How We Got Bit By The Bug - The Ontology of Orson Obsession
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by Store Hadji » Mon Aug 22, 2005 10:08 pm
This may be a terrible idea for a thread, so I don't blame you for not posting and ignoring it. Considering our common compulsions (I MUST stop using alliteration) I thought it might be interesting to relate how they began. When David Thompson wrote in the beginning of his book Rosebud how he first discovered Welles, I put it down and refused to continue because I absolutely didn't care, yet that is exactly what I'm proposing we share now (what is this, a 12-Step recovery group?) ...I don't even want to do this now. Yuck.
Sto Pro Veritate
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by Glenn Anders » Tue Aug 23, 2005 3:07 pm
Well, Store Hadji, it is not exactly like having lifelong crush on Paris Hilton or the Rolling Stones. Welles is not only a major figure in 20th Century Popular Art but also an important contributor to the Fine Arts (e.g., Theater). He was an innovator in every form he touched.
I take a more empathetic view of David Thomson's confessions than you and others do here. Perhaps, because I get to observe Thomson at fairly close range when he officiates, or conducts interviews at San Francisco film events, I think that I understand what he means when he suggests a certain shame at being still obsessed with Welles, fifty years after he first came across him. Thomson fell under the spell of a consumate magician, and having jumped into the hat with the rabbit, having found the cobbled together nature of some of the tricks, having unearthed convincing examples of oft weariness and carelessness on the performer's part, Thomson wants release from Welles, that youthful wizard he now regards as an ancient Mephistopheles holding his rather talented self back from other efforts.
I have written of my fall here in the past, but my entry to your point, briefly, is this:
In the beginning, my mother, I believe, rather saw me, an only child, as a changeling of Orson Welles, and my father liked the stories Welles was part of in Radio (but not so much carried over into movies).
My first memories of Welles were his stint as The Shadow, on Radio, though I would not have known who he was. Over the years, in the late 1930's, I must have heard him many times, become hypnotized by that voice. Certainly, The Mercury Theater on the Air is the first time the name Orson Welles became attached to the voice in in my memory: Dracula, Treasure Island, and of course, The War of the Worlds. After that, there was A Christmas Carol. Either I didn't hear other shows at the time, or they were over my head. I remember a marvelous radio play, rather like Portecorvo's BURN, which was about a wealthy planter in the Caribbean, and his apparently servile, loyal slave. And a tremendous radio piece, done in real time, about the confession and in-studio murder of an assassin, but perhaps that was by someone else. (I've never been able to find any evidence of it, nor anyone else who heard it.)
Of course, the voice was given a face when my little family drove downtown in our small Ohio village to the Shea's Theater, to see CITIZEN KANE, on a wintry Sunday, in 1941. The local manager of Shea's Theater rather fancied himself a supporter of "better movies," which was not rewarded in the case of Welles' first film. Most of my parents' acquaintances were either puzzled or angered by CITIZEN KANE. I immediately identified with the snowball-throwing young Charles Kane, and though not understanding the subtlties of the picture, the meaning and Americaness of CITIZEN KANE were fairly clear to me. I was able to hold forth, looking up at my elders like little Charlie, to their mystification.
What power for a nine year-old boy!
Nearly a decade later, I wrote an essay about . . . KANE for my KSU dorm newsletter. No one had heard of it, but some of my professors remembered the film, and saw my piece as an example of primitive erudition in the wilds of Ohio. The editorship of the University's first literary magazine was a result.
Then, in 1955, about the time, poor David Thomson was being lured into that dark cave of the Tooting Bec Classic Theater to see a revival of CITIZEN KANE, I was in London, taking in Moby Dick Rehearsed at the Duke of York's, and a version of MR. ARKADIN in Leicester Square -- very much like the restoration discussed here now.
Like Thomson, I've never quite escaped the spell of Orson Welles.
Glenn
I take a more empathetic view of David Thomson's confessions than you and others do here. Perhaps, because I get to observe Thomson at fairly close range when he officiates, or conducts interviews at San Francisco film events, I think that I understand what he means when he suggests a certain shame at being still obsessed with Welles, fifty years after he first came across him. Thomson fell under the spell of a consumate magician, and having jumped into the hat with the rabbit, having found the cobbled together nature of some of the tricks, having unearthed convincing examples of oft weariness and carelessness on the performer's part, Thomson wants release from Welles, that youthful wizard he now regards as an ancient Mephistopheles holding his rather talented self back from other efforts.
I have written of my fall here in the past, but my entry to your point, briefly, is this:
In the beginning, my mother, I believe, rather saw me, an only child, as a changeling of Orson Welles, and my father liked the stories Welles was part of in Radio (but not so much carried over into movies).
My first memories of Welles were his stint as The Shadow, on Radio, though I would not have known who he was. Over the years, in the late 1930's, I must have heard him many times, become hypnotized by that voice. Certainly, The Mercury Theater on the Air is the first time the name Orson Welles became attached to the voice in in my memory: Dracula, Treasure Island, and of course, The War of the Worlds. After that, there was A Christmas Carol. Either I didn't hear other shows at the time, or they were over my head. I remember a marvelous radio play, rather like Portecorvo's BURN, which was about a wealthy planter in the Caribbean, and his apparently servile, loyal slave. And a tremendous radio piece, done in real time, about the confession and in-studio murder of an assassin, but perhaps that was by someone else. (I've never been able to find any evidence of it, nor anyone else who heard it.)
Of course, the voice was given a face when my little family drove downtown in our small Ohio village to the Shea's Theater, to see CITIZEN KANE, on a wintry Sunday, in 1941. The local manager of Shea's Theater rather fancied himself a supporter of "better movies," which was not rewarded in the case of Welles' first film. Most of my parents' acquaintances were either puzzled or angered by CITIZEN KANE. I immediately identified with the snowball-throwing young Charles Kane, and though not understanding the subtlties of the picture, the meaning and Americaness of CITIZEN KANE were fairly clear to me. I was able to hold forth, looking up at my elders like little Charlie, to their mystification.
What power for a nine year-old boy!
Nearly a decade later, I wrote an essay about . . . KANE for my KSU dorm newsletter. No one had heard of it, but some of my professors remembered the film, and saw my piece as an example of primitive erudition in the wilds of Ohio. The editorship of the University's first literary magazine was a result.
Then, in 1955, about the time, poor David Thomson was being lured into that dark cave of the Tooting Bec Classic Theater to see a revival of CITIZEN KANE, I was in London, taking in Moby Dick Rehearsed at the Duke of York's, and a version of MR. ARKADIN in Leicester Square -- very much like the restoration discussed here now.
Like Thomson, I've never quite escaped the spell of Orson Welles.
Glenn
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by Store Hadji » Tue Aug 23, 2005 11:12 pm
Nor have I. Thanks Glenn, marvelous post. That broadcast about the plantation owner and his slave sounds like Abednego, which was performed in 1942 over two episodes of Hello Americans and again in 1946 as one episode of The Mercury Summer Theatre. I don't recognize the other one.
I never heard the name Welles until I was about 9 (that seems to be an impressionable and significant age.) I watched that TV movie The Night That Panicked America (written by Howard Koch) with my parents when it was first broadcast in 1975. Not being too sophisticated, I thought Paul Shenar WAS Orson Welles, and I was very impressed by the notion that live sound effects were created by opening a mayonaise jar in the bowl of a CBS toilet. Who was this guy who panicked the country?
A few years later I started seeing the Paul Masson ads on TV. It was hard to be alive in America at that time and not see them. I thought they were great. They were better than the shows they were inserted within. Welles' charisma and presence were unlike anything or anyone I'd ever seen. He was like the grandfather or uncle I always wished I'd had. I didn't watch the talk shows back then, so I missed a great many appearances I would have loved to have seen.
I used to hear the name Welles on the news every Halloween, and sometime early in my high school years I found an lp of the legendary broadcast. And it gave me chills. Frank Readick's "Hindenburg" performance in particular, and a vicarious thrill as I thought of how it must have sounded in 1938. I loved the first half of the show, and listened to it repeatedly. The second half was pretty boring, Welles being aloof and stuffy and talking a lot. But as a whole, an amazing achievement for a live broadcast. I was most keen to hear more.
A couple years later I found Welles listed as starring in some movie listed in the TV Guide. I'd never seen any of his film roles. During the dramatic opening credits, I noticed that it was directed by Welles. Wow! I didn't know he directed movies. What the hell? The film was The Stranger, and I thought it was awesome, compared anyway with what I'd ever seen on TV or in the cinema. Welles was a dashing figure, and scenes like the murder of Meinike during the paper chase just stunned me.
During my college years I started actively seeking out other episodes of The Mercury Theatre on the Air and other films Welles had directed or been in and any books I could find to sate my curiousity. Well, nothing ever quite quenched the thirst, even after years of discovering all manner of fascinating stuff I'm still just as delighted to learn and hear and see and know more about this amazing guy.
Hi, my name is Hadji, and I'm a Welles Addict (and I have no desire to recover.)
I never heard the name Welles until I was about 9 (that seems to be an impressionable and significant age.) I watched that TV movie The Night That Panicked America (written by Howard Koch) with my parents when it was first broadcast in 1975. Not being too sophisticated, I thought Paul Shenar WAS Orson Welles, and I was very impressed by the notion that live sound effects were created by opening a mayonaise jar in the bowl of a CBS toilet. Who was this guy who panicked the country?
A few years later I started seeing the Paul Masson ads on TV. It was hard to be alive in America at that time and not see them. I thought they were great. They were better than the shows they were inserted within. Welles' charisma and presence were unlike anything or anyone I'd ever seen. He was like the grandfather or uncle I always wished I'd had. I didn't watch the talk shows back then, so I missed a great many appearances I would have loved to have seen.
I used to hear the name Welles on the news every Halloween, and sometime early in my high school years I found an lp of the legendary broadcast. And it gave me chills. Frank Readick's "Hindenburg" performance in particular, and a vicarious thrill as I thought of how it must have sounded in 1938. I loved the first half of the show, and listened to it repeatedly. The second half was pretty boring, Welles being aloof and stuffy and talking a lot. But as a whole, an amazing achievement for a live broadcast. I was most keen to hear more.
A couple years later I found Welles listed as starring in some movie listed in the TV Guide. I'd never seen any of his film roles. During the dramatic opening credits, I noticed that it was directed by Welles. Wow! I didn't know he directed movies. What the hell? The film was The Stranger, and I thought it was awesome, compared anyway with what I'd ever seen on TV or in the cinema. Welles was a dashing figure, and scenes like the murder of Meinike during the paper chase just stunned me.
During my college years I started actively seeking out other episodes of The Mercury Theatre on the Air and other films Welles had directed or been in and any books I could find to sate my curiousity. Well, nothing ever quite quenched the thirst, even after years of discovering all manner of fascinating stuff I'm still just as delighted to learn and hear and see and know more about this amazing guy.
Hi, my name is Hadji, and I'm a Welles Addict (and I have no desire to recover.)
Sto Pro Veritate
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by Glenn Anders » Wed Aug 24, 2005 4:16 pm
Hadji: Your introduction to Welles pretty great, itself.
I rather think that one reason the second half of "The War of the Worlds" is not so exciting as the first part is that, by all accounts, the producer and the brass were going nuts at the reaction the program was producing. They were telling Welles and the players to cool it. I remember that the station announcers were breaking in to assure the audience that "The War of the Worlds" was a dramatic presentation for radio. The real time urgency went out of the production even before the script called for it.
You seem to be a lover of the Welles experience, Hadji, not an addict.
The others here are not ready yet to stand up.
Glenn
I rather think that one reason the second half of "The War of the Worlds" is not so exciting as the first part is that, by all accounts, the producer and the brass were going nuts at the reaction the program was producing. They were telling Welles and the players to cool it. I remember that the station announcers were breaking in to assure the audience that "The War of the Worlds" was a dramatic presentation for radio. The real time urgency went out of the production even before the script called for it.
You seem to be a lover of the Welles experience, Hadji, not an addict.
The others here are not ready yet to stand up.
Glenn
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by Roger Ryan » Wed Aug 24, 2005 5:09 pm
Alright Glenn, I'll take your challenge...
A boyhood friend of mine played me "The War Of The Worlds" broadcast record circa 1974 which is the first I recall hearing both Welles' name and his voice. The next year I subscribed to a "Movie Book-Of-The-Month" club and found that whether I was reading a book about special effects or horror movies, they kept referring to this "wunderkind" Welles guy. I would have obviously read about "Citizen Kane" at one point and remember vividly sneaking downstairs at age 13 after my parents had gone to bed to watch a midnight showing of Welles' first film. "Now that was a movie!" I remember saying to myself when the broadcast ended around 2:30 a.m. A week or two later, I purchased Joseph McBride's newly published book "Orson Welles" from "The Illustrated History Of Movies" series (devoted to Welles' acting career primarily) and began searching out all things Wellesian. The joy of discovering previously unseen Welles films was countered by the disappointment of hearing how Welles was unable to get financing for any of his current projects. For eight years I read about the possible release of "The Other Side Of The Wind", a possible new film called "The Dreamers", something called "The Big Brass Ring" which was close to being greenlit and, finally, the almost certainty of Welles directing "The Cradle Will Rock" only to have the man pass away Oct. 10th, 1985 without any of these projects coming to fruition. As depressing as it is to look back on it now, it was even more distressing to know that time was slipping away and Welles wasn't directing! Anyway, that's how it began for me. I have a little journal from my junior year of high school where I list "Kane", "Ambersons" and "The Third Man" among my top ten favorite films. Given that they still are, and the fact that we're still waiting for "The Other Side Of The Wind", suggests that little has changed in the last 30 years!
A boyhood friend of mine played me "The War Of The Worlds" broadcast record circa 1974 which is the first I recall hearing both Welles' name and his voice. The next year I subscribed to a "Movie Book-Of-The-Month" club and found that whether I was reading a book about special effects or horror movies, they kept referring to this "wunderkind" Welles guy. I would have obviously read about "Citizen Kane" at one point and remember vividly sneaking downstairs at age 13 after my parents had gone to bed to watch a midnight showing of Welles' first film. "Now that was a movie!" I remember saying to myself when the broadcast ended around 2:30 a.m. A week or two later, I purchased Joseph McBride's newly published book "Orson Welles" from "The Illustrated History Of Movies" series (devoted to Welles' acting career primarily) and began searching out all things Wellesian. The joy of discovering previously unseen Welles films was countered by the disappointment of hearing how Welles was unable to get financing for any of his current projects. For eight years I read about the possible release of "The Other Side Of The Wind", a possible new film called "The Dreamers", something called "The Big Brass Ring" which was close to being greenlit and, finally, the almost certainty of Welles directing "The Cradle Will Rock" only to have the man pass away Oct. 10th, 1985 without any of these projects coming to fruition. As depressing as it is to look back on it now, it was even more distressing to know that time was slipping away and Welles wasn't directing! Anyway, that's how it began for me. I have a little journal from my junior year of high school where I list "Kane", "Ambersons" and "The Third Man" among my top ten favorite films. Given that they still are, and the fact that we're still waiting for "The Other Side Of The Wind", suggests that little has changed in the last 30 years!
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by GM » Wed Aug 24, 2005 9:40 pm
Those are nice recollections from everyone so far. I've been a hardcore Welles fanatic myself for about 20 years now, starting shortly after his death. Ironically, I never really cared for Welles much when he was alive. I'd never seen any of his movies, but I knew of his reputation as a great artist, and when I saw him on talk shows and wine commercials I frankly thought he was a bit of a pompous windbag, as well as a sellout. Of course, having seen all his movies since then, as well as experiencing alot of his work in other artforms, I can see the ironic tongue-in-cheek quality of those late TV appearances and his outsized persona. There's no question in my mind now that Welles was one the greatest creative geniuses America has ever produced, but that genius was both a blessing and a curse to him, so he had to be careful not to take the "genius" reputation too seriously, hence the campy nature of many of his TV appearances. By the mid-to-late 70s, when I first began to be aware of him as an entertainer, I think there was even a part of him that, in a perverse, self-destructive way, actually enjoyed being a has-been and a sell-out. But I also think that's because he thought he could still make a comeback as a director. By 1980 or so, it must have occured to him that that probably was not going to happen.
As far as what finally gave me the Orson bug, I would say...Kane and Ambersons, basically.
As far as what finally gave me the Orson bug, I would say...Kane and Ambersons, basically.
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by Orson&Jazz » Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:49 pm
Being a fairly new fan, I'm afraid my recollections of how Orson bit me are not that interesting.
I had always known of him. I do recall hearing about him when I was younger, and it was talk of the TWOTW broadcast. I do remember the talk was in hushed voices with reverence and awe for the man. It was like they were talking about the coming of the next messiah.
It was little over a year ago that I made it my duty to hear the broadcast for myself. I wanted to know what the big deal was, and truthfully, I wanted to see if the reverence was deserved.
I was amazed. I was in awe. I was speechless. There are so many words that I can use here to describe how I felt listening to Welles speak for the first time, let alone in a production like TWOTW, but I fail to generate them while I type my recollections. How can one truly describe how that silvery velvet voice travels the ear canal and haunts your brain for days after you hear it for the first time? How can one truly describe how his voice commands your attention, and makes it so that you are even afraid to breathe lest you miss what he has to say? How can one describe how he subtly, and subconsciously, forces you to know more about him once the show is over and the Mercury Theatre ends it broadcast for the night? How can one truly describe how his voice quickens the pulse and makes you break out in a sweat each and every time you hear it? To me he not only invaded Grover's Mill that night, but he also invaded my soul.
I had to know more about him. It became a mission. When I first learned bits and pieces about him, it was inevitable that the adoration would grow to freakish proportions. The one thing about Welles is that his life was as extraordinary as he was. Sure he may have been the exaggerator, but that was part of his charm. He makes you jump through hoops from beyond the grave, thus making learning about him interesting because you never know where a rare gem of information about him will take you.
Needless to say, I fell even deeper in that well(e). He was brilliant, he was charismatic, he was truly unique. He is not like any one else that that had walked this earth. He electrified a room as soon as he entered it. Those who had the pleasure of knowing him could not help but feel intense emotion for him, whether it be good or bad, because Welles worked in extremes. You can not classify the man. He is not an actor, he is not a director, he is not a writer, and he is not a radio personality. He is an enigma because he was all these things and more. Classifying him would only restrict his uniqueness.
So when I look back at it, I can not help but adore him. He is the perfect obsession.
I had always known of him. I do recall hearing about him when I was younger, and it was talk of the TWOTW broadcast. I do remember the talk was in hushed voices with reverence and awe for the man. It was like they were talking about the coming of the next messiah.
It was little over a year ago that I made it my duty to hear the broadcast for myself. I wanted to know what the big deal was, and truthfully, I wanted to see if the reverence was deserved.
I was amazed. I was in awe. I was speechless. There are so many words that I can use here to describe how I felt listening to Welles speak for the first time, let alone in a production like TWOTW, but I fail to generate them while I type my recollections. How can one truly describe how that silvery velvet voice travels the ear canal and haunts your brain for days after you hear it for the first time? How can one truly describe how his voice commands your attention, and makes it so that you are even afraid to breathe lest you miss what he has to say? How can one describe how he subtly, and subconsciously, forces you to know more about him once the show is over and the Mercury Theatre ends it broadcast for the night? How can one truly describe how his voice quickens the pulse and makes you break out in a sweat each and every time you hear it? To me he not only invaded Grover's Mill that night, but he also invaded my soul.
I had to know more about him. It became a mission. When I first learned bits and pieces about him, it was inevitable that the adoration would grow to freakish proportions. The one thing about Welles is that his life was as extraordinary as he was. Sure he may have been the exaggerator, but that was part of his charm. He makes you jump through hoops from beyond the grave, thus making learning about him interesting because you never know where a rare gem of information about him will take you.
Needless to say, I fell even deeper in that well(e). He was brilliant, he was charismatic, he was truly unique. He is not like any one else that that had walked this earth. He electrified a room as soon as he entered it. Those who had the pleasure of knowing him could not help but feel intense emotion for him, whether it be good or bad, because Welles worked in extremes. You can not classify the man. He is not an actor, he is not a director, he is not a writer, and he is not a radio personality. He is an enigma because he was all these things and more. Classifying him would only restrict his uniqueness.
So when I look back at it, I can not help but adore him. He is the perfect obsession.
"I know a little about Orson's childhood and seriously doubt if he ever was a child."--Joseph Cotten
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by dmolson » Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:52 am
Trying to unearth the exact instant when I connected with the Orson Welles that caught my eye is like excavating through 36 years of dusty treasures. I wasn't even a teenager yet, but we had this neat Halloween habit of gorging ourselves with ghost stories, cartoons and the like before the night of gorging on sweets. For me, the Charlie Brown Halloween special ('I got a Rock!') was the tops, but my mom made us one year listen to TWOTW once and told us how, as a teenager during the late 30s, the radio broadcast scared ol' grandma out of her false teeth.
Then there was these images of a fat man making jolly or shakespearian hoi polloi on the Dean Martin roasts, chortling with a gasp but with an impish wit. He'd reappear on Johnny Carson's show and do these magic tricks, and I was hooked. Then my brother told me that there was actually a better movie than Herbie the Love Bug, and encouraged me to sit through a funny black and white movie with all kinds of angles, close ups and funny accents. It was the Third Man, and when Holly Martens shouted, "Come Out come out who ever you are!" and at the flick of a light, was a shockingly handsome, impish and churlish elf all in one -- that was Orson Welles? Wow, I thought, he's just like John Lennon -- being that I never believed the early Beatle from his pics could be the same guy as the long-haired guy who said he was JL during the break-up years. They don't look the same but are! You could definitely see the resemblance from the early 70s Orson to that '49 face, the baby cheeks, glint of evil genius and grin of bravado and self-mockery.
Yes, I was an Orson Welles fan from about that period, but I never knew there was so much more to learn and absorb...
Then there was these images of a fat man making jolly or shakespearian hoi polloi on the Dean Martin roasts, chortling with a gasp but with an impish wit. He'd reappear on Johnny Carson's show and do these magic tricks, and I was hooked. Then my brother told me that there was actually a better movie than Herbie the Love Bug, and encouraged me to sit through a funny black and white movie with all kinds of angles, close ups and funny accents. It was the Third Man, and when Holly Martens shouted, "Come Out come out who ever you are!" and at the flick of a light, was a shockingly handsome, impish and churlish elf all in one -- that was Orson Welles? Wow, I thought, he's just like John Lennon -- being that I never believed the early Beatle from his pics could be the same guy as the long-haired guy who said he was JL during the break-up years. They don't look the same but are! You could definitely see the resemblance from the early 70s Orson to that '49 face, the baby cheeks, glint of evil genius and grin of bravado and self-mockery.
Yes, I was an Orson Welles fan from about that period, but I never knew there was so much more to learn and absorb...
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by catbuglah » Thu Aug 25, 2005 12:59 pm
Fascinating to read all these different accounts - it's like Citizen Kane! With your kind permission, here's how it happened with me -
-Early 80's - Before cable TV stations, they would run a movie every night on the local station - so a LOT of movies got shown - Lots of Hitchcock, Scorcese, Bogart movies... VCR's were starting, so I tape Kane - My parents used to wonder why I'd watch that movie over and over again...
-On TV - saw Ambersons ---fell asleep! I guess I wasn't ready!
-At that point, unfortunately, the public image of Welles was a)He directed the greatest movie of all time(sic) b) He then became this hammy celebrity that you'd see on Hollywood Squares and commercials - so I accepted that and was totally unaware of his artistic struggles.
-Saw Arkadin on French TV, and was mesmerized...
-Read a good wire newspaper interview with Welles on his birthday, just before his death - so that helped correct my perception of him...
-Walked into to some public Cinema Archive place because I was taking a Shakespeare class, and asked for Macbeth by Welles, so they pulled out a print of the film and you could watch it on the spot in this little cubicle - Mesmerized...
-Finally, in 2000 or so, a repertory house did a good retrospective, so I managed to catch up on the movies not available on video... At the same time, I borrowed the Leaming and Bogdanovich books - and in two weekends, filled a lot of blanks! The lost weekend...
Now things are a little easier - this website is such a valuable place, it's been great following the strings here... I order DVD's on ebay and amazon ... Welles' films are so rich and dense that for now, I'm happy to explore the dozen or so things he directed that are available (although it is still rather complicated to track his stuff down...) and enjoy the wondrous strange poetry and creativity therein.
Cordially,
Mark
-Early 80's - Before cable TV stations, they would run a movie every night on the local station - so a LOT of movies got shown - Lots of Hitchcock, Scorcese, Bogart movies... VCR's were starting, so I tape Kane - My parents used to wonder why I'd watch that movie over and over again...
-On TV - saw Ambersons ---fell asleep! I guess I wasn't ready!
-At that point, unfortunately, the public image of Welles was a)He directed the greatest movie of all time(sic) b) He then became this hammy celebrity that you'd see on Hollywood Squares and commercials - so I accepted that and was totally unaware of his artistic struggles.
-Saw Arkadin on French TV, and was mesmerized...
-Read a good wire newspaper interview with Welles on his birthday, just before his death - so that helped correct my perception of him...
-Walked into to some public Cinema Archive place because I was taking a Shakespeare class, and asked for Macbeth by Welles, so they pulled out a print of the film and you could watch it on the spot in this little cubicle - Mesmerized...
-Finally, in 2000 or so, a repertory house did a good retrospective, so I managed to catch up on the movies not available on video... At the same time, I borrowed the Leaming and Bogdanovich books - and in two weekends, filled a lot of blanks! The lost weekend...
Now things are a little easier - this website is such a valuable place, it's been great following the strings here... I order DVD's on ebay and amazon ... Welles' films are so rich and dense that for now, I'm happy to explore the dozen or so things he directed that are available (although it is still rather complicated to track his stuff down...) and enjoy the wondrous strange poetry and creativity therein.
Cordially,
Mark
...and blest are those whose blood and judgment are so well commingled, that they are not a pipe for fortune's finger to sound what stop she please. Give me that man that is not passion's slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core...
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by Store Hadji » Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:58 pm
Great posts, everybody! Thank you. I am loving this thread. I was afraid it was a stupid and pretentious idea. I was wrong.
Now, if we can get Jeff and jaime to contribute!
Now, if we can get Jeff and jaime to contribute!
Sto Pro Veritate
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by R Kadin » Thu Aug 25, 2005 4:43 pm
Mine is a pretty prosaic case, I confess. The scene is early 60's, after school in a generic Cana-burbia bungalow. The players are one fledgling R Kadin - probably not quite 10 years old - and the many rambunctious siblings who bracket him in the pecking order.
We happen upon this self-supervised group loosely and customarily assembled in front of a 24" black and white Admiral TV set watching a US border city station's late afternoon broadcast of yet another potboiler moo-vee. Too bad it's not another chapter in the legendary Rodin vs Mothra Japanese monster saga: now THAT was entertainment!
Somewhere in between the variously-administed noogies and the spontaneous floor-wrestling matches (our main character being more sinned against than sinning, in those regards), the young R Kadin's attention is caught by a sudden zoom in to an on-screen car explosion (not that he knew from a zoom in those untrammeled days) followed by a shot of an unrecognizable Charlton Heston campily spouting lines as he protectively ushers a feisty-gorgeous Janet Leigh back from the burning wreckage.
"Hey, this sure isn't Howdy Doody," little RK remarks to himself just before he gets knocked down for yet another count. "It doesn't look or act like anything we usually get to see on this box. Not sure what it is. Not even sure I like it. I'm darned sure I don't understand all of it. But, goshdarn I can't take my eyes off it."
Cut to: later that day - the evening family meal, with the children busily recapping the day's events thus far, including a general thumb's down review of that afternoon's Touch of Evil broadcast. Father listens accommodatingly and then, admiringly, brings the nippers somewhat up to speed on Welles and his many remarkable accomplishments. The part about people being duped into running around the countryside one Hallowe'en years before with heads wrapped in soaking wet towels to protect them from the inavding Martians' heat rays has the little audience (most of whom accept it unquestioningly and on good schoolyard authority that the Frankenstein monster is, indeed, very real and quite likely a permanent resident of the woodlot at the subdivision's edge) howling with derisive laughter. Anybody that can pull off a stunt like that is definitely their kind of guy!
Fast forward a few more years, RK now in high school and smitten with the whole movie thing. Teenage infatuation or an affair bordering on the serious? Hard to know for sure. Word comes round of something very new and very, very intriguing being formed: a "Film Society" with memberships and weekly screenings in an accessible state-of-the-art thea-tuh, no less. But it's a subscription thing: in for a penny, in for a pound. A Keaton retrospective looks simply too much to pass up. Dad's supportive enough to drive RK and friends to the weekly festivities, even stays for the odd showing himself. Life is good.
Dissolve to close-up on the last page of the final program for the Keaton retrospective. Pan down to the bottom and the notice, "Coming Next: Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane'". CU on RK's face, his eyes widening as they take the words in. Turns excitedly to Father in the neighbour seat and points to the program.
"Dad! Dad! That's that 'War of the Worlds' guy, right?"
"Right."
"And isn't 'Citizen Kane' supposed to be the best movie ever made? I read that in a few places."
"Well, a lot of people have said that, yes."
"Have you ever seen it, Dad?"
"Once a long time ago. I thought it was great, myself. But why don't we sign up for it before it gets sold out? It's sure to get sold out. It hardly ever gets shown, nowadays."
And, with nothing more than that, RK's path in life would be forever altered - for good or for ill who can say? But altered, aye altered, it truly was.
Why, just see for yourselves: look at that rapt expression beaming in the silvery reflection of perhaps the most pristine print of any film his young eyes have ever beheld, hooked from the very first gothic frame of a film that sucks him irresisitibly into its creative core and pulls him blissfully along what one day he will learn to call a "tour de force". Until Citizen Kane he had no idea that a filmgoing experience could be like this. Nothing could have prepared him for it and nothing could call him back from it. This is going to be one deadly serious affair, a beautiful friendship of Casablanca proportions!
Cue music (a Herrmannesque blend of both reverie and foreboding) then fade to black on Our little R Kadin: Happy at Last.
We happen upon this self-supervised group loosely and customarily assembled in front of a 24" black and white Admiral TV set watching a US border city station's late afternoon broadcast of yet another potboiler moo-vee. Too bad it's not another chapter in the legendary Rodin vs Mothra Japanese monster saga: now THAT was entertainment!
Somewhere in between the variously-administed noogies and the spontaneous floor-wrestling matches (our main character being more sinned against than sinning, in those regards), the young R Kadin's attention is caught by a sudden zoom in to an on-screen car explosion (not that he knew from a zoom in those untrammeled days) followed by a shot of an unrecognizable Charlton Heston campily spouting lines as he protectively ushers a feisty-gorgeous Janet Leigh back from the burning wreckage.
"Hey, this sure isn't Howdy Doody," little RK remarks to himself just before he gets knocked down for yet another count. "It doesn't look or act like anything we usually get to see on this box. Not sure what it is. Not even sure I like it. I'm darned sure I don't understand all of it. But, goshdarn I can't take my eyes off it."
Cut to: later that day - the evening family meal, with the children busily recapping the day's events thus far, including a general thumb's down review of that afternoon's Touch of Evil broadcast. Father listens accommodatingly and then, admiringly, brings the nippers somewhat up to speed on Welles and his many remarkable accomplishments. The part about people being duped into running around the countryside one Hallowe'en years before with heads wrapped in soaking wet towels to protect them from the inavding Martians' heat rays has the little audience (most of whom accept it unquestioningly and on good schoolyard authority that the Frankenstein monster is, indeed, very real and quite likely a permanent resident of the woodlot at the subdivision's edge) howling with derisive laughter. Anybody that can pull off a stunt like that is definitely their kind of guy!
Fast forward a few more years, RK now in high school and smitten with the whole movie thing. Teenage infatuation or an affair bordering on the serious? Hard to know for sure. Word comes round of something very new and very, very intriguing being formed: a "Film Society" with memberships and weekly screenings in an accessible state-of-the-art thea-tuh, no less. But it's a subscription thing: in for a penny, in for a pound. A Keaton retrospective looks simply too much to pass up. Dad's supportive enough to drive RK and friends to the weekly festivities, even stays for the odd showing himself. Life is good.
Dissolve to close-up on the last page of the final program for the Keaton retrospective. Pan down to the bottom and the notice, "Coming Next: Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane'". CU on RK's face, his eyes widening as they take the words in. Turns excitedly to Father in the neighbour seat and points to the program.
"Dad! Dad! That's that 'War of the Worlds' guy, right?"
"Right."
"And isn't 'Citizen Kane' supposed to be the best movie ever made? I read that in a few places."
"Well, a lot of people have said that, yes."
"Have you ever seen it, Dad?"
"Once a long time ago. I thought it was great, myself. But why don't we sign up for it before it gets sold out? It's sure to get sold out. It hardly ever gets shown, nowadays."
And, with nothing more than that, RK's path in life would be forever altered - for good or for ill who can say? But altered, aye altered, it truly was.
Why, just see for yourselves: look at that rapt expression beaming in the silvery reflection of perhaps the most pristine print of any film his young eyes have ever beheld, hooked from the very first gothic frame of a film that sucks him irresisitibly into its creative core and pulls him blissfully along what one day he will learn to call a "tour de force". Until Citizen Kane he had no idea that a filmgoing experience could be like this. Nothing could have prepared him for it and nothing could call him back from it. This is going to be one deadly serious affair, a beautiful friendship of Casablanca proportions!
Cue music (a Herrmannesque blend of both reverie and foreboding) then fade to black on Our little R Kadin: Happy at Last.
-
R Kadin - Wellesnet Veteran
- Posts: 292
- Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2002 3:32 pm
by Orson&Jazz » Thu Aug 25, 2005 5:23 pm
Great recollection R Kadin. 
And a Thank you to GM. Writing about something that does not interest me is pure torture. But writing about why I am passionate about Welles was a pleasure.
And a Thank you to GM. Writing about something that does not interest me is pure torture. But writing about why I am passionate about Welles was a pleasure.
"I know a little about Orson's childhood and seriously doubt if he ever was a child."--Joseph Cotten
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Orson&Jazz - Wellesnet Veteran
- Posts: 144
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:34 am
- Location: Canada, and that's all you're getting. :)
by David N » Fri Aug 26, 2005 12:16 am
My obsession with Orson began in the early eighties. At that point, my impression of him was of a former film actor (his performance in Jane Eyre made a huge impression on me) who had once pulled a prank on the radio and had now become a rather fat "personality" who was basically coasting on his charm by showing up on Merv and Johnny and selling a little wine. I'd seen Touch of Evil but did not know he'd directed it. THis was the darkest most uncompromising film I'd ever seen. Then came the purchase of the Betamax and Roger Ebert's Guide to the movies. In the back of the guide was the Sight and Sound listing with Kane and Ambersons in the top 10. Being a classical music officianado, I thought of music as an art form. But film? That was purely entertainment. Something to jerk your emotions around a little. Intrigued, I went out and rented Kane. From the first shot to the last, I'd never seen anything like it. He put more creativity into the first 3 minutes than most films had in their entirety. Rosebud? what the hell does that mean? I was hooked big time. I played it over and over and over. Then Ambersons was playing on TNT at three in the morning in the middle of a work week. I stayed up and soaked it all in. Poetry on film. Something completely different from Kane and yet imbued with the same genius. A funny thing happened with about 15 minutes left of showing time, I remember thinking, how the hell are they going to wrap up this thing up in fifteen minutes. Then Eugene and Fanny waltz down the hopsital corridor and it was over. I knew something wasn't right. Still my initial impression of Ambersons stayed with me and I looked forward to being introduced to a long list Orson's films. Then came the research. Higham's book (flawed). The Citizen Kane book (trash). Before the internet, things were harder to research. So over time I have learned the sad tale of Orson's love affair with film. Up to now, I've seen all of his work (outside of the unfinished stuff) except for Chimes at Midnight. And I count myself lucky I have that to look forward to! When I first viewed Kane, I wasn't much older than Orson was when he made it. I was blown away that any artist could so master and alter and expand an art form on his FIRST ATTEMPT! For anyone who doubts Kane was his vision from beginning to end, I say look at Ambersons! No Tolland. No Mankiewicz. ANd the same result! I'm obsessed and pray to God that through some kind of miracle, that missing Ambersons footage appears some day. If not, I've got a lot of it in my head. Orson was heroic in his later attempts but, bottom line, he'd have made different films if he'd had any money to work with. Thanks for letting me share this with you all. I'm pretty much alone in my obsession with Welles and I think you guys will understand.
- David N
- Member
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- Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:29 pm
by TheMcGuffin » Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:16 am
What a wonderful thread everyone...most times my schedule doesn't let me post, but this is a definate exception.
As I have come to assume, I am probably one of the younger members of this Welles community. I was a mere child of 5 at the time of Welles passing and in all honesty knew nothing of the man for half of my life, nor much of films in general. My senior year of high school I had the option of taking AP English class and get ahead for college or spending that year taking a Creative Writing Class and a Film Appreciation class...tough choice for one diagnosed with senioritis ;^). The first week we watched The Purple Rose of Ciaro...it was ok. The second week we watch Casablanca and something clicks. I find myself enjoying the first black and white movie of my life and walking out of class humming "As Time Goes By." Then on week three came Citizen Kane and it was truly a revelation - the composition, the long takes, the sets, the story, the structure, and somehow i got "it" - what a film is, what directing can be, and my teachers rantings of "we don't watch movies, we study film." It was this film that sparked a deep passion within me and I knew, almost imediatly, that I wanted to be a director and make movies. It was also with Welles that I learned to never give up, work tirelessly and never compromise your artistic integrity. And now as I wait to find out about funding for my first script and first major project, I hope to one day to make it big enough to be able to give back to Mr. Welles and some of his unfinished projects for all that he and his work have given me.
As I have come to assume, I am probably one of the younger members of this Welles community. I was a mere child of 5 at the time of Welles passing and in all honesty knew nothing of the man for half of my life, nor much of films in general. My senior year of high school I had the option of taking AP English class and get ahead for college or spending that year taking a Creative Writing Class and a Film Appreciation class...tough choice for one diagnosed with senioritis ;^). The first week we watched The Purple Rose of Ciaro...it was ok. The second week we watch Casablanca and something clicks. I find myself enjoying the first black and white movie of my life and walking out of class humming "As Time Goes By." Then on week three came Citizen Kane and it was truly a revelation - the composition, the long takes, the sets, the story, the structure, and somehow i got "it" - what a film is, what directing can be, and my teachers rantings of "we don't watch movies, we study film." It was this film that sparked a deep passion within me and I knew, almost imediatly, that I wanted to be a director and make movies. It was also with Welles that I learned to never give up, work tirelessly and never compromise your artistic integrity. And now as I wait to find out about funding for my first script and first major project, I hope to one day to make it big enough to be able to give back to Mr. Welles and some of his unfinished projects for all that he and his work have given me.
- TheMcGuffin
- Member
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- Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2003 6:09 am
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