BRIGHT LIGHTS 55 TOSTW Interview

[RayKelly]

Glenn Anders . . .
Wellesnet Legend . . .
Posts: 1026 . . .
Joined: June 2003 . . .
Posted: Feb. 17 2007,06:02

. . . For tonyw and rizibo, a final remark from me:

This is apparently Glenn's farewell post.

How sad the way that his treatment by some on this Board lead to this.

Did I misunderstand the post?
I thought Glenn's post was meant to be his final comment to the other two fine gentlemen (tonyw and rizibo) on the subject of OSOTW, not a withdrawl from wellesnet.
Hate to see anybody go for any reason.

[Tony]

Don't worry, Ray: Glenn will be back; in fact, he's already been back since he made his dramatic exit. The problem is he's making it really uncomfortable for some others (who have told me this) to even go on the board, myself included. Several times in the last few weeks, Glenn has been so condescending, dismissive and rude to me, I've thought about quitting the board: sometimes it's just not worth the insults. I was chatting with a guy the other day who used to post regularly; he said he just couldn't stand Glenn's attitude anymore.

But nobody has asked Glenn to leave: we just called him on his behaviour, and he got all huffy and left. He's welcome back anytime, and I know he'll be back. I just hope he acts a little more considerately, and is a little more open-minded, to others, when he makes his historic return.

[ToddBaesen]

Here's the opening narration of OSOTW that was originally meant to be spoken by Orson Welles. Now however, here's how it would play if it were spoken by Peter Bogdanovich, playing Brooks Otterlake:



FADE IN:

A STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF A SPORTS CAR - HIDEOUSLY TWISTED AND BROKEN - GUTTED WITH FIRE.

OTTERLAKE
That's the car... What was left of it
after the accident... If it was an
accident.


ANOTHER PHOTO OF THE WRECK


OTTERLAKE
The car was meant to be a present.
Before he changed his mind, Hannaford
was going to give it to the young
leading actor of his last movie --

John Dale.


A PHOTO OF JOHN DALE


OTTERLAKE
Hannaford's supposed to have saved
him -- at some earlier date -- from
committing suicide.

Or so the story goes.


ANOTHER PHOTO OF THE WRECK... THEN A SERIES OF FLASH PICTURES MADE AT HANNAFORD'S BIRTHDAY PARTY.



OTTERLAKE
Most of Hannaford's admirers are
certain he did not intend to drive
his car off that bridge.

"A corny ending" they say, "J.J.
Hannaford would never be guilty
of that.

There are other opinions...


A SERIES OF PLASH PICTURES OF GUESTS AT THE BIRTHDAY PARTY...


OTTERLAKE
Jake Hannaford was a vagabond...
He worked for Hollywood but he
took his cameras around the world...
When he didn't find himself in
the tropical jungles, the icy
tundra's, or a country where
it was hunting season, the place
where he felt most “at home”
was in Spain... He died
last summer on his birthday,
July second - It's much too early
to guess what history will decide
about him...


A FLASH PICTURE OF HANNAFORD.


This was put together from many
sources -- from all that footage
shot by the TV and documentary
film-makers -- and also the students,
critics and young directors who
happened to bring sixteen and eight
millimeter cameras to his birthday
party...




OTTERLAKE
The choice of the material is an
attempt to sketch a film likeness
of the man himself as he looked --
through all those different
viewfinders...



A "STILL" FROM HANNAFORD'S FILM.



OTTERLAKE
Hannaford's own unfinished motion
picture is part of the testimony:

"The Other Side Of The Wind"...

It has been left just as it was
when they screened it -- on the
last day of his life.



THE FILM BEGINS...




The flashbacks begin with Jake shooting a scene for his movie in progress, depicting a Turkish steam bath. After the filming ends, the cast and crew gather outside a studio sound stage to board a school bus that will take everyone to Jake's ranch house for his birthday party. Hannaford's numerous assistants (Matt, Pat, Maggie and the Baron) shepherd the various groups toward the bus, including several scantily clad starlets who have been shooting the nude steam bath scene, as well as a sizable group of dwarves. Also present are numerous members of the entertainment media, buzzing like bees around the beehive.

[RayKelly]

Having never seen the OSOTW work print, I always thought it was missing only the drive in scene. I am surprised Welles never got around to recording the narration.

Here's the opening narration of OSOTW that was originally meant to be spoken by Orson Welles. Now however, here's how it would play if it were spoken by Peter Bogdanovich, playing Brooks Otterlake:.

[rizibo]

Wow thanks Todd for printing this. This opening sequence is great. I think they should have someone do a voice impersonation of Welles for this opening sequence instead of Bogdanovich because Welles voice is more dramatic. I am really excited about the high quality of the writing. It looks like this film could be much better than anyone thought.

[Gordon]

Ray Kelly wrote:

Did I misunderstand the post?
I thought Glenn's post was meant to be his final comment to the other two fine gentlemen (tonyw and rizibo) on the subject of OSOTW, not a withdrawl from wellesnet.
Hate to see anybody go for any reason.

Fine, I'm out of here. May no future correspondent annoy you. I shall continue to look in from time to time, certainly to celebrate some advance of a Welles' project. I have a lot of back work to catch up on, and I have spent far too much time here. Anyone who has contributed over a 1000 posts to this site must be not just an egomaniac . . . but NUTS!

Until my return, I remain (after all):

Glenn Anders

[Tony]

Gordon:
I know you feel passionately about the Glenn Anders situation, but, as I've mentioned, he'll be back, so why don't we take Todd's lead, and get the thread back to Welles?

[DexyMan]

It is important to remember that there have been a bunch of Welles projects that have been competently put together since Welles passed away. We have gotten Four Men on a Raft, The Dominici Affair, Orson's Bag (Venice & London segments) and Magic Show. Of course these are shorter than Other Side of the Wind is but they may give us an idea of how happy you will be with the results. The first two were put into documentaries but I find both of the docs to be just OK and now I normally skip right to the actual footage. This is why I'm not convinced that a documentary is the right way. So far we've gotten It's All True and One-Man Band and neither left me feeling satisfied. I still want to see more footage from both of those projects. I personally have been much more satisfied with the actual restorations.

Four Men - I really like this but I feel that it is too long and the sound effects are questionable. Overall, though, I'm thrilled to get to see so much of the footage and I can now imagine what it would have looked like if Welles had completed it.

Dominici Affair - Honestly I don't remember this all that well but I liked it. I seem to remember there being some voice over issues.

London & Vienna - These are both very well put together and fun to watch. I have a feeling that these were pretty well mapped out already by Welles since they were so well done.

Magic Show - Fun to watch but feels incomplete. I am happy to have the whole thing though rather than just the bit that is in One-Man Band.

So if you really dislike these restorations than you probably wouldn't like OSOTW being pieced together. However if you are fine with these than maybe you would like it.

[Kevin Loy]

The big difference betwen TOSOTW and those other projects comes down to the fact that it was 'nearly' complete. With most of the other projects that you listed, filming was not complete, or something else was missing (i.e. no audio for Four Men). So TOSOTW offers a much more complete portrait than the others do, at least in my opinion.

I can't comment on all of the projects that you mentioned, but I thought Four Men was not particularly well done...not so much in terms of the footage itself, but the happy little 'score' they placed alongside it.

(PS - I personally hope that Glenn does return someday, since he has provided some fascinating insight into various works, particularly the alternate version of Arkadin. Admittedly, though we did have different opinions on a few things, I never personally thought that he was being arrogant or snooty.)

[Christopher]

I am very happy to see that this thread is back on track! Many thanks to Todd, Dexy Man and Kevin Loy for their interesting and informative posts.

[tonyw]

:) Due to Netscape being blocked, I've been unable to post but have just reconnected via another site. How easy it was since I'm so technophobic.

I've just been reading the past few posts and it is sad that Glenn has left us, hopefully temporarily. Also, I've received one of his "huffy" posts but just ignored it. Despite his occasional attitude, he is a valuable resource so let us hope he will return soon.

This source is so valuable so it must not degenerate into the type of fmale war that has ruined most discussion groups. As one member has stated, let us get back to the thread and try to make this site fulfil what Jeff and Lawrence intended. There is so much to discuss and I'll add something now. Many years ago, my first cinematic experience of Welles was in the flawed FERRY TO HONG KONG (1959). His comic act was superb. Also, viewing it recently, I noted that he was even then rehearsing the English caricatures that he would use later in ONE MAN BAND. It was a deliberate grotesque comedy performance.

[rizibo]

Here's the opening narration of OSOTW that was originally meant to be spoken by Orson Welles.

FADE IN:

A STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF A SPORTS CAR - HIDEOUSLY TWISTED AND BROKEN - GUTTED WITH FIRE.

OTTERLAKE
That's the car... What was left of it
after the accident... If it was an
accident.

I like this beginning of the TOSOTW.

The beginning with Welles narrating the opening is reminiscent of the opening to Magnificent Ambersons and The Trial. In This is Orson Welles, Bogdanovich says the narration of the beginning of Magnificent Ambersons has a storyteller effect. Welles then says he wanted to do this more in other movies.

The beginning with the death of the main character also reminds one of Citizen Kane and Othello and this was effective in both movies.

[chipm]

Just read a review on Salon of the new DVD release of Kenneth Anger's work. And it solidified in my head what I thought when watching the TOSOTW clips - that the editing really reminded me of parts of Scorpio Rising...and the sex scene in the car with Oja really seemed very much like the end of Scorpio Rising where the motorcycle rider died. Anyone else see this.....?

Chip