A Man For All Seasons

[Skylark]

They had A Man for All Seasons DVD on sale at the grocery store - did Welles direct anything in there? I don't really see anything - nothing major - apparently he was only there for one day - I like Zinnemann's visual style - good director - despite this quote -

I will not trade one shot of Orson Welles for the entire oeuvre of Fred Zinnemann.
Andrew Sarris

This has some anecdotes on Welles on the set -

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.js ... eId=191595 [/i]

[RayKelly]

Skylark,
I recently bought Man for All Seasons. I was disappointed by how very little Welles there is in the film.

[Roger Ryan]

Skylark,
I recently bought Man for All Seasons. I was disappointed by how very little Welles there is in the film.

All the same, I think this is may be the second best film Welles was involved with that he didn't direct (THE THIRD MAN taking the obvious first place).

[Skylark]

I was disapointed myself to see the Cardinal pass away so early on - (although his cameo in the opening shot kicks off a cool intro sequence - conceivably Welles-influenced, though not obvious) nice scene though between Welles and Scofield - I was impressed with the movie overall - I enjoyed Zinnemann's Austrian/ German cinematic visual pedigree (Eisenstein-inspired static shots of Gothic sculpture?) and attention to detail - strong cast - Scofield's acting - strong writing - a low-key yet engaging quality that reminds me of David Mamet -

An interesting Zinnemann piece -

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/ ... emann.html

[RayKelly]

All the same, I think this is may be the second best film Welles was involved with that he didn't direct (THE THIRD MAN taking the obvious first place).

I thought his role in A Man For All Seasons was far too brief. I prefer his work in Complusion, Moby Dick, Jane Eyre, and, of course, The Third Man.

[Roger Ryan]

All the same, I think this is may be the second best film Welles was involved with that he didn't direct (THE THIRD MAN taking the obvious first place).

I thought his role in A Man For All Seasons was far too brief. I prefer his work in Complusion, Moby Dick, Jane Eyre, and, of course, The Third Man.

I agree his role is too brief; I only meant that, as a whole, I think A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS is the best film Welles was associated with after THE THIRD MAN (outside of his own canon). While Welles is a far more powerful presence in COMPULSION and his performance is excellent, I think the film as a whole is not quite as strong as the Zinnemann film. MOBY DICK has another great Welles performance, but I don't think the film itself is all that tremendous. Same for JANE EYRE although I don't think Welles' performance is the strongest aspect in this film (I like the scenes with Jane as a young girl, Agnes Moorhead, the cinematography and art direction, and Herrmann's score the best).

[Glenn Anders]

Obviously, our opinions of these films are a matter of taste -- under what circumstances and at what age we first encountered them, the versions we saw, and our sense memory of the experiences.

For what it's worth, my experience is that I saw the films you've brought up from about the age of 13 until I was past 35 years of age. JANE EYRE (1944), THE THIRD MAN (1949), MOBY DICK (1956), and A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966), I saw in the theater. I've only seen COMPULSION (1959) on TV.

JANE EYRE, because of my earlier experiences with CITIZEN KANE, and to a lesser extent with THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, enthralled me as a boy. I was one of those orphan children, in my own mind. I've always liked the picture, and when teaching school, JANE EYRE was one of the rare older films that kids would sit still for. It was as if they were looking at "old timey" history.

On the other hand, my first encounter with THE THIRD MAN was rather comme ci, comme ca . . . a pretty good thriller. Okay, but Harry Lime's real connection to the picture escaped me. I preferred a similar film that Carol Reed shot four years later, set in Post-War Berlin, THE MAN BETWEEN, a somewhat warmer take on an odd war profiteer out, with James Mason and Claire Bloom. Only recently, on DVD, have I seen the original British version of THE THIRD MAN, which I find much more impressive, less outre in style somehow, and much more satisfactory in fitting Welles' Harry Lime character meaningfully into the story.

Though annoyed in spots by Gregory Peck's Captain Ahab, I judge John Huston's MOBY DICK epic film making in ever sense of the term. And for me, Welles' sermon by Father Mapple sets the film a sail in a mysterious, ominous, ironic, and macabre way. Just perfect. I'm not sure what version of the film I saw in the theater, but again, my recent viewings of MOBY DICK on laserdisc and DVD, with Huston's and Oswald Morris's lighting/color scheme restored, makes Peck's performance more acceptable, bringing the film more into balance. It also boasts Philip Sainton's orchestral music, one of the best original film scores ever written.

My memory of Welles in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, which I saw in theater, and later had to use as a teaching aid, is simply that of one gruesome appearance, one compelling speech delivered in close-up. I can't say the film impressed me, and I know it did very little to stimulate interest in the classroom.

Finally, looking at COMPULSION on TV, I feel that Welles' performance pretty well sucks the air and dramatic sense out of the picture. His monologue should almost be an entirely different film, all unto itself. Incidentally, having been acquainted with a top Hollywood film editor through marriage, I gained a number of insights into the contempt and dismay some slaving Hollywood professionals felt toward Welles. My cousin-in-law, who worked a number of times with Director Richard Fleischer, described the panic and anguish the production felt when Welles left the country without finishing the looping of that magnificent soliloquy. His good friend and colleague, Editor William Reynolds, had to desperately and laboriously "cut and paste" words from Welles' performance earlier in the rest of the picture to complete the speech. I would not like to repeat to you what my cousin's opinion was of Welles' professionalism.

And so, for me, of the films you have brought up, I'm most impressed with THE THIRD MAN, JANE EYRE, MOBY DICK. As I say, that judgment is based on age, memory and experience.

I might add that another Huston film, THE KREMLIN LETTER (1970), is a much better work than was thought at the time. Back then, the picture was thought to be farfetched if not subversive. Since then, especially in the last seven years, we have learned that the need to have an enemy, and to secretly interact with that enemy, is probably a raison d'etre among great powers. [-- See: "The Theory of Contraries," which was revealed in public briefly, then sank back into the swamp of geopolitics.] Welles has a relatively small but important part in this durable little slice of Cold ["long"] War truth.

Glenn

[mido505]

Glenn:

I have been dying to see The Kremlin Letter for some time now; that cast alone makes my mouth water. A DVD release was announced some time in 2006 then mysteriously shelved. Do you have any info?

[Glenn Anders]

Sorry, mido505: This was another one that I saw in the theater.

A DVD of THE KREMLIN LETTER was supposedly issued in late 2006, but it must have been shelved, as you say, or declared unauthorized for some reason. Amazon and other outlets list the disc, but declare it out of stock.

You are right about the cast. The picture could be remade, using its plot in the context of the machinations behind the attack on Iraq. But you would have a hard time getting a comparable cast together.

Glenn

[mido505]

Thanks, Glenn! God, I love late 60's, early 70's international genre flicks, made in an era when even the worst movies could feature eye-popping casts, because great actors were affordable and needed the work. We shall not see days like that again (Tentacles, anyone?).

[Glenn Anders]

True!

I've just read that a DVD was produced, but Fox rejected it because the print transfer was not up to their standards. The cost of redoing it was felt to be prohibitive.

Glenn

[Wellesnet]

50th anniversary:
http://www.wellesnet.com/a-man-for-all- ... -turns-50/