Orson Welles at work on The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Orson Welles (1915–1985) was an American director, actor, writer, and producer who is best remembered for his innovative work in radio, theatre and film. He is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.[1][2]
While in his twenties, Welles directed a number of stage productions before creating the infamous 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds.[3][4] Welles's directorial film debut Citizen Kane (1941), in which he also starred as Charles Foster Kane, garnered him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and nominations for Best Actor and Best Director.[5] The film is consistently ranked as the greatest film ever made.[6][7] Welles's second film was The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), which he wrote and directed. He worked as actor, screenwriter, uncredited producer and uncredited co-director of 1943's Journey Into Fear, and directed and co-starred in 1946's The Stranger, his only substantial commercial success as a director. He then directed and starred in the film-noir The Lady from Shanghai (1947), appearing opposite his estranged wife Rita Hayworth.[8] His 1951 film Othello won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film festival.[9] In 1958, Universal-International released the Welles-directed Touch of Evil, in which he also starred alongside Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh.[10] His The Trial (1962) received a nomination for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.[11] He subsequently directed Chimes at Midnight (1966), in which he also starred as Falstaff. Welles's last completed features were the essay films F for Fake (1973) and Filming Othello (1978). Throughout his career, he also worked on numerous films which he abandoned due to legal issues, lack of funds, or loss of interest and which were never completed or released.[12] Two of these unfinished feature films have been completed and released posthumously: Don Quixote (1992) and The Other Side of the Wind (2018).[13][14] However, many of Welles's other projects are now considered lost films.
Welles also had a successful career as an actor, appearing in dozens of films. In 1937, he collaborated with Ernest Hemingway on The Spanish Earth.[15] In 1943, he starred opposite Joan Fontaine in Jane Eyre. His first appearance as Harry Lime in the 1949 film-noir The Third Man was heralded as "the most famous entrance in the history of the movies" by Roger Ebert.[16] Also in 1949 he played Cesare Borgia in the film Prince of Foxes. In 1956, he appeared as Father Mapple in the John Huston-directed Moby Dick. His performance in Compulsion (1959) earned him the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor.[17] Welles starred as Le Chiffre in the James Bond-film Casino Royale (1967). He portrayed Louis XVIII in Waterloo (1970). In 1979, he appeared in The Muppet Movie. His performance in Butterfly (1982) garnered him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.[18] Welles also narrated several documentaries, television series, and films, including King of Kings (1961), Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975), and Mel Brooks's comedy-film History of the World, Part I (1981).
Table featuring uncompleted films and television programs which Orson Welles appeared in
Year
Title
Role
Ref.
1942
It's All True
Narrator
[75][166]
1955
"The Tragedy of Lurs"
Presenter
[59][79]
1955
Moby Dick—Rehearsed
Actor-Manager, Father Mapple, Captain Ahab
[61]
1957–1972
Don Quixote
Himself, narrator, voice of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
[14][42]
1967–1970
The Deep
Russ Brewster
[83]
1968
Vienna
Himself
[84][50]
1968–1971
One Man Band
Himself, one-man band, police constable, old battle-axe, old sailor, woman selling violets and dirty postcards, Chinese manager of Ye Olde Strip Club, recorder-player, four old English lords, Count Plumfield
^"Orson Welles Is Dead at 70; Innovator of Film and Stage". The New York Times. October 11, 1985. Archived from the original on May 8, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Brown, David W. (May 3, 2011). "'Citizen Kane' at 70: The Legacy of the Film and Its Director". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
^Ross, Alex (November 30, 2014). "The Shadow". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Schwartz, A. Brad (May 6, 2015). "The Infamous 'War of the Worlds' Radio Broadcast Was a Magnificent Fluke". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^"The 14th Academy awards: 1942". Academy Awards. October 3, 2014. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^"What's so good about Citizen Kane?". BBC. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Ebert, Roger (April 28, 1991). "'Citizen Kane' a masterpiece at 50". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^"The Essential Orson Welles – The Lady from Shanghai". Academy Awards. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Ebert, Roger (April 10, 1992). "Othello". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^ abc"Touch of Evil". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^Laurie, Edith (Fall 1988). "Notes from the Venice Film Festival". Film Comment. 1 (3): 8–12. JSTOR 43752655.
^Wigley, Samuel (September 5, 2019). "Where to begin with Orson Welles". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Bailey, Jason (October 31, 2018). "A New Orson Welles Movie Is Coming to Netflix. These Are His Films Streaming Right Now". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^ abcSchmidt, William E. (August 25, 1994). "New From Orson Welles: Updated 'Quixote'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
^ abAlberge, Dalya (January 16, 2016). "Lost script reveals what Orson Welles really thought about Ernest Hemingway". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Ebert, Roger (December 8, 1996). "The Third Man". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^"Orson Welles". Festival de Cannes. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^"Orson Welles". Golden Globes. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^"The 43rd Academy Awards: 1971". The Academy Awards. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Canby, Vincent (March 2, 1975). "Film View". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^"36th Annual DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America. Archived from the original on September 12, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^ ab"Citizen Kane". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^Crowther, Bosley (May 2, 1941). "Orson Welles's Controversial 'Citizen Kane' Proves a Sensational Film at Palace – 'That Uncertain Feeling' at Music Hall – 'Great American Broadcast' at Roxy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^ ab"The Magnificent Ambersons". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^Kamp, David (April 8, 2010). "Magnificent Obsession". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^ ab"The Stranger". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^Pulver, Andrew (May 1, 2020). "My streaming gem: why you should watch The Stranger". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
^ ab"The Lady from Shanghai". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^Andrew, Geoff (January 11, 2018). "The Lady from Shanghai: Welles at his most mischievous". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^ ab"Macbeth". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^"The Immortal Story". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^Ebert, Roger (October 13, 1977). "F for Fake". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
^ ab"Orson Welles. Don Quixote". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
^Brody, Richard (November 2, 2018). ""The Other Side of the Wind," Reviewed: A Belated Orson Welles Masterpiece". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^"The Other Side of the Wind". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^Kehr, David (August 7, 2013). "Early Film by Orson Welles Is Rediscovered". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^"Campbell Playhouse:Green Goddess". Orson Welles on the Air, 1938–1946. Indiana University Bloomington. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarasatauavawax"Orson Welles". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^"Swiss Family Robinson (1940)". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^A List of U.S. War Films. Washington, D.C.: Office of War Information. April 1943. p. 5.
^"DVD Savant Blu-ray Review: Jane Eyre". Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk, November 20, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
^Sterritt, David. "Know Your Ally: Britain". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on May 19, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
^"Films to Trace History of Cities". Austin Daily Texan. Austin, Texas. January 21, 1945. Six sound and color films on "City Planning – Present and Past" and a lecture by Hugo Leipziger on city planning and slum clearance will be presented by the Department of Architecture in the Architecture Building Auditorium … Students in city planning courses have invited the public to attend the free showings.
^Joseph, G. M.; Rubenstein, Anne; Zolov, Eric (2001). Fragments of a Golden Age: The Politics of Culture in Mexico Since 1940. Duke University Press. pp. 238–239. ISBN 978-0-8223-8312-3. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
^ abcdefg"Orson Welles". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 7, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
^"Return to Glennascaul". Irish Film & TV Research Online. Trinity College Dublin. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
^Thompson, Howard (May 5, 1960). "Golden Africa: 'Masters of the Congo Jungle' at Palace". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016.
^"High Journey". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
^"A Horse Called Nijinsky". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
^Naficy, Hamid (December 16, 2003). "Iranian Cinema". In Oliver Leaman (ed.). Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. Routledge. p. 140. ISBN 9781134662524. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
^Welles, Orson (1998). This is Orson Welles. Perseus Books Group. p. xxvii. ISBN 9780306808340.
^"Kelly Country (1972)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
^"Orson Welles Reads for Sidney Nolan". The Age. January 30, 1977. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
^Power and Corruption (16 mm film). Ontario: Learning Corporation of America. 1973. OCLC 5553910. Great themes of literature.
^"And Then There Were None". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
^The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call it Greed (VHS). Los Angeles: Learning Corporation of America. 1977. OCLC 22258614. A production of Forbes Magazine to mark its 60th anniversary.
^Mysterious Castles of Clay (VHS). Peabody Collection of the University of Georgia Libraries. 1980 [1978]. OCLC 7598227.
^CPR For Citizens (16mm). Pyramid Films. 1980 [1978].
^"Il Grande Attacco". BFI Film & TV Database. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
^"The Double McGuffin". AllMovie. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
^"The Greenstone". AllMovie. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
^"The Secret of Nikola Tesla". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^"Park Dedicated to President Roosevelt on His Namesake Island". Kral, Georgia, MetroFocus, WNET, October 18, 2012. October 18, 2012. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
^"Search for the Titanic". AllMovie. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
^Mannikka, Eleanor. "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow". AllMovie. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
^"The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1981)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
^Kroll, Robert (November 7, 2020). "Rarely seen Orson Welles-narrated film 'Gift of Harvest' surfaces online". Wellesnet. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
^"Slapstick of Another Kind". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^Mertes, Harald; Hollander, Neil (2006) [1984]. The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail(DVD). Adventure Film Productions. OCLC 173362967. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
^"The Enchanted Journey". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Skelton, Scott; Benson, Jim. (1999) (1999). Rod Serling's Night Gallery: An After-hours Tour. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815627821. Retrieved December 16, 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^"Moonlighting: The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice (1985)". AllMovie. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
^Kurland, Daniel (November 24, 2015). "When 'Moonlighting' Turned Itself Into a Perfect Film Noir to Solve an Aging Crime". Vulture. New York City. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
^Jewell, Richard B. (Fall 1988). "Orson Welles, George Schaefer, and "It's All True": A "Cursed" Production". Film History. 2 (4): 325–335. JSTOR 3815150.
Brady, Frank (2015). Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles. New York City: NY Creative Publishing. ISBN 9780989913751.
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. ISBN 9780345497734.
Estrin, Mark W. (2002). Orson Welles: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781578062096.
Graver, Gary (2008). Making Movies With Orson Welles. Scarecrow printing. ISBN 9780810882294.
McBride, Joseph (2006). What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813124100.
Selznick, David O. (2000). Memo from David O. Selznick. Modern Library. ISBN 9780375755316.
Thomas, François; Berthomé, Jean-Piere (2008). Orson Welles at Work. Phaidon Press. ISBN 9780714845838.
Welles, Orson; Bogdanovich, Peter; Rosenbaum, Jonathan (1998). This Is Orson Welles. Boston: DaCapo Press. ISBN 9780306808340.
Wood, Brett (1990). Orson Welles: A Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood. ISBN 9780313265389.