Orson tv interview (clip(s))

[purplepines]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C7MbagITNU

Fast forward to 5:47 of this, Orson tells of his 1937 (?) fistfight with Hemingway. How does he not laugh?

If you can't get enough, there are many more parts of the interview you'll see it on the page.

Cordially,

[ToddBaesen]

By a strange coincidence, I just saw Orson Welles narration for THE SPANISH EARTH a few weeks ago, so this video was really interesting to me. Thanks Purple for posting the link.

Also, it's interesting how Parkinson (and I have no idea who he is), but isn't it nice that when Welles appeared on British TV shows he could talk about things that had substance. When he appeared on American TV shows, he had to deal with questions like "how much weight you have lost" and other inane questions.

[purplepines]

This show, by the way, apparently was from 17 November 1973, and it's called, aptly enough, "Parkinson".

[Glenn Anders]

Your might wish to note that Sir Michael Parkinson, known affectionatelyl as "Parky" in Britain, announced this week that he is taking a year off from his interview program, after nearly 40 years, to consider other TV options. Parkinson is a Wellsian combination of many talents and accomplishments. He has been a cricketeer, an Army officer (the youngest ever, during the Suez Crisis), a reporter, a sports columnist, an actor, a children's book writer, a jazz and film music expert, but he is best known for his interviews that make him Britain's counterpart of Charlie Rose. He has specialized in the Movies, and has worked on both Radio and Television, which may suggest why he seemed such a fit for Welles.

Glenn

[luzaccion]

By the way, the print of SPANISH EARTH at Donnell Public Library in Manhattan still credits Welles with the narration, even though it's Hemingway's voice. A Hemingway expert once told me that there were also obscenities exchanged during that fight.

This was an important juncture not only because Welles met Hemingway, but also because the film was made by Joris Ivens, and this was the first in a series of contacts with the transatlantic documentary film world that would provide much inspiration for IT'S ALL TRUE.

[tonyw]

I have a copy of the Parkinson interview with Welles from the time it was repeated. Sadly, Parky blows it in the end with his later comment continuing the old legend of "crazy Welles" by mentioning his self -destructive nature. If only his journbalist side had kept silent!

[tonyw]

Dear Catherine,

May I be the first to welcome you to this site. We've all read or ordered your book for our various libraries and your input about the remaining footage of IT'S ALL TRUE and other Welles issues will be most appreciated.

[Store Hadji]

Woah, synchronicity!

I spent last night making audio recordings of several Welles TV interviews, including Parkinson, so I could post them here!

Have a few more to go.

[smartone]

Orson roasting Dean Martin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlKR0i-51S4

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you, smartone, for contributing that entry to the record.

Welles' send up of Dean Martin is the epitome of a good "after dinner speech," the kind that I was urged to study and master in my young manhood, preparatory to a lightning rise in small town politics. [I never could take good advice nor, in this case, master it.] But in an ironic sense, how quickly did Welles become a victim himself of conventional wit.

It was almost as if Welles the Entertainer was at war with Welles the Creator of Distinguished Art.

They all but destroyed one and other.

Glenn

[mido505]

Regarding THE SPANISH EARTH, TCM showed it a couple of weeks ago, and the print credited Welles with the narration, although it was obviously not his voice, presumably Hemingway's. I found this very confusing; thanks, luzaccion, for shedding some light.

[Glenn Anders]

Indeed, mido505!

I trust and hope that Catherine Bergamou will continue to bring us any information about the legendary, perhaps mythological, 16mm. copy of THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, said to have been sent by RKO to Rio in 1942.

We need a difinitive settlement for the question of the existence of that print, what happened to it (if it indeed reached Rio), and what finally became of it.

Those questions are among the final truly important ones remaining to be answered in connection with the career of Orson Welles.

Perhaps, Catherine, you will be able to take them up when you open your Orson Welles' Exhibit at the University of Michigan on Thursday.

Glenn Anders