Favorite Welles' films? - Lay it down, yo!

[bord]

1. Ambersons
2. Kane
3.Touch of Evil
4. The Trial
5. Lady from Shanghai
6. Chimes at Midnight
7. Mr. Arkadin
8. Macbeth
9. Othello
10. The Stranger
11. F For Fake

Lady from Shanghai would jump a few spots if it hadn't been brutalized by the studio.

To me, Ambersons is the greatest American film ever made. It not only tells an incredible story, it also forces the viewer to subtextually wrestle with the ongoing dichotomy of commerce vs. film, and in an existential-pessimistic (Welles-ish) way, it is the story of commerce winning. It is this subtextual power of 'what might have been' that elevates the film and powerfully illuminates its subject matter.

[Glenn Anders]

1. CITIZEN KANE

2. F FOR FAKE

3. MR. ARKADIN

4. OTHELLO

5. TOUCH OF EVIL

6. THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI

7. THE STRANGER

8. MACBETH

9. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS

10. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND

I have never seen CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT or THE TRIAL in what I understand to be their best copies extant, and so, I can't judge them properly. But I have now seen enough of the rough footage from THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND to believe in its potential for making the Wellesnet List within the next year or two.

[Cyberstrike]

Orson Wells as director:

1) Citizen Kane
2) F for Fake
3) The Lady From Shanghai
4) The Stranger
5) Touch of Evil
6) Mr. Arkadin
7) The Magnificent Ambersons
8.) The Trial


Orson Wells as actor only:
1) Transformers: The Movie
2) The Third Man
3) The Muppet Movie

[mido505]

Here is my list:

1. Touch of Evil
2. The Trial
3. Chimes at Midnight
4. The Lady from Shanghai
5. F for Fake
6. Citizen Kane
7. Macbeth
8. Othello
9. The Stranger
10. Immortal Story
11. Mr. Arkadin
12. Magnificent Ambersons

It's great looking at all these rankings by such ardent fans. I am a 42 year old Welles fanatic who remembers travelling into Boston alone by train at age sixteen to catch Welles retrospectives at the old Orson Welles Cinema. I also remember being crushed when a scheduled showing of the then impossible-to-find Othello was cancelled at the last minute. I suppose I am indulgent of the "Beatrice" version as that was the first version I was able to see. Also, while I adore Ambersons and Arkadin, and view them repeatedly with pleasure, they, no doubt due to their subsequent mutilation and dilution of impact, have had less of an intellectual and emotional effect on me that the other films listed. Needless to say, Touch of Evil remains the "touchstone" Welles film for me, and I am proud to say that I prefer the rediscovered longer cut to Walter Murch's recent fiddling.

[Michael O'Hara]

1. Ambersons
2. Kane
3. Lady From Shanghai
4. Mr. Arkadin
5. F For Fake
6. Touch of Evil
7. Othello
8. Chimes At Midnight
9. The Trial
10. The Stranger

[moviefan]

Here is my ranking based on his films I have seen.

1. Citizen Kane
2. The Magnificant Ambersons
3. Touch of Evil
4. The Lady from Shanghai
5. F for Fake
6. The Trial
7. Mr. Arkadin (comprehensive version on Criterion dvd)
8. The Immortal Story
9. The Stranger
10. Othello

I have seen a part of The Other Side of the Wind and It's All True, but I am not sure if they should be ranked.

I really like everything I have seen of his, except for Othello. Othello is okay.

[François Thomas]

1. Chimes at Midnight
2. Othello
3. Macbeth
4. Citizen Kane
5. The Magnificent Ambersons
6. Touch of Evil
7. The Immortal Story
8. Filming Othello
9. Confidential Report
10. The Fountain of Youth


Ten favorite radio shows, in chronological order:
Dracula, Treasure Island, The Count of Monte Cristo, Around the World in Eighty Days, A Passenger to Bali ("The Mercury Theatre on the Air"), Our Town, The Count of Monte Cristo, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Jane Eyre ("The Campbell Playhouse").

[The Night Man]

1. CHIMES
2. KANE
3. AMBERSONS
4. TOUCH OF EVIL
5. LADY FROM SHANGHAI
6. F FOR FAKE
7. THE TRIAL
8. FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
9. STRANGER
10. OTHELLO

I would love to be able to include DON QUIXOTE as well but given what's currently available I just can't do so.

[robertdavidmonell]

In order of preference.

CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT: My all time favorite Shakespeare film also. That's because it captures the spirit of Shakespeare's writing over several plays better than any single adaptation. And because of Orson's performance, his greatest ever.

TOUCH OF EVIL: with MEMO soundtrack.

MR. ARKADIN: DVD -Comprehenisve version. For some reason I will usually watch this over KANE, BECAUSE of its flaws, which are fascinating.

KANE

THE TRIAL: underrated and it's the best Kafka adaptation because it comes closest to the tone and spirit [see above] of Kafka if not the letter. It's also been highly influenential in terms of the nouvelle vague and certain US films.

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI

AMBERSONS: very painful for me to watch simply because the studio ending is such a steep fall after the shattering genius shown in the Welles shot scenes. If he had been allowed to complete it it might be at the top of everyone' lists.

THE STRANGER: also incredibly underrated and still the most potent and courageous warning about the survivual of Facism in the US. Made all the more potent by the events of the last 6 years. The climax on the bell tower is prime Welles for me. Look forward to the new DVD.

OTHELLO: and might rise higher on my list with a definitive DVD treatment.

DON QUIXOTE: This will probably be the only vote for this on the board. Even in the wretchedly graded footage of the universally damned Jess Franco project shows a spark of the highly experimental approach and sheer joy Welles obviously took in this home movie. I've been working on a book about Jess Franco for several years and have spoken to him in detail about his work with Orson and this film. Having taken the time to research and see all of his extant films and actually talk to the man I can report he is NOT the incompetent/hack/defiler of greatness many here think he is and there are some positive things to say about the film. I think this post will make me the least popular person to ever have visited this board. But somebody had to say it.

[mido505]

robertdavidmonell: without turning this into a Jess Franco thread, I agree with you that there is a lot more to Franco than his reputation as a hack. I am a big fan and have posted numerous reviews of his films on IMDB. I think Welles recognized a fellow talented maverick, who could do good work quickly and cheaply, which is why he asked Franco to assist on Chimes. But I would not call innovative editing the strongest of Franco's skills, and he was the wrong person to take on the thankless task of editing that crappy Quixote footage. That project should never have seen the light of day. Like TOSOTW, don't do it until you can do it right.

[The Night Man]

Ah yes, poor Jess Franco - forced to take on the thankless task of editing Welles' crappy QUIXOTE footage. What a come-down for him. Let us hope his reputation can recover from this disaster!

[mido505]

Oh dear, only a member of the board for a little more than a week, and already I am faced with a snippy reply to a post based on a misreading of it. Let me try again. I think that Jess Franco has more talent than he is generally given credit for (Fritz Lang, no piker, singled out Franco's Succubus for special praise). I do not think he is remotely on the same level as Welles, a true genius. By calling the Quixote footage "crappy", I am referring only to its material condition, not its artistic quality. The footage is incomplete, with bad to nonexistent audio, and is comprised of faded dupes, as the negative is nowhere to be found. I am of the opinion that Oja Kodar should never have let that footage see the light of day until she had the wherewithal and resources to restore and assemble it properly. That opinion is debatable, but, I think, valid. Again, I do not think Franco should have been let near the footage, as montage is not his strong point. His very real qualities, of being able to shoot quickly, imaginatively, cheaply, and innovatively, are what led to him being chosen by Welles to shoot 2nd unit on Chimes. Welles used Franco during shooting, not during the editing, and his stint as 2nd unit director really gives him no special insight into how Welles would have assembled Quixote. Of course, the guy that was in the editing room with Welles, and who could provide valuable insight for a decent assemblage, and who was willing to do so, Mauro Bonnani, is ignored and treated like the enemy by Oja. But that is another story. Finally, I have always been impressed by Welles' lack of snobbery in choosing his associates. Look at Gary Graver's list of credits; like Franco, porno and genre films. For Welles, this did not seem to matter. He could see talent where others saw only makework and hackdom. On a very elemental level, as the film Ed Wood points out, Welles had more in common with the likes of Franco and Wood, than he does with Spielberg and Cukor.

[The Night Man]

Oh dear, only a member of the board for a little more than a week, and already I am faced with a snippy reply to a post based on a misreading of it.

Sorry for being snippy, but I honestly don't think I was misreading your post; you didn't say precisely what you meant until the second time around. Even so, I jumped the gun.

Anyway, welcome to the board.

[Lucy]

Franco's film of "Don Quixote" has some big flaws no doubt, but I have to confess it has a cheeky effrontery to it that I like. It's absurd to blame Franco because Oja was, quite frankly, too dumb to let him use the Patty McCormick footage. At least we got from Franco something that we never got from Welles: a completed film.

[mido505]

Oh dear, only a member of the board for a little more than a week, and already I am faced with a snippy reply to a post based on a misreading of it.

Sorry for being snippy, but I honestly don't think I was misreading your post; you didn't say precisely what you meant until the second time around. Even so, I jumped the gun.

Anyway, welcome to the board.

Thank you Night Man, no hard feelings, glad to be here!