The Orson Welles Cinema - 1970s' Cambridge, MA Art Film Theatre

[Roger Ryan]

Check out this link to read some comments about the long-lost "Orson Welles Cinema" located in Cambridge, MA that ran art house movies during the 70s and early 80s:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/6492/

It sounds like a wonderful place and, according to two of the comments, Welles himself made an appearance at the theatre in 1977 to promote the U.S. release of "F For Fake".

[ToddBaesen]

It was also Welles Q & A appearance at the OW Cinema in 1977 that was filmed and used by Welles in "Filming Othello"

[RayKelly]

The Orson Welles Cinema in Cambridge was managed by Larry Jackson. Larry now lives in western Massachusetts and was responsible for bringing his friend Gary Graver and the "Unseen Orson Welles" presentation to Northampton, Mass. in March 2006.
For an article I wrote last year, Larry recalled how he flew to Madrid in 1973 to get Orson to sign documents allowing the Cambridge theater to bear his name. Here is a bit from the interview I did with him.

"I hesitantly asked if I could observe him at work. I promised to be a fly on the ceiling," Jackson recalled. "He looked at me with a great scowl and said, 'Dammit, I can't stand it when people watch me work - but if you want to be on the crew, I will give you a job.'"

Jackson leapt at the chance. He found himself working with a small crew on the set and appearing in "The Other Side of the Wind."

"I built sets. I schlepped sets around. I was in charge of props and costumes. I did dishes. I coached dialogue with John Huston. It was an amazing experience."

He produced Welles' return to the stage after a 17-year absence with "An Evening of Orson Welles" in Boston in January 1977.

Some 2,100 people turned out for Welles' one-man show, despite a massive winter storm that dumped 14 inches of snow and shut down major roads to the city, Jackson said.

"I was crying. Orson had tears in his eyes," Jackson said. "He was so touched that people still cared about him."

[Gordon]

Ray,

The recording of Welles's comments during "An Evening of Orson Welles" in Boston in January 1977, has never been played for the public.

What a wonderful opportunity it would be, after 30 years to hear his views, in detail, in the theater named after him.

Why isn't the recording available?