How's Orson Welles doing on DVD?
 

So far, Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, Lady from Shanghai, Othello and MacBeth, Mr. Arkadin and The Trail are out.

There's also a tv series that Orson W. narrated called Around the World with Orson Welles.

What are we likely to see next? Magnicficent Ambersons?

Will we ever see the theatrical release of Touch of Evil on DVD? Or is that not in the studio's interest? After they spent all that money creating a new cut? And the doc about the "restoration"?

Will we ever see F is For Fake? Or Journey into Fear? or Filmming Othello? (which I don't think is even available on VHS.)

There was a great, long (four hour?) interview with Welles. Is that out?

don't forget Transformers The Movie!

:lol:

The one I want the most....


http://us.imdb.com/Title?0059012


<b>CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT</b> (aka <i>Falstaff</i>)

F IS FOR FAKE is rumored (but only rumored at this point) as a possible upcoming Criterion. And AMBERSONS is supposedly in the works from Warner.

CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT is available on a very nice Spanish disc, if you have a multi-region player. The short film oddity HEARTS OF AGE is available on a double-bill with THE STRANGER and THE TRIAL.

I would love to see better versions of MR ARKADIN, THE TRIAL and THE STRANGER; none of the existing discs are adequate. I would also love to see JOURNEY INTO FEAR, MACBETH, IT'S ALL TRUE and the other unreleased Welles films on disc. But what I would like to see and what I'm likely to get are very different things.

At this point I doubt seriously we will ever see the original release cut of TOUCH OF EVIL on DVD, unless perhaps they reissue the current disc as a 2-disc set including both versions. That would be cool -- but I wouldn't hold my breath. Luckily, I have a pristine prerecorded VHS tape of the original theatrical version, which I am hanging onto.

As far as documentary stuff, there's a ton of that material out there, as well. Hopefully some of that will turn up on the AMBERSONS disc, if Warner gives it the same 2-disc deluxe treatment they gave KANE.

... also The Third Man

That's not really an Orson Welles movie, just a movie he starred in.

Any details on where to pick this stuff up?

They did the laser (so we know they have the materials), and I doubt anyone else is really clamoring for the rights, so hopefully we'll see this.

And guys, listen, it's "F For Fake", without the "is". Trust me. ;)

True, but it's part of the whole Orson Welles mythology/worship thing. Plus, can you imagine an Orson Welles fan NOT owning this movie?

Well, there's been a debate about that very subject for decades. Many people think Welles had a huge hand in the direction and look of the film and say that it is basically a Welles film, though credited to Carol Reed. Others say that isn't true at all, though Welles is known to have written several bits of his own character's dialogue, particularly the famous "Cuckoo Clock" speech.

What is that short film Hearts of Age? Is it a narrative film that he directed?

Does anyone remember the name of that lonnnnggg interview with O.W.? It aired in the US in a truncated form.

It's a very primitive silent short that he "directed" as a teenager with a home movie camera. It's fascinating, but don't expect a mini Citizen Kane or anything.

F For Fake is available on a region free disc from Brazil. As far as I know, it is a legitimate release... if it's a bootleg, it's a damn good one.

And, have you seen the Image Entertainment edition of The Trial? Or the Roan edition of The Stranger? While neither would win disc-of-the-year awards, I consider both of these to be at least "adequate". Maybe even "good". :)

I would definitely call "The Trial" good. Maybe not a feature-loaded disc, but the transfer is as nice as you're likely going to get. :thumbsup:

Is Hearts of Age a silent film? - like the shorts in It's All True?

If you are interested, you should check out www.wellesnet.com. It's a very good site, and updated on a fairly frequent basis. (One of the message boards contains a comprehensive delineation of the multiple versions of Mr. Arkadin, for example.)

Some random thoughts:

<b> Citizen Kane </b> -- In addition to the marvelous R1 version, a special edition is coming out in R2 with some different extras.

<b> Working with Orson Welles </b> and <b> The Dominici Affair </b> are probably for completists only.

<b> F For Fake </b> came out in a very good Japanese edition, although I don't know if it still in print.

And I believe <b> The Immortal Story </b> is coming out in Italy soon, if it isn't already out.

And finally, Welles narrates a documentary on the arty caveman epic, <b> Quest for Fire </b>.

BTW, for those keeping score at home, I believe the canon of completed Orson Welles films includes the following 12:

Citizen Kane
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Stranger
The Lady from Shanghai
Macbeth
Othello
Touch of Evil
The Trial
Mr. Arkadin (Confidential Report)
Chimes at Midnight
The Immortal Story
F For Fake

:thumbsup:

>>Any details on where to pick this stuff up?<<

You can pick up the R2 CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (under the title FALSTAFF: CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT) from Luminous Film & Video Wurks and some other import DVD dealers, but it's pricey.

BTW -- I know there's no IS in F FOR FAKE but I just reflexively typed it in. Sorry.

I haven't seen the Roan STRANGER; the Image TRIAL is so-so but still less than the film deserves.

Yeah, I realize it's not a cool thing to cop to, but I rather like the "tampered" version myself. -smile- Two reasons: Henry Mancini (sorry, Orson).

That Mancini film does a great job of setting up the movie. I love it and miss not hearing it when I watch Touch of Evil.

But I think the other edits are good ones. For example, the Heston's story and Janet Leigh's story are now more balanced.

I even wished they put the deleted scenes that Welles did NOT shot as an extra. Even though the original cut is not his, it's the way I love the movie. Jonathan Rosenblum makes an interesting case that this new version isn't any more a "director's cut" than the old version.

I'd love to see the fragments of the Don Quixote film he was working on.

Actually, there are several regularly on eBay, it seems, for about half the price.

DDD is also selling something called: THE DOMINICI AFFAIR
DVD Description

When a family on holiday was brutally murdered in the French countryside in 1952, filmmaker Orson Welles was fascinated by it. He made a film studying the slaying of the ten year old girl and her parents for British television. This video presents the entire 26 minute film of the "Dominici Affair," as it was named after the peasant Gaston Dominici who was convicted of the murders, as well as new archival materials and testimony from the journalist who was Welles' assistant

THE DOMINICI AFFAIR was to have been an episode of Welles' Around the World With Orson Welles television show (also on DVD from Image), but it was unfinished. The DVD doesn't present the entire thing, but it does have everything that was finished before production on it stopped. It's interested, but the casual moviegoer probably won't be interested.

As for Welles' DON QUIXOTE, you can see the abhorrent version that uber-hack Jess Franco cobbled together on either of two DVDs, one available in Spain and the other in France. Given Beatrice Welles' penchant for threatening lawsuits against those wanting to release most Welles projects in the US, it's unlikely we'll see it here, even though she owns no rights to it.

The best version of THE TRIAL is a brand new French release from Studio Canal/Universal, which has a much superior picture to the Milestone/Image release, if you can play PAL discs. It also includes a deleted scene.

THE IMMORTAL STORY came out in a nice edition from Italy, which includes the English version, the Italian version, and the French version of the film. Forced Italian subs, but it's the only version of the film available anywhere on disc.

HEARTS OF AGE is a very short silent film Welles made as a gag with some school friends in 1934. It's amusing. Once can look for hints of the future in it if one likes, but I don't ascribe huge importance to it. The presentation of HEARTS on the STRANGER/TRIAL set (which is crap, incidentally) is marred by having Jeffrey Lyons' commentary over it with no way to switch it off, aside from muting the sound.