Who is Nina Palinkas?

[Tony]

Here's a little info about a minor player in The Merchant of Venice, The Deep, The Other Side of the Wind and F For Fake, the latter where she is actually on-camera: her name is Nina Palinkas, and she is the sister of Olga Palinkas (Oja Kodar). Also, she may well be the mother of "Julio Palinkas", the little boy in F For fake, who must be the great-grandson of Olga's and Nina's grandfather, if indeed that is their grandfather in the film. In fact, it was actually Nina in several of those "girl-watching" shots in F For Fake, when you can't clearly see Olga's face; apparently they had similar figures at that time.

Is this Nina, or Olga?



As Jonathan Rosenbaum writes in the Criterion F for Fake booklet: "If we freeze frame in the right place toward the end of "girl watching", we'll discover that a couple of the full-frontal long shots of "Oja Kodar" approaching us on a city street don't actually show Kodar at all but another woman (her sister) of roughly the same size in the same dress. Given the whole sequence's elaborate peekaboo tactics- a mosaic of almost perpetual fragmentation- it stands to reason that two very brief shots pretending to reveal what many previous angles have concealed can readily fool us by hiding in full view, just like Edgar Allen Poe's "Purloined Letter"."

Rosenbaum implies above that perhaps Nina's doubling for Olga was intentional on Welles's part: It's All True/ F For Fake/Truths and Lies, but could there have been another reason? Perhaps Olga just wasn't there that day; certainly, it couldn't have been modesty, as Olga appears nude extensively in both pictures.

This is a 1974 cover Nina did (the only picture I could find of her):

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?f4fca37d8c.jpg

The cover story of this magazine is "Nina Palinkas: Debut con Huston", and the story inside is "Orson Welles/John Huston"; as it seems she never worked with Huston, but Huston was in TOSOTW in that same year, it seems possible that she doubled for her sister in "Wind" as well as in "Fake", but this is sheer guessing, of course. The question is: how much doubling did she do for Olga/Oja, and why?

Nina was also involved in The Merchant of Venice, as was Mauro Bonanni:

Filmcím: Orson Welles’ Shylock
Rendezo: Orson Welles
Forgatókönyv: William Shakespeare
Operator: Giorgio Tonti, Ivica Rajkovic, Tomislav Pinter, Gary Graver
Vágó: Orson Welles
Szereplok: Orson Welles, Charles Gray, Irina Maleva, Dorian Bond, Bill Cronshaw, Mauro Bonnani, Nina Palinkas
Eredeti formátum: 35mm & 16mm & video, 30’ (restaurálva 2001)

Here's the site where this info came from:

http://www.ariff.hu/index.php?pg=menu_138

Nina is also listed as the second editor on The Deep:

Full Cast and Crew for
The Deep (1970)

Directed by
Orson Welles

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Orson Welles
Charles Williams novel Dead Calm

Cast (in alphabetical order)
Michael Bryant .... John Ingram
Laurence Harvey .... Hughie Warriner
Oja Kodar .... Rae Ingram
Jeanne Moreau .... Ruth Warriner
Orson Welles .... Russ Brewer

Produced by
Orson Welles .... producer

Cinematography by
Willy Kurant
Ivica Rajkovic

Film Editing by
Gerd Berner

Other crew
Nina Palinkas .... second editor

Finally, this is a film I've not seen, directed and written by Oja, and photgraphed by "Gary Grover" (of Grover's Mill, I believe); Nina is responsible for 'Montaža' (montage?):

"VRIJEME ZA", 1993.
Režija : Oja Kodar
Producent : Jadran Film
Scenario: Oja Kodar
Muzika: Franco Piersanti
Snimatelj: Gary Grover
Scenografija: Ivo Husnjak, Nenad Pecur
Kostimografija: Jelena Matic-Mihalic
Zemlja porijekla: Hrvatska
Montaža: Nina Palinkaš
Trajanje: 99 minuta
Tehnika: Standard, kolor
Prvo prikazivanje: 1.1.1993.

Here's the website, where you can download a couple of short excerpts:

http://www.stankagjuric.com/filmtv/vrijemeza.html

[halfaorson]

:)

[Christopher]

Tony,

Nina Palinkas did work for Orson Welles as a film editor and she is the mother of the little boy in F FOR FAKE who now calls himself Sasha Welles. After emigrating to the U.S., Sasha decided to change his surname (his mother had divorced his father) and because he was extremely close to Orson Welles, he changed his last name to "Welles" with Orson's blessing.

[Tony]

Christopher: that's fascinating; thanks very much. I'm wondering how you know this! I came upon Nina purely by accident. Do you know if the woman on the magazine cover is the same Nina Palinkas, and why she was working with "Huston"? And is she indeed Olga's sister?
???
thanks,
Tony

[Christopher]

Tony,

The woman on the cover looks like Nina Palinkas would have looked when she was young, but I don't honestly know if this photo is of her or why she was working with "Huston." Nina is Olga's sister, though.

I can't tell you how I know what I know without revealing who I am, and I'd rather not do that. I hope you understand.

[Tony]

Christopher:


Thanks for your info; might you be able to tell me if the older man in F for fake, who is supposed to be Oja's grandfather, I think, is actually her grandfather?

As for the Fotogramas mag, I will hopefully soon be able to supply more info about this particular magazine issue, as I have a copy coming in the mail. So I will be able to provide a better scan of the cover, and apparently there is also a 2-page poster of Nina, plus a 2-page article on her. What I am wondering is: was Nina also in The Other Side of the Wind (in addition to F For Fake), and that this is what is meant by "with Huston"? Or was she editing for Huston, perhaps Chinatown? And who is that woman on the cover? Perhaps I will be able to figure out enough of the Spanish to answer these questions!

This very "F For Fake" type mystery continues... :;):

[Store Hadji]

I found a couple songs (?) online attributed to 'Sasha Welles.' Haven't downloaded them yet.

[Tony]

Sasha has a web-site; it turns out he is an accomplished composer of albums and film scores, and you can download samples of his music also:

http://sashawelles.com/bio.html

Here's his bio, from his web-site, which, without mentioning Welles, clearly alludes to his life in the Welles orbit both as an actor (Julio Palinkas in F For Fake), as the son of Nina Palinkas, and as the nephew of Oja (Olga Palinkas):

Sasha Welles is a European-born music producer and remixer with credits as varied as Nine Inch Nails, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Seal, Michael Hutchence (INXS), Stanley Clark, Crazy Town, Black Grape, Thea Austin, Stevie Salas, and Doppleganger.

Some postulate that his eclectic yet hypnotic musical sensibilities accrued from a childhood spent living in the countryside of France and Hollywood, California as an intimate member of America's greatest film dynasty. This was a natural avenue which allowed him to learn the idiosyncracies of filmmaking and granted him an understanding of the special requirements of film scoring.

Sasha's colleagues playfully refer to him as "The Croation Hit-man" (a sly reference to his abilities to produce "hits" at an improbably fast pace). From the dancefloors of Ibizia to the screening rooms of the world's cinemas, Sasha Welles is a man who continues to leave his bold mark upon the face of popular culture.

[Christopher]

Tony,

Thanks for locating Sasha Welles's web site and for all your fine research efforts. I tried downloading some of his music clips, but I was unsuccessful and I am not sure why.

You asked about "the grandfather" in F FOR FAKE. I'm sorry but I can't identify him as Oja's grandfther, having never met that gentleman.

I would be most interested in reading the two-page article on Nina Palinkas that you found in Fotogramas magazine. Would it be possible to scan it and post it here? I could try translating it from Spanish into English so that we could all read it.

[Tony]

Thanks, Christopher. I too, couldn't download Sasha's music, to my dissappointment. Thanks so much, also, for your offer to try translating the article: I will scan and post it here as soon as I receive it; the fellow who sold it to me assured me, as I mentioned, that it not only had the cover but also a 2-page poster and 2 page story, all on Nina; I hope (knock on wood) that he hasn't made a mistake!

I feel not enough is known about Welles's years, both creativeley and professionally, with Olga Palinkas (and Nina, and Julio!); Callow won't be able to help us much as he is planning on compacting 1948-1985 into the final volume of his bio; it seems that Joseph McBride will be our greatest hope to fill us in on those years, as his new book (due in October) called "What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career" will focus exclusively on the period of 1970-1985, and of course McBride played a small part in The Other Side Of The Wind, intermittently from 1970-1976. I wonder, though, how much of the personal things Olga (Oja) wants known; it's interesting that, to my recollection, Welles never mentioned her in an interview, even in a professional context: perhaps I'm wrong, but I really can't remember an instance of this. And Oja really surprised me in the Brunnen documentary when she mentions that she had no control over the burial arrangements as she was not his "legal wife": in fact, I nearly fell off my chair, and felt a deep sympathy for her. I remember how, at the AFI ceremony in 1975, Paola Welles was sitting beside Welles's side, and Oja was nowhere to be seen; what an awful situation.

Yes, in one way or another, these years must be documented!
:;):

[Roger Ryan]

What I am wondering is: was Nina also in The Other Side of the Wind (in addition to F For Fake), and that this is what is meant by "with Huston"? Or was she editing for Huston, perhaps Chinatown?

Since Roman Polanski directed "Chinatown", I doubt it would be this film (Huston was only a supporting actor, but a great performance nonetheless). If the article doesn't specifically mention a Huston film from this period ("The Mackintosh Man", "The Man Who Would Be King"), I would think "The Other Side Of The Wind" connection would be the logical one.

[Glenn Anders]

Tony: My reading of Orson Welles character is that, for all his iconoclism and unconventional behavior, there was something deeply Midwestern about his sense of morality. Divorce, bankruptcy, and dying of syphillis were the three things a middle class-reared man feared in that time. If so, it would have galled Welles that he had been married three times. How could Welles critique the behavior of mankind, or point to the good life in his dream of progressive American democracy, with such a record? Having failed two wives, and two daughters to some extent, he must have been resolved to preserve his third family in an appearance of conventionality.

It would have offended decency for him to show off Oja Kodar publicly as his mistress, to boast of their relationship. No doubt, even the suggestion of it, perhaps in those Italian scandal rags, sent him away from her, possibly set aflame resentments still reflected in the schism between Beatrice Welles and those who want to finish Welles' last works, those which feature Miss Kodar. Welles was obviously at pains to keep her the background, shielded from publicity, and not an embarrassment to his Paola and Beatrice. No matter how intelligent and artistically supportive she may have been, he did not want create a Susan Alexander situation in his marriage.

In the area of Art, it would have been a different matter. Collaborating with Welles in THE DEEP, THE DREAMERS, and THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, Oja Kodar is serving an artistic purpose. As "Evil Dave" Thomson points out, nowhere in his entire career does Welles appear more proudly, joyously in love than during F FOR FAKE. Miss Kodar is what Preston Sturges, his old New York and Hollywood friend, used to call in his pictures, "The Girl."

In F FOR FAKE, Oja Kodar is "The Girl." She may act interchangeably, at times, with her sister, Nina, or swimming around nude with all those tigers, in the film's trailer!! There he can present his passion and affection in a sublimated fashion.

And in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, we may hope.

And Roger is obviously correct about Nina Palinkas's logical association with John Huston in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, as far as that Spanish fan magazine is concerned.

Glenn

[Tony]

Glenn: I'm in complete agreement with you: in 'Brunnen", Oja tells how Welles wouldn't even tolorate swearing anywhere in his presence: he would give one warning, and if the person persisted, Welles would banish them.

I have the magazine, and will try to get the article tranlated; however, it is quite short ( a couple of columns, really,), though it does mention both Welles and Huston.


Roger: thanks for the correction: I had a total mis-memory that Huston directed Chinatown! I guess his mere presence impressed my memory.

[Tony]

Here are scans of the cover of Nina (where you can read "Nina Palinkas: Debut con Huston"), the poster of Nina, and the little article on her, which mentions Welles and which says "Al otro jado del viento", which must translate as "The other side of the wind". In the same issue is the small piece on Welles and Huston, accompanied by some unusual photos; all the texts are in Spanish, so if anyone can help with translating these pieces (Christopher? ), I'd sure appreciate it: who knew that Nina was part of Wind as well as Fake, (not to mention Merchant and The Deep)???









the words cut off from the bottom of the above article on Nina are: 'un gran avance "en su carrerra"




"Al otro jado del viento" is mentioned in this little piece on Welles and Huston as well. :;):

[The Voice of Cornstarch]

Glenn wrote

It would have offended decency for him to show off Oja Kodar publicly as his mistress, to boast of their relationship.... No matter how intelligent and artistically supportive she may have been, he did not want create a Susan Alexander situation in his marriage.

But he did put Susan Alexander Kodar in those movies.