the collected films of orson welles - his versions(?)

[colwood]

I have become a full-fledged OW fan and am trying to complete my collection with the released version of each of his 12 films that is of best quality and also the closest to his "director's cut."

Though I am not a completist, I am looking for the preferred versions as of right now and I came up with the following list:

Citizen Kane - WB DVD

The Stranger - Roan DVD

The Lady from Shanghai - Columbia DVD

Othello - Criterion LD

Mr. Arkadin - Corinth version on VHS

Touch of Evil - 1998 restored DVD

The Trial - French SE DVD

Chimes at Midnight - Spanish DVD

Immortal Story - Italian DVD

Would you all agree that these are the best ones?


I also have a question regarding his three other films. Which version would you consider the better buy, the more diffinitive, best quality pick?

Magnificent Ambersons - LD or French DVD?

Macbeth - LD or UK DVD?

F for Fake - LD or Japanees DVD?

Thanks

[colwood]

I have edited my original question and would appreciate any comments anybody would care to add.

[Jeff Wilson]

My own quick opinions on the titles you were questioning:

Ambersons: if you have an LD player, go for the Criterion CAV set; otherwise, get the French DVD, as it's the best of the lot right now.

Macbeth: Haven't seen the LD, but the UK DVD looks fine to me.

Fake: The Criterion disc has the trailer, which is a nice feature, but the picture is better on the Japanese DVD, if you can still find it.

[TheMcGuffin]

For Macbeth...try and get the LD by Republic....the commentary alone is worth it. Besides that it isn't as highly sought after title as other Welles LDs. You could probably snag it for under $50. The for Mr. Arkadin...get all three versions Corinth, Confidential Report and Public Domain as they are all interesting to watch.

Rob

[colwood]

Jeff and Rob, thanks for all your help.

Jeff, I wish I could tell you about the commentary (per your email) but I don't have a LD player. If your looking, there is one listing for it on Ebay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....y=18849

[TheMcGuffin]

The commentary...from what i remember was really good. I am trying to recall who it was that did it. I have to give it a listen again. It was definatly an above average commentary, though i think it was catered more to Welles newbies, with a smattering of production info and misc OW tidbits.

Rob

[Welles Fan]

The UK Macbeth also has that little film by Hilton Edwards Return to Glennascaul.

I have the Republic LD of Macbeth with the commentary. It is a sort of rambling commentary that is not scene-specific much of the time. Also, the Return to Glennascaul film is also on the Criterion Othello LD.