Clip of I'll Never Forget What's'isname (1967)

[purplepines]

In my opinion, easily one of Orson's last 5 great movies/roles. I say that because it has a zany subversiveness that I think suited him, and that I would argue is in all of his quality work.

I don't think I clued y'all into this yet.

Oh and I would have changed the music at the beginning to something more befitting, say, the underground London music scene of 1967. A little Floyd, perhaps.

The Clip CLICK HERE

[Glenn Anders]

The Atom Bomb at the end of the commercial almost makes one think that Michael Winner may have let Welles direct it.

Very good, purplepines.

I've never seen the entire movie.

Glenn

[Harvey Chartrand]

Damn good film. Norman Rodway (who played Hotspur in FALSTAFF) is also in it.
Odd to see that Oliver Reed bloated up in his later years, and came to resemble Welles somewhat... even favoring capes to conceal his colossal girth. See Reed's dandified crime lord in FUNNY BONES (1995), reminiscent of Welles' "gay" roles in FERRY TO HONG KONG, WATERLOO, 12 + 1... Reed as the Cardinal in Stuart Gordon's THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1990) reminds me of Welles' Cardinal Wolseley in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS.

[mteal]

I agree that I'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT'S HIS NAME is one of Welles's best films as an actor. He has a great speech in it about the 20th Century's leading product: waste. Well worth seeing.

[tonyw]

Michael Winner is not a very good director and this is one of his most pretentious films. However, Welles is good in this role and makes the film worth watching in a similar way to his deliberate comic acting in FERRY TO HONG KONG where he pulls out all the stops in a grotesque comic performance as he tells Bogdanovich in THIS IS ORSON WELLES. Welles's other scenes presents him as mother dominated- perhaps an echo to George Minafer?

For those interested, the screening occurs in London's National Film Theatre and the voice-over is by the late actor Patrick Allen who also specialized in commercials and ran a company doing voice-overs. The mother in the film is Wendy Craig who was a serious actress (THE SERVANT) before becoming type cast in TV comedy series such as AND MOTHER MAKES THREE.

Had Reed not dissipated his talents, he could easily have been a serious contender for James Bond at this stage of his career.

[Glenn Anders]

Yes, tonyw, Michael Winner must have started near the bottom and worked his way down. He seems to have been in on the trend toward theme or franchise titles, only most of his never went anywhere. Early on he did films with "cool" in the title, and then, "joke." His best film was probably THE JOKERS. The picture that got him the most attention, however, was DEATH WISH, but evidently no one thought of him for the sequels.

I was surprised, at first glance, to see Winner described in bios as a fascist in his person and his art. I have always shied away from putting labels on people, but in Winner's case, it may be justified. He went for such films as DEATH WISH and THE MECHANIC.

It may have pleased his pride to hire Orson Welles for I'LL NEVER FORGET WHATSISNAME, but the irony is that their later lives have been in mirror-image parallel. The best known part of his recent career, for instance, has been in right wing commentary and TV commercials.

An occasional so-so film stands out, usually because of the players or the technicians. The re-make of WICKED LADY, a film I like, for some reason, featured a return to DP for the incomparable Jack Cardiff.

Thank you, tonyw, for reminding me of a director I had almost entirely forgotten.

Glenn

[Store Hadji]

Winner's a great director as far as I'm concerned. What's'isname is a great flick.

[Skylark]

The film within a film sequence reminds me of F for Fake and Other Side of the Wind, stylistically. In The Complete Films of Orson Welles it gets a great review, I think Welles states that the script was so good that he felt no need to contribute, script-wise, despite the producers desire for him to do so. The directing however,...

[Store Hadji]

Screw you guys.

[tonyw]

Store - I don't think your last comment really contributes to the type of debate that this site should be aiming at. If you believe Winner to be such a great director then you should state your reasons in a rational manner rather than indulging in the type of internet "flame war" that this site, as a scholarly resource, tries to avoid.

[Skylark]

Just to clarify - 'the directing however...' was not meant to disparage the directing, au contraire, it was meant to be juxtaposed with 'didn't feel the need to contribute to the script, however it seems he did feel the impetus to contribute to the directing inasmuch as the the advertisement sequence seems loaded with Wellesian imagery, the previously mentioned explosion being one. It wasn't meant to diminish the contributions of Winner.

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you for that clarification, and the support, skylark.

I might add that I liked several of Michael Winner's early films, but he seems to have really gone down hill after THE JOKERS.

When you watch purplepines' clip, notice how much better the ad sequence is than the stuff around it. The main story, after the Wellsian opening credits, is mildly interesting, not very well shot, but the daffy commercial is compelling. Makes me think that Welles may have had Second Unit interests there.

Glenn

[Skylark]

The opening scene, yeah, pretty cool, it does look Wellesian also. Hopefully a DVD release will rescue this one from oblivion.

[Skylark]

Check that - there's a 2000 DVD release with director's commentary.

[Ste]

The 2000 Anchor Bay DVD is now out of print. Prices have sky-rocketed on Amazon Marketplace, but, given a little patience, it can still be found on eBay for reasonable money. I bought mine for $12 a couple of months ago.

Terrific film, btw. One of my favourite of Welles's actor-for-hire roles; great fun.