Orson Welles Centennial
 

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Today, May 6, 2015, would have been Orson Welles' 100th birthday. Let's celebrate by watching Orson today, something by and/or with him. There's tons of things out there that I'm sure you've never seen. I'm planning to watch MACBETH (1948) today, which I've never seen in its entirety. Last night I re-watched ORSON WELLES: THE ONE-MAN BAND, always a good way to celebrate Welles, since there's so much footage of him in it and from a variety of eras and places. This morning I watched "Around the World with Orson Welles," a tape of documentary episodes that he made in Europe for the BBC.

There's tons of great stuff to be found on YouTube. I especially recommend Orson Welles' Sketchbook, a multipart series of talks he did for the BBC in 1955.

Orson Welles’ Sketchbook, on Houdini and Barrymore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaooTLg2k-M

Orson Welles’ Sketchbook, on War of the Worlds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VMbFnc0nTA

Orson Welles' Sketchbook, on the police:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crn_mPWd1HQ

And I looked in my own collection of stuff taped off TV over the years to find something I could upload on YouTube and found this segment done by Leonard Maltin on Entertainment Tonight in 1988 about the newly discovered wartime Brazilian footage that Welles shot for an unfinished film. This footage later formed the basis for the documentary, IT'S ALL TRUE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Q_iqhCEDg

My favorite Welles performances in films he didn't direct are: JANE EYRE (as Rochester), BLACK MAGIC (as Cagliostro) and PRINCE OF FOXES (as Cesare Borgia). That's him as Mr. Arkadin above.

Re: Orson Welles Centennial
 

I'm in for this one:

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g3...psz2eklyy7.jpg

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I'd love for that to be be on BD.

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I'll pretend I'm banging Rita Hayworth later.

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My first introduction Orson Wells :

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Re: Orson Welles Centennial
 

I've had Touch of Evil on my to watch list for some time now. I think I'll watch it tonight.

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I may watch this again - The Fountain of Youth (1956). The pilot for a proposed series for Desilu. It aired only once and won the Peabody Award in 1958.

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Re: Orson Welles Centennial
 

There's a newly remastered blu-ray of this coming out in August in the UK. I can't wait to check it out, as I've never seen it.

No The Third Man?! I saw Jane Eyre for the first time a few months ago. I was a little underwhelmed, but I think that's because I went into it with too high expectations. I'll have to revisit. I remember thinking Elizabeth Taylor was pretty great in one of her first roles.

Re: Orson Welles Centennial
 

I think I'll do The Lady from Shanghai tonight. Then I may even watch the movie.

Re: Orson Welles Centennial
 

https://ladyfancifull.files.wordpres...pg?w=529&h=391

Colonel Haki in Journey Into Fear *

* Welles did co-write (with Joseph Cotten) & produce the film. It feels like A Welles film, from the cinematography to the Mercury actors to the design, even though he did not direct.

Now where's the Blu Ray???

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That Fountain of Youth is amazing. The use of stills vs moving images to the extent that we are sometimes not even sure if what we are seeing is a moving image or a still is really cool. I wonder if Chris Marker saw this before making La Jette.

Welles was such an amazing editor and his use of transitions is innovative even today.

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His appearance late in THE THIRD MAN is a fun piece of Welles flamboyance, but has always struck me as gimmicky. And the movie is kept from being great by that incessant Goddamned zither music.

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That's a great idea. I'll try to find my disc.

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Do not like.

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Yeah. I've never understood why people don't like the zither music. It suits the film perfectly.

I think that The Third Man is truly one of the greats. Roger Ebert once said it was the film that best summed up the mystique of cinema.

Re: Orson Welles Centennial
 

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How about a zany score by Danny Elfman? I've always felt The Third Man needed more slide whistles!

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There's always this gem...

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Always like Welles appearances on the DEAN MARTIN SHOW and CELEBRITY ROASTS.

Welles was Great on the radio. His MERCURY THEATER productions were well done.
Had 5-6 appearances on SUSPENSE.
Filled in on the JACK BENNY PROGRAM when he was sick for a month.
Also had a bit of a running fued with CHARLIE McCARTHY.
Recreated his HARRY LIME role for a Brithish radio series.
Also narrated the BLACK MUSEUM.

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One of my favorite Orson Welles films is Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight) that's about a character in some Shakespeare plays.

The battle scene in it is amazing, especially given the fact that it was shot in the mid-1960s but how it is filmed and edited seems like more recent films.

The battle starts at the 4:27 mark in this clip:
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(the cowardly overweight man in armor in this clip is Falstaff, played by himself)

And here's a trailer for the film:
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Piece in the New York Times today on efforts to complete THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/bu...ef=todayspaper

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Another Welles masterpiece that I need to re-watch:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/63...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

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Is this even on DVD? I thought I read a couple years ago Warners wanted to do a home video release, but to my knowledge, nothing ever materialized.

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I know there's a French dvd out there that is supposed to be pretty good, but as far as I know it has never been released in the US. Considering WB's massive archive program and all of the content that's been released through those channels, I can't help but wonder if there's some other variable preventing them from releasing it.