Return to Glennescaul - how involved was Welles? - And is it any good?

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I searched and couldn't find any discussion of this, but excuse me if its already been discussed.

[mteal]

RETURN TO GLENNESCAUL is an OK little movie. It has a nice spooky/lyrical atmosphere, and it's harp score is slightly reminiscent of The Third Man's zither. I like the way it features the guy who played Cassio in OTHELLO as the man who tells Welles the ghost story (can't remember his name offhand), and I like the fact that it starts out on the Othello set (scenes that were probably directed by Welles). This is why RTG made a very nice supplement on Criterion's Othello LD, and would probably make a good supplement on a MACBETH DVD too (I noticed it's paired with Macbeth at the upcoming N.Y. Welles fest).

Unfortunately, Glennascaul was also released by itself on VHS in the U.S., where it was retitled ORSON WELLES' GHOST STORY for publicity purposes. Not really a good idea- I don't think Glennascaul is really strong enough to stand by itself, and it's too bad the VHS release misleadingly tried to tout it as a "Welles film", which it's not. But then, it's hard to imagine anyone besides Welles fans finding it of much interest.

[Sir Bygber Brown]

True, true. Something directed by Orson's jealous cronies of the Dublin gate WOULD probably only be of interest to Welles admirers, so maybe it wasn't a bad idea after all. Still, it does give the wrong impression.

[Glenn Anders]

I must say that those "jealous cronies" Michael MacLiamoir and Hilton Edwards gave Welles his first break on the commercial stage (1931), came to the U.S. to be in his teenage Shakespear Festival, appeared in various capacities in a number of his films and stage productions, and remained (perhaps ruefully, true) his friend until their deaths. The film in question was Edwards' first.

Glenn

[mteal]

Hilton Edwards' first film? Did he make any others? It's curious that MacLiamior does not appear in Glennascaul, although he did make a brief appearance in the TV King Lear a couple of years later. Also, the luncheon scenes in FILMING OTHELLO with Edwards and MacLiamoir are enjoyable, and it's amusing to see the great Welles take on at times a kind of kid-brother persona when he's with them. Interesting that Welles splits himself in two for the scene, one Welles is inside the scene - in voice only - and the other Welles is seen sitting at the movieola, commenting on the discussion from time to time. Maybe he was trying to make it a fair fight, or else giving himself an edge.

[Harvey Chartrand]

By all accounts, RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL was the first and last film directed by Hilton Edwards. Nine years later, Edwards and Welles appeared together in the ridiculous DAVID AND GOLIATH / DAVID E GOLIA (1960), filmed in Italy and Israel. A mountainous Welles was cast as King Saul, while Edwards (billed as Edward Hilton) played the prophet Samuel. The two actors recited turgid dialogue against cardboard sets. It is rumoured that Welles directed his own scenes in DAVID E GOLIA.

[Harvey Chartrand]

RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL "...contains many signature moments that betray Welles' involvement behind the camera,"
according to the highly reputable Video Watchdog Magazine (http://www.videowatchdog.com/home/home.html).

[Glenn Anders]

Yes, mteal: According to Halliwell, RETURN TO GLENASCAUL was Edwards' first film (for which he also received an Academy Award Nomination, for Writing and Directing in Short Subjects), followed by OTHELLO (1951), CAT AND MOUSE (1958), SHE DIDN'T SAY NO (1958), THE OTHER EDEN (1959), A TERRIBLE BEAUTY (1960), VICTIM (1961), THE QUARE FELLOW (1962), THE WRONG BOX (1966), and your afore-mentioned FILMING OTHELLO, DAVID AND GOLIATH, etc.

Michael MacLiamoir appeared in films, off and on, from 1924; latterly in OTHELLO (1951), the Narrator of TOM JONES (1963), THIRTY IS A DANGEROUS AGE, CYNTHIA (1968), THE KREMLIN LETTER (1970), and WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN (1971).

I suppose that we might conclude that, as Edwards and MacLiamoir contributed to Welles' early career, he gave a boost to their later ones.

Glenn

[mteal]

Macliamior narrated TOM JONES? Interesting. I've only seen parts of it - a long time ago - but I'll have to take a look at the whole thing sometime; since it IS a best picture Oscar winner. Also, I've only seen DAVID AND GOLIATH once. I'll have to watch that again, just to see if a nice, campy little 10-15 minute Welles film might possibly be extracted from it.

[Sir Bygber Brown]

Welles himself confessed to Leaming that he knew theirs was an uncomfortable friendship from the beginning, but at the time he pretended he thought all was fine. One can easily understand them resenting Welles' immense fame and ability to impress people very quickly (i believe he upstaged them in those early performances, but the correct details are in Leaming). Welles' casting Macliammoir as Iago perhaps on its own confirms that he fully knew the tensions underlying his and Macliammoir's friendship, and he would use this to best serve his film.

You are right, though, that we should be respectful of Hilton and Macliammoir for giving Orson his break - but i certainly don't think its out of line to call them jealous.

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I've finally got to see it. Its fun seeing Orson looking this good. Camera-placement and performances are patchy, but still immense fun.

The distributor joke i'd heard about is fun to finally see.

[Welles Fan]

I think RTG would be more spooky and mysterious if we had not all seen countless episodes of Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents,and others of their ilk. In its time, it was probably considered a clever and gripping story. I really like the atmosphere (a strong sense of cold and damp) and the slow pace. It does not knock my socks off, but it is entertaining, and I do watch it on occasion. The Welles framing device is what serves to really sell the idea that the story is true.

I think the Welles, Edwards, MacLiammor friendship was a very close one. I don't know about whether there was professional jealosy or not. I always assumed Edwards and MacLiammor were a pair of aging queens/lovers (not that there's anything wrong with that), and I expect that the "beautiful young Orson" who turned up at the Gate Theatre played the two for all that his beauty and youth were worth. Maybe this was more a cause of friction, rather than jealosy for Orson's talent? However, I think it is clear in "Filming Othello" that a very genuine affection existed between all three men.

BTW, those of you who have not seen Tom Jones for a while should re-visit it. It has long been a favorite of mine. MacLiammor's narration, and the cinematic contrivances (sped-up motion, silent movie techniques, etc) do a great job of supplying the author's voice which was so prevalent in Fielding's novel. MacLiammor is simply magnificent as the narrator, and much of the humor in the film is dependant on the formality and dramatic style of his narrating.

A side note about MacLiammor: I read all the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin novels as they came out, and I always imagined MacLiammor as Dr Maturin. The stucture of Maturin's dialog simply reminded me of MacLiammor in Tom Jones. Also, the doctor was far from being a handsome, dashing personage. I loved the recent Master and Commander film (Crowe was ideally cast as Aubrey, IMO), but really fel they cast someone who was too traditionally attractive as Maturin, particularly with my image of a young MacLiammor going before me).

[Sir Bygber Brown]

(IMO it was mainly Macliammoir, not Hilton, who had feelings of jealousy and resentment about Orson's great success, while he was toiling on the stage and not being noticed - in Leaming you find the story of Macliammoir playing Rochester on the Dublin stage while Selznick's Jane Eyre was playing in cinemas, and the press saying Macliammoir didn't compare to Orson. I think Macliammoir resented Orson's ability to be a leading man in those days, and then perhaps later on, resented Orson's going from a sexually desirable man to what he perhaps considered less than desirable. I haven't read Macliammoir's books, but i don't think these are the sorts of things one would admit if one was telling events from one's own perspective. They are just subtleties, private feelings you can only speculate about)

I found (and i think Welles was aware of this) the discussion of jealousy between those three men in Filming Othello to be filled with subtextual irony. We know that Welles enjoyed slipping in personal references in his work that only he, and sometimes close friends, could follow (like the name Mr Bernstein in Kane, Bogdanovich calling Huston "Skipper" in Wind and his early play Devil's Something, about a young boy manipulating two elder mentors). I believe that scene in Filming Othello is filled with such irony: the moment where Macliammoir says (as if daring Orson to ask him who) that he's been jealous of people, staring at Orson, coupled with the moment later when Hilton says he envies two people principally and Orson insists on knowing who they are, and they turn out to be the two people he's sitting there with.

I agree that in that conversation you get the feeling that they are old friends, and there is a definite warmth there - and that no matter what feelings you've had in the past, when you've known somebody for that long, a friend is a friend. I felt a definite tension in the conversation (particularly whenever Macliammoir spoke). I thought Orson made a show of carrying on the conversation, answering as if there was nothing wrong, but somehow by his doing this i knew he sensed what Macliammoir was thinking.

Some people will call all this superstition, but i believed that the topic of this conversation excited Orson so much because of these personal references. It struck me as a poignant moment, probably the most so in the film - just watching these three people with such long pasts discuss themes of a play, and though they seldom directly discuss it, their pasts reverberate through the talk and the themes, and you can see all three of them know it.

[catbuglah]

Hey this is cool - Like an 'Orson Welles Presents' TV show - he even smokes like Rod Serling - Welles' directing stamp is all over this - the gothicisms abound - Jane Eyrish (accidental pun) - this could pass for good Hitchcock or Lang.

[catbuglah]

Trouble in the glen - A Scottish glen this time - Welles seems to have got his hand in there directing-wise - a few interesting little bits at first glance - Opening sequence, the bridge bombing attempt sequence, the penultimate party sequence (Welles does good parties) and various little things here and there, doors, windows, stairways, mainly the scenes he's involved with I guess.

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