By MIKE TEAL
After the excitement of 2018, which saw the near-miraculous completion of the 40-years-in-the-making The Other Side of the Wind, 2019 was a relatively quiet year for Wellesian matters.
Reactions to Other Wind continued to roll in gradually during the first part of the year from various Welles scholars and authors (although quite a few still have yet to be heard from). The film was snubbed by the Oscars, but did garner much praise and awards, including one from National Board of Review. Later in the year, the Italian film magazine Cabiria devoted an entire issue to the film, with several illuminating essays by noted scholars.
The early part of the year also saw the launch of an extremely good website on Welles’s legendary second film, The Magnificent Ambersons. It is perhaps the best website ever devoted to a single Welles film. It can be found at http://www.themagnificentambersons.com/
Simon Braund and Welles’s youngest daughter, Beatrice, produced a very fine coffee table book, Orson Welles Portfolio, devoted to Welles’s paintings and sketches.
This book followed the Mark Cousins’ documentary on the same subject, The Eyes of Orson Welles, which gathered some excellent reviews and received a spring release in many cities across the U.S. It also received a DVD release in Europe, and hopefully one in the U.S. soon.
This past August saw the release of Marching Song, Todd Tarbox’s wonderful book containing the complete script for Orson Welles’s first stageplay about the abolitionist John Brown, written by Welles when he was only seventeen years old! The book also contained some fine essays about the work, including one from Simon Callow.
The documentary A Jangada de Welles — written and directed by Brazilian filmmakers Petrus Cariry and Firmino Holanda — made its debut in November with a U.S. release expected in 2020.
Sadly, this year saw the passing of the great film composer Michel Legrand, who scored two Welles films: F For Fake and The Other Side of the Wind. Also, Freddie Gillette, who was Welles’s longtime driver.
Yes, it was a pretty quiet year, but we’ve been hearing a few rumors from various sources that, if they pan out, could make 2020 a much more exciting and eventful year.
As always, thanks to everyone for the support.
Have a great 2020!
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