Peter Jason and Frank Marshall
(Editor’s note: Sadly, the video was removed hours after this story was posted. No reason was given. The interview was conducted more than a year before the producers reached a deal with all of the right holders. Much of the stories told appeared in the book Orson Welles’s Last Movie.)
By RAY KELLY
With little fanfare, the Kennedy/Marshall Company has posted a highly informative and wildly entertaining 100-minute interview with veteran actor Peter Jason and producer Frank Marshall about Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind.
The video was posted online last month with no details, though the title, Frank & Peter 012213, hints it was shot on January 22, 2013. The unidentified interviewer — who is clearly working on a larger project — is Josh Karp, author of Orson Welles’s Last Movie: The Making of ‘The Other Side of the Wind.’
Jason is a lifelong friend of Marshall and a fabulous storyteller. He recalls his time on the set, Welles’ relationship with the crew and his impressions of the movie, which is now being completed in Los Angeles 40 years after the shoot.
For his part, Marshall says he believes that Welles never intended to complete the movie: “I think he never wanted to finish it. I think he was playing out his life. And he was enjoying making the movie every day… My take on it is that he felt if he finished the movie, he would die.”
Jason and Marshall detail Welles’ friendship with Bogdanovich, collaboration with Oja Kodar and father-son relationship with the late Gray Graver.
The video was posted last month on Vimeo at vimeo.com/221499446 and is embedded below.
(Thanks to James Pepper for his kind assistance.)
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