The UCLA FESTIVAL OF PRESERVATION at The James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, UCLA campus. Info: (310) 296-FILM

�The UCLA FESTIVAL OF PRESERVATION

Presents on August 10th at 7:30 PM

Orson Welles’ MACBETH (Sans�SHAKESPEARE)

and �

ORSON WELLES AND THE HOLLYWOOD SYSTEM

W/� guest speakers Joesph McBride and Catherine Benamou

+++++++++++++++++++ �

By Kenneth Turan, LA Times��

Doing almost completely without words, though not sound, is a dazzling presentation envisioned by Robert Gitt, the archive’s preservation officer. The idea � and it turns out to be an exceptional one � is to show Orson Welles’ 1948 “Macbeth” with the dialogue removed but the sound-effects track and the expressive Jacques Ibert score kept intact.

To see the result � shown on the same program with a presentation on Welles and the Hollywood system � is to gain even more respect for what a surpassing visual stylist the director was. Though “Macbeth,” shot by John L. Russell (Psycho), is not generally considered one of Welles’ masterworks, experiencing it without words underlines the extent of the director’s gifts. Shakespeare’s lines may be some of the greatest ever written in the English language, but with Welles’ images on the screen, you do not mourn their absence.

Complete program notes follow…

Preservation funded by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
ORSON WELLES AND THE HOLLYWOOD SYSTEM, 1939-42�IT’S ALL TRUE IN CONTEXT�This program investigates the events surrounding the collapse of Orson Welles’ Hollywood directing career following the release of CITIZEN KANE in 1941. The evening will center around newly preserved footage from Welles’ abandoned project IT’S ALL TRUE, as well as scenes from THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS and JOURNEY INTO FEAR, Welles’ two other films from the same period that were completed in ways other than he originally conceived. Author and scholar Joseph McBride will present a clip lecture focusing on this brief period at the peak of Welles’ fame when anything seemed possible. Catherine Benamou of the University of Michigan will follow the clip lecture with a presentation on the preservation of IT’S ALL TRUE.�In person: Joseph McBride, Catherine Benamou�Approx. 120 min.���Preservation funded by The Film Foundation and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association
ORSON WELLES’ MACBETH SANS SHAKESPEARE��For those familiar with Welles’ MACBETH (restored to its full 107-minute length by the Archive and shown in previous Festivals), this screening will be unique. We will present the 89-minute general-release version with the original music and sound-effects track, but without the dialogue. Except for a short introductory narration by Welles, not a single spoken word will be heard. While Shakespeare recedes, cinematic language and filmmaking technique�the actors’ non-verbal performances, costumes and sets, editing, lighting and composition, and most of all, the musical score by Jacques Ibert�will come to the fore. ���

�

�