on TCM this month:

[K Dobry]

Some films on TCM that might be of interest, featuring work by some of Welles' collaborators from the 40s:

Oct 29 5PM Rachel and the Stranger (directed Norman Foster, starring Loretta Young)

Oct 30 6:15 AM Mad Love (cinematography by Gregg Toland)

[Alan Brody]

To me, the most interesting Welles-related item on TCM this month is Richard Burton's Dr. Faustus from 1967, which is on at 6pm est tomorrow evening. It's based on the same Christopher Marlowe play that Welles based his 1937 production of Faustus on. Elizabeth Taylor costars, obviously playing Helen of Troy. I've never seen it, but many consider it an underrated film.

[tonyw]

I've seen it and it bears little relationship to the dynamic production by the Mercury Theatre in the 1930s, just another ego-trip on the part of the Burtons to prove that they could be serious. Liz appears as Helen of Troy who drags Faustus to his doom at the end. Certainly before the first divorce, Buron "puts the blame on Mame."

[Harvey Chartrand]

Orson Welles' directorial genius may not have rubbed off on Gary Graver but they both shared an amazing work ethic of seven-day weeks, usually juggling seven or eight projects at a time. Lord knows it wasn't for lack of trying that Graver failed to direct a masterpiece. He helmed several B-pictures in the hopes of breaking into mainstream films. Most of his low-budget directorial projects were tampered with by unsympathetic producers (and in one case by a producer's nephew who wandered into a screening room, saw Graver's work and eventually recut and reshot several scenes from the picture – a horror film that Graver made in the eighties.) Graver said he had a copy of the original workprint but couldn't do anything with it as the film belonged to the production company. I saw Graver's personal favorite from among the films he directed – the original uncut father-son conflict drama THE BOYS with Cameron Mitchell (Sr. and Jr.) and Peter Jason, later reworked by its producers into something called TEXAS LIGHTNING – good ol' boy shitkicker drive-in fodder bearing little resemblance to the original work. Even though Mitchell Sr. refused to cooperate, the original downbeat ending was rather cleverly reshot and recut to become an upbeat feelgood ending...
Richard Burton's DOCTOR FAUSTUS demonstrates that a film needs more than a strong performance by its lead player to be watchable, which contradicts Welles' assertion that THE BAKER'S WIFE/LA FEMME DU BOULANGER's success is entirely due to master thespian Raimu. All director Marcel Pagnol had to do was aim the camera and shoot his star player, Welles argued. Anyone could have directed the picture and it would have been a masterpiece... because of Raimu. Check out this quote from IMDB: "Orson Welles once called beloved, down-to-earth French character star Raimu (born Jules Auguste Cesar Muraire) 'the greatest actor who ever lived.' It is hard to argue the compliment of one genius to another."
Richard Burton as a performer was one of the greats, but his artistry apparently didn't extend behind the camera. (Alcohol abuse cannot be blamed in this instance. DOCTOR FAUSTUS was made in 1967 and Burton's problems with booze had not yet completely debilitated him... that would happen later, in the 1970s. It has been claimed that Burton was in a perpetual blackout during the shooting of Terence Young's THE KLANSMAN and was in such a bad way that production of his next picture with Young [JACKPOT] was cancelled, even though half the scenes were filmed.) Too bad.

[Alan Brody]

Thanks for the warning, guys. I had to have someone record it for me, so. I won't be able to watch it until the weekend. If you look at reviews for the film at Amazon though, you see that some people like the film. Maybe they're too young to remember how obnoxiously famous Liz and Dick were in the 1960's.

[tonyw]

Yes, both Lee Marvin and Burton were boozing during THE KLANSMAN which I also saw on first release. Perhaps this may have been a reaction to the way Samuel Fuller's screenplay was changed but I doubt it. I also remember composer Jerry Fielding reacting to a remark Brian dePalma made on TV, "All I have to do is point the camera at Bobby (deNiro) and the rest follows.

Even the brief recreation of DR. FAUSTUS in THE CRADLE WILL ROCK (1999) is much better than the Burton's venture into serious drama.

[Alan Brody]

Watched it yesterday. No, it's not that good of a movie, but it does at times have a nice Hammer horror atmosphere that probably could have been enhanced if Burton had hired someone like Christopher Lee as Mephistopheles. It does seem more like an ego trip when there are NO other stars in speaking parts. Welles was at least willing to share his spotlight with the physically imposing Jack Carter, who had been the star of his Voodoo Macbeth. Still, Burton does deserve some credit for even daring to film such obviously uncommercial story as Faustus. It seems in some ways almost like a kind of confession for his own sell-out to Hollywood. In that sense, Elizabeth Taylor was the right choice for Helen.