as indeed it was aside from the sequences Welles edited himself. And the assemblage was battered and faded to boot, and people could not factor in how it was really supposed to look."
1992 - Welles's 1952 OTHELLO receives a sound and visual restoration and, for a 40-year-old black & white Shakespeare movie, does rather well at the box office.
THIS IS ORSON WELLES, the interview book that Peter Bogdanovich and Orson Welles had collaborated on in 1969, is finally published, edited by Welles scholar Jonathon Rosenbaum, who does a massive chronology of Welles's career at the end of the book.
Welles's CITIZEN KANE is once again selected by Sight and Sound magazine as the greatest film ever made.
1993 - The recently re-discovered footage from Welles's unfinished 1943 Brazilian film project, IT'S ALL TRUE, is assembled into a documentary and gets good reviews from the critics. Interest in Welles's other unfinished film work begins to grow.
1994 - Gary Graver's video documentary, WORKING WITH ORSON WELLES, does interviews with surviving Wind cast members, who express the hope that the film is someday completed.
1995 - Rumors circulate that Clint Eastwood has offered to buy out the Bousheri family's share of the film, but as soon as they hear Eastwood's name is involved, they jack up their asking price. Thus, the Bousheris are seen as the main obstructors of the film's completion.
1996 - A fully edited version of the sex scene filmed in Graver's Mustang is featured in the Welles documentary, ONE MAN BAND, and makes a very positive impression. As one critic puts it, "if the rest of the film is at that level, then the world is being denied an out-and-out masterpiece."
1997 - David Thomson's ROSEBUD, a negative appraisal of Welles's film career, becomes a bestseller, and expresses the hope that THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND is never completed ("A completion would be so deflating").
1998 - An alternate version of Welles's 1958 thriller TOUCH OF EVIL is assembled by Walter Murch, using a 58-page memo of recommendations made by Welles after viewing Universal Studio's preview version of the film. The film gets accolades from critics and does surprisingly well at the box office, further reviving interest in Welles's film work.
1999 - Gary Graver and editor Frank Mazzola put together an incomplete rough cut of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND using workprint materials. Joseph McBride: "It is a sort of version of the film, part of the history of OTHER WIND and worth preserving, just as a writer's very rough draft is a version worth studying in the context of the final version and all that went before it. But the Graver/Mazzola version was only an assemblage of scenes Welles edited, along with other material put together rather roughly by Graver and Mazzola from various scenes in the film that Gary had available (he did not have access to all 100 hours of footage, and indeed neither he nor Orson ever saw all that material). The Graver/Mazzola assemblage did not tell a coherent story but was a series of teasers, yet that was not understood clearly by people who saw it (other than Matthew Duda of Showtime). It did not go over well with other potential investors or with creative people such as Spielberg, Lucas, Oliver Stone, and even Walter Murch. Partly that was because it was long enough to give the false impression that it was some kind of rough cut of a feature, from beginning to end, though so much that was essential to the story was missing. Rough cuts are notoriously impossible for "civilians" to understand, and in the case of the Graver/Mazzola version, even professionals had trouble following it or relating to the material Gary and I showed. After a while I suggested to Gary that since it was not helping the cause to show it, we go back into the editing room and cut it down to no more than an hour, focusing on the forty-two minutes Welles shot and a few other scattered but impressive scenes and not give the impression it was a rough cut of the whole film. Gary did not want to do that. I tried my best in my verbal introductions to warn people they were just seeing selected scenes, but it didn't help. Viewers tended to find the material unacceptably disorganized and spotty, as indeed it was aside from the sequences Welles edited himself. And the assemblage was battered and faded to boot, and people could not factor in how it was really supposed to look."
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
2000s
2002 - After years of continued rights issues and shopping the project around, Oja Kodar reportedly gets Showtime executive Matthew Duda to agree to finance the completion of the film. Enter Orson Welles' daughter, Beatrice Welles, who manages her late father's estate and claims that, because the negative remains in France (and French law requires permission from the Estate), she must approve a deal before it can go forward.
2006 - Gary Graver dies of throat cancer, age 67. Several of his friends unload on Orson Welles at Gary's memorial, calling it an abusive relationship.
2007 - Extended negotiations finally result in a new Showtime deal, which apparently includes a substantial payment to Beatrice Welles. Bogdanovich announces that the deal is 99.9 percent complete and that the film will be released in 2008. He later reverses course, saying that more than a year of work remains to finish the film. Beatrice and the OW Estate (run essentially by her legal advisor Thomas White) receive a lot of abuse in Wellesian circles for the perceived obstruction to the Showtime deal.
2008 - Showtime puts completion on hold because of problems collecting all materials.
Joseph McBride, a cast member in the film, publishes WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ORSON WELLES?, which offers a detailed explanation of the whole Wind debacle, including the Showtime deal.
Welles's second daughter Rebecca, with second wife Rita Hayworth, dies of cancer at 59.
2009 - Rough cut screens to a select group of film scholars in Berkeley. One calls it the "most interesting and exciting unfinished Welles work out there."
2010 - At a January screening, Bogdanovich says he hopes all of the legal problems will be sorted out in a few months, and that after that, there are still at least four to six months of editing work left.
2011 - A year after Bogdanovich hoped for everything to be resolved in a few months, Kenneth Sidle, a lawyer involved in the dispute, says he hopes that they will know in the next few weeks.
Shortly afterwards, Oja Kodar states, "It is true that Jacqueline Boushehri, the (widow) of the Iranian producer, and I are interested in the film being finally completed. But from Showtime we still have not received the details of a budget. Without it I won't give the rights to anyone." The Showtime deal collapses shortly afterwards.
2013 - Josh Karp's book ORSON WELLES'S FINAL MOVIE is published, detailing the entire history of the film's making and unmaking. The book accuses Oja Kodar of obstructing the Showtime deal over the issue of money.
2002 - After years of continued rights issues and shopping the project around, Oja Kodar reportedly gets Showtime executive Matthew Duda to agree to finance the completion of the film. Enter Orson Welles' daughter, Beatrice Welles, who manages her late father's estate and claims that, because the negative remains in France (and French law requires permission from the Estate), she must approve a deal before it can go forward.
2006 - Gary Graver dies of throat cancer, age 67. Several of his friends unload on Orson Welles at Gary's memorial, calling it an abusive relationship.
2007 - Extended negotiations finally result in a new Showtime deal, which apparently includes a substantial payment to Beatrice Welles. Bogdanovich announces that the deal is 99.9 percent complete and that the film will be released in 2008. He later reverses course, saying that more than a year of work remains to finish the film. Beatrice and the OW Estate (run essentially by her legal advisor Thomas White) receive a lot of abuse in Wellesian circles for the perceived obstruction to the Showtime deal.
2008 - Showtime puts completion on hold because of problems collecting all materials.
Joseph McBride, a cast member in the film, publishes WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ORSON WELLES?, which offers a detailed explanation of the whole Wind debacle, including the Showtime deal.
Welles's second daughter Rebecca, with second wife Rita Hayworth, dies of cancer at 59.
2009 - Rough cut screens to a select group of film scholars in Berkeley. One calls it the "most interesting and exciting unfinished Welles work out there."
2010 - At a January screening, Bogdanovich says he hopes all of the legal problems will be sorted out in a few months, and that after that, there are still at least four to six months of editing work left.
2011 - A year after Bogdanovich hoped for everything to be resolved in a few months, Kenneth Sidle, a lawyer involved in the dispute, says he hopes that they will know in the next few weeks.
Shortly afterwards, Oja Kodar states, "It is true that Jacqueline Boushehri, the (widow) of the Iranian producer, and I are interested in the film being finally completed. But from Showtime we still have not received the details of a budget. Without it I won't give the rights to anyone." The Showtime deal collapses shortly afterwards.
2013 - Josh Karp's book ORSON WELLES'S FINAL MOVIE is published, detailing the entire history of the film's making and unmaking. The book accuses Oja Kodar of obstructing the Showtime deal over the issue of money.
Re: Wind Timeline 1960 - 2018
2014 - 2018
2014 - In January, Karp does a magazine interview to promote his book. That interview is seen by independent filmmaker Filip Jan Rymsza, who, teams up with Frank Marshall, and determines to buy out the Iranians and Oja Kodar. They also make a deal with Beatrice Welles, who agrees to give permission for the negative to be removed from France.
In October, an announcement is made in the New York Times that the completion of "Orson Welles's Last Movie" is imminent. The news travels all over the film world, and hopes are that the film can be completed in time for celebrations of Welles's 100th birthday anniversary in May 2015.
2015 - The project hits a big snag before contracts are signed, when Kodar and Rymzsa accuse each other of not living up to the agreements made concerning payments and inspection of the negative in Paris. The accusations continue to fly back and forth during the Welles Centennial celebrations.
In June, Rymzsa, out of desperation to raise money to get the project going, launches an Indiegogo fundraising campaign, in which he states that all contracts have been signed, which Oja's camp disputes. The campaign raises less then one-fourth the amount of money that was wanted.
In August, shortly after the disappointing indiegogo campaign finishes, streaming giant Netflix steps in and begins negotiations with both Rymzsa and Kodar. Negotiations drag on until March of 2017.
2017 - In March,contracts are signed and the 100 hours of negative footage are moved from Paris to Hollywood. The cataloguing of the footage and its conversion to digital format, take nearly six months to complete.
In October, Oscar-winning editor Bob Maurawski, a former friend and neighbor of Gary Graver's, is hired to edit the film. Maurawski completes a first edit in less than three months. Michel Legrand, the composer of F FOR FAKE, is hired to do music. Frank Marshall, Peter Bogdanovich and Filip Jan Rymzsa tweak Maurawski's edit until it is ready for release.
2018 - In May, the planned world-premiere of TOSOTW is scuttled when Netflix refuses to allow its films to be shown at Cannes over an argument about theatrical distribution. The world-premiere later takes place in August at the Venice Film festival, nearly fifty years after production began.
In November, the film makes its debut on Netflix, along with a Morgan Neville documentary about the film called, THEY'LL LOVE ME WHEN I'M DEAD. The film and docu get mixed but mostly positive reviews from critics.
Oja Kodar never comments on the completed film.
2014 - In January, Karp does a magazine interview to promote his book. That interview is seen by independent filmmaker Filip Jan Rymsza, who, teams up with Frank Marshall, and determines to buy out the Iranians and Oja Kodar. They also make a deal with Beatrice Welles, who agrees to give permission for the negative to be removed from France.
In October, an announcement is made in the New York Times that the completion of "Orson Welles's Last Movie" is imminent. The news travels all over the film world, and hopes are that the film can be completed in time for celebrations of Welles's 100th birthday anniversary in May 2015.
2015 - The project hits a big snag before contracts are signed, when Kodar and Rymzsa accuse each other of not living up to the agreements made concerning payments and inspection of the negative in Paris. The accusations continue to fly back and forth during the Welles Centennial celebrations.
In June, Rymzsa, out of desperation to raise money to get the project going, launches an Indiegogo fundraising campaign, in which he states that all contracts have been signed, which Oja's camp disputes. The campaign raises less then one-fourth the amount of money that was wanted.
In August, shortly after the disappointing indiegogo campaign finishes, streaming giant Netflix steps in and begins negotiations with both Rymzsa and Kodar. Negotiations drag on until March of 2017.
2017 - In March,contracts are signed and the 100 hours of negative footage are moved from Paris to Hollywood. The cataloguing of the footage and its conversion to digital format, take nearly six months to complete.
In October, Oscar-winning editor Bob Maurawski, a former friend and neighbor of Gary Graver's, is hired to edit the film. Maurawski completes a first edit in less than three months. Michel Legrand, the composer of F FOR FAKE, is hired to do music. Frank Marshall, Peter Bogdanovich and Filip Jan Rymzsa tweak Maurawski's edit until it is ready for release.
2018 - In May, the planned world-premiere of TOSOTW is scuttled when Netflix refuses to allow its films to be shown at Cannes over an argument about theatrical distribution. The world-premiere later takes place in August at the Venice Film festival, nearly fifty years after production began.
In November, the film makes its debut on Netflix, along with a Morgan Neville documentary about the film called, THEY'LL LOVE ME WHEN I'M DEAD. The film and docu get mixed but mostly positive reviews from critics.
Oja Kodar never comments on the completed film.
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