Falstaff in Chicago this wknd

[Eric]

Don't know if this has been posted yet. From yesterday's Tribune:

Welles' restored 'Chimes' gets rare showing at Prop
By Michael Wilmington
Tribune movie critic

"Chimes at Midnight," the magnificent 1966 Orson Welles film (also known as "Falstaff"), which Prop Thtr will show in a special restored "work print" for a four-day run starting Thursday, ranks as one of the cinema's most sadly neglected major classics.

Hopefully, that will change this weekend. Prop's Thursday-Sunday showings of Welles' "Chimes" -- his own personal favorite, above "Citizen Kane," among all his works -- represents not only a rare 35 mm theatrical screening of a true film masterpiece, but also the first paid screening of a restored "work print" version from producer Michael Dawson which is a radical improvement on previous releases. (The screenings are part of a fund-raising event at the theater's new space at 3502-04 N. Elston Ave.)

"Chimes" -- Welles' last major fiction feature in his tragically truncated career -- is one of the greatest films ever made, a magnificent Shakespearean adaptation by one of the cinema's most brilliant filmmaker/actors. Excitingly filmed and beautifully acted by an all-star European cast (including John Gielgud, Jeanne Moreau and Margaret Rutherford), it's a vibrantly creative picture, with its robust Elizabethan world whirling around the great, earthy star performance Welles himself considered his finest: as boisterous, pleasure-loving, cowardly, hilarious and finally melancholy court hanger-on Sir John Falstaff.

In the four plays from which Welles drew "Chimes" -- "Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2," "Henry V" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" -- Falstaff steals the show from his younger, more heroic or more regal castmates, including war rivals Prince Hal (Baxter) and Hotspur (Norman Rodway). As the crony of young Hal, "Fat Jack" Falstaff is the "bad influence" from whom leonine old Henry IV (Gielgud) wishes to save his son, a plump sower of wild oats and stager of grand revels later to be cast aside.

"Chimes" is lyrical and thrilling, funny and tragic. It has one of the cinema's great battle scenes and one of its most heartbreaking farewells, some of its grandest poetry and most spectacular images. But it is less the tale of a king's coming of age than of the loss of his wild, sensuous heart -- the "bad influence" whose humanity, Welles feels, far outshines the crown.

Welles adapted Shakespeare on stage and screen all his life, from boyhood on. This was his grand, culminating work. But, when "Chimes" was released in 1966, it was (predictably for that time) hailed in Europe but savaged by some powerful American critics for its technical shortcomings -- mostly caused by Welles' lean budget and uncertain schedule.

Among the most obvious of those shortcomings: the film's soundtrack, which, from its first release, was slightly out of sync. That's one of the things partly corrected by Dawson, who also restored Welles' great Shakespearean film, "Othello." The dialogue correction alone gives the film an immediacy and impact denied it before.

The screening has been described as a "work-in-progress." But when I saw an earlier version of Dawson's restoration six years ago it was a revelation. The scenery and images, shot in striking black and white by the French cinematographer Edmond Richard ("The Red Balloon"), have that same old matchless Wellesian dark visual splendor. The sound and speeches were vivid, powerful.

At that time, Dawson was restoring the film for Miramax, but the studio unwisely pulled the plug on the project, only recently rekindled by Dawson and his "Othello" executive producers Edward Stone and Donald Liebsker. Now, Dawson estimates about 8-16 weeks of work left needed to finally complete the restoration. ("Right now, compared to where we'll be, it's 2 on a scale of ten.")

That's inspiring to contemplate. "Chimes at Midnight," a bit like Falstaff himself, was an example of greatness undervalued and cast aside. As we watch it now, we can see once again how the screen could blaze with excitement and grandeur in the hands of those two geniuses and kindred spirits, William Shakespeare and Orson Welles.

The film screens 8 p.m. Thursday- Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday . Tickets are $20, except Saturday when the $50 ticket includes a 6 p.m. reception. Reservations required. 773-486-7767.

"Chimes at Midnight"
4 stars

Directed and written by Orson Welles; based on William Shakespeare's plays "Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2," "Henry V" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and Raphael Holinshed's "Chronicles"; photographed by Edmond Richard; edited by Fritz Muller; production designed by Gustavo Quintana; music by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino; produced by Emiliano Piedra, Angel Escolano. Narrated by Ralph Richardson; opens Thursday at The Prop Thtr. Running time: 1:59. No MPAA rating. Parents cautioned for scenes of violence.

Sir John "Jack" Falstaff ........ Orson Welles

Prince Hal (a.k.a. Henry V) ..... Keith Baxter

King Henry IV ................... John Gielgud

Doll Tearsheet .................. Jeanne Moreau

Mistress Quickly ................ Margaret Rutherford

Henry Percy, called Hotspur ..... Norman Rodway

Justice Swallow ................. Alan Webb

Worcester ....................... Fernando Rey

[Jeff Wilson]

I posted about this in the Falstaff thread in the General area of the forum, but I think people may have missed it after it got bumped down. It's certainly worthy of its own thread, given the importance of this news. One interesting thing is the length, given at 119 minutes. I've seen this length given for the film before, but the Spanish DVD version times out at about 115 minutes, so I'm wondering if this is indeed a longer version of the picture, or maybe padded with extra credits for the restoration, or just a mistake.

[AndersE]

The Spanish DVD is in PAL format, so so it runs aproximately 4% too fast (as does all PAL video transfers). That pretty much explains the difference in timing.

Anders

[Jeff Wilson]

Yes, but it runs about 112 minutes on the PAL DVD, which would figure to about 115 in NTSC. I was unclear on that in my earlier comment.

[Jaime N. Christley]

The Spanish DVD is quite good, I think, so if this release anticipates an even better DVD for American Wellesophiles, then it's great news all around.

Goddamn Chicago, we get a one-time-only LOLA MONTES screening in the middle of a CHIMES-less Welles series, and you guys get this. Wanna trade?

[Cole]

LOLA MONTES really isn’t all that bad of a movie if you take a lot of drugs before you watch it.

This new “restortation” of CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT is exciting news, but I’m sure like the rest of us, I’m a bit concerned that it’s being done by the same people who “restored” OTHELLO. I’m also confused how the restorers of CHIMES can say that right now the film ranks a 2 out of 10 compared to the way it will look in 8-16 weeks when it sounds like they’ve been working on the restoration for at least 6 years. Makes no sense to me.

Jeff – as to the running time, didn’t you once compare the Spanish DVD with the script in the Lyons book on CHIMES, and find only a short omission in the Spanish DVD? If you’ve bookmarked the pages in the Lyons book, I’d love to know where they are. I’ve read the script in the Lyons book, but not while watching the film, and didn’t catch the additional dialogue.

[Jeff Wilson]

I did compare the two, and the Spanish DVD print was missing one line of dialogue. I don't know what I did with the notes I had, but it came during one of the scenes with Shallow when Falstaff is assembling the men, if I recall correctly. Otherwise, both the Lyon book and the DVD matched, at least dialogue-wise, as I didn't try and track the editing as noted in the book.

I'm concerned as well about the restoration, given OTHELLO, but the length of time involved could be due to a couple things, one being a lack of funding, once Miramax bailed, and the other could be the rights situation of the film. I assume we may hear about how this all came to be once it gets completed and the press begins covering it.



Edited By Jeff Wilson on Jan. 24 2004 at 02:21

[Cole]

Thanks for the info. At least it sounds like whatever was cut from the print used for the Spanish DVD was relatively minor.

If any of our Chicago members went to see the film over the weekend, please share your observations. I’d have to guess that Jonathan Rosenbaum went to see it. Hopefully he’ll publish his comments about the quality of this latest print, but so far I don’t find anything about it at the Chicago Reader web site other than a brief announcement about the screening.

[mteal]

Jaime Christley,
Keep your shirt on, skipper- I don't think this new Chimes screening was such a big deal. I live about an hour away from Chicago, but to go clear into the city and pay $20 to see an unfinished "work print"? No thanks, wake me up when they get it finished. I don't know whether you're in New York or L.A., but I'd be more then happy to trade the Chimes screening for either of those Welles fests.

Besides, my Japanese LD of CHIMES, despite the annoying Japanese subtitles strung along the side of the frame, is of superb picture and sound quality, and proof that the film needs little in the way of "restoration". Like Cole, I'm concered about the intentions here. If Dawson and co. want to correct the faulty dubbing, fine. I'm all for that. But if they're going to take the same gratuitous liberties on the CHIMES soundtrack that they took on OTHELLO - mainly hiring someone else to recompose Lavagnino's music so they can re-record it in digital stereo - then as far as I'm concerned they can only make it worse. However, I'll keep an open mind until I see the finished product.

[Jaime N. Christley]

Keep your shirt on, skipper- I don't think this new Chimes screening was such a big deal. I live about an hour away from Chicago, but to go clear into the city and pay $20 to see an unfinished "work print"? No thanks, wake me up when they get it finished. I don't know whether you're in New York or L.A., but I'd be more then happy to trade the Chimes screening for either of those Welles fests.

Shirt will remain and has remained firmly in the "on" position.

It's expensive because it's a fundraiser, right?

I wouldn't trade my Welles series, just LOLA MONTES. It would be tough (I'd love to see MONTES again, especially a print, and would rather trade something like, say, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS), but I could do it.

[Flint]

MTEAL-
Was interested in your comment on the Japanese LD of "Chimes". I just ordered the Spanish DVD. How do the two compare? Anyone?


-Flint

[Eric]

Both myself and a friend tried calling the theatre for tickets on multiple occasions. No one even answered the phone and there was no recording.....

[colwood]

So, did this happen? Was anybody in the Chicago area able to go see it?

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I would have traded either of you for the zippo we've got going down in Sydney. They show Welles movies on cable TV (which i don't have), but aside from that the only thing happening in the public eye here is the recent release of the Touch of Evil on DVD (which, you may be pleased to know, is snapped up from every DVD store in the area as soon as a new batch comes in).