By MIKE TEAL
2021 was a relatively quiet year on the Wellesian front, due no doubt in part to the continuing pandemic, but there were several Orson Welles-related projects worth mentioning:Video and FilmBy far, the biggest and most anticipated Blu-ray release of the year was the 80th anniversary UHD Criterion set of Welles’s most famous creation, Citizen Kane, with tons of great extras and a fine disc of the film in 4K, but unfortunately a botched Blu-ray disc that is currently in the process of being recalled, remedied and replaced. Initial reports regarding the replacement Blu-ray discs so far are encouraging. A 4K UHD was also released in Europe by Warner Home Entertainment. The release came, unfortunately, on the heels of news that the original negative of Citizen Kane may be lost forever due to negligence: wellesnet.com/citizen-kane-negative/F For Fake also received a nice restoration from the original camera negative that played at the Cannes film festival last May: wellesnet.com/f-for-fake-cannes/Voodoo Macbeth was also the subject of a film production by the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The engaging film played at several festivals and won several awards. wellesnet.com/voodoo-macbeth-review/The mysterious discovery of footage of an underwater fight from Welles’s unfinished late-60s thriller The Deep caused a stir among Welles fans and scholars: wellesnet.com/has-deep-footage-surfaced/AudioSome of the most interesting and illuminating Welles-related productions this past year were audio presentations available for free online. These include:
A BBC Radio program called “Voodoo Macbeth”, about the behind-the-scenes turmoil surrounding Welles’s legendary 1937 stage production for the Negro Theater Unit: wellesnet.com/voodoo-macbeth-drama-to-air-on-bbc-radio-4/
A highly enjoyable podcast about “Around the World”, the huge musical collaboration from 1946, that teamed Welles up with songwriting legend Cole Porter: wellesnet.com/around-porter-welles/
A fascinating podcast series about the “Orson Welles Commentaries” series, also from 1946. The podcast series, which covered most of the 55 Commentaries episodes, featured a lively and informative discussion preceding the playing of each episode. Kudos to Buck Benny and his team for putting this ambitious project together. The Wellesnet writeup is here: wellesnet.com/podcast-orson-welles-commentaries/TelevisionPBS came up with three excellent specials that, if not specifically Wellesian, touched on subjects definitely related to Welles:
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard (American Experience) about the blinded black WWII veteran the Orson Welles, long a champion of racial equality, used his Commentaries radio show to demand justice for. wellesnet.com/pbs-isaac-woodard/
Hemingway, a four-hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick about Ernest Hemingway, the great American writer that Welles used as a model for the main character in The Other Side of the Wind.
Citizen Hearst, an ambitious 4-hour American Experience show about publishing titan William Randolph Hearst that at times came across like an alternate version of Citizen KaneLiterature
Pretty quiet on the literary front, although we did get word that the great Welles scholar and author Joseph McBride is coming out with an updated version of his 2006 book “Whatever Happened To Orson Welles.” Harlan Lebo is readying an expanded version on “Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey.” Also, three foreign-language books about Welles that were worthy of note:
Italian publisher Mimesis Edizioni released a new book by Massimiliano Studer called “Orson Welles E La New Hollywood: Il Caso di The Other Side of the Wind” (Orson Welles and the New Hollywood: The Case for The Other Side of the Wind)”, which compared the various drafts of the Other Wind screenplay to the version completed by Netflix in 2018: wellesnet.com/studer-book-other-wind/
The French publishing house Editions Mimesis released “Apres Welles: Imitations et influences ( After Welles: Imitations and influences)” – a collection of essays in French on the impact Orson Welles has had on cinema. wellesnet.com/apres-welles-book/
L’Assassinat d’Orson Welles (The Assassination of Orson Welles), a novel by French writer Jean-Pierre de Lucovitch, became one of five contenders for the Prix France Bleu. wellesnet.com/assassination-orson-welles/
In addition to this there was “Mysteries of The Deep: The Making and Unmaking of Orson Welles’s Dead Reckoning,” a very well researched article by Nicolas Ciccone, published online by Bright Lights Film Journal: brightlightsfilm.com/mysteries- … c8sNy2ZOCd
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A hearty shout-out to Joshua Greenburg and his team for their recent efforts to track down info concerning the missing footage from The Magnificent Ambersons in Brazil. Admittedly, this is a long shot, but we applaud his leave no-stone-unturned approach. He plans a return trip in early 2022 to check out a trove of uncatalogued vintage film footage. TCM, which is backing his effort, will air a documentary in 2022 on the search and how Welles’s fall from grace in 1942. wellesnet.com/ambersons-hunters-return/Finally, Wellesnet celebrated its 20th anniversary this past March. The occasion was marked by a nice reminiscence from Wellesnet founder Jeff Wilson, who managed the website in its first decade. wellesnet.com/wellesnet-jeff-wilson-looks-back/Here’s hoping for a prosperous and healthy 2022 for one and all!
Rumors are that several significant Wellesian happenings may be coming down the pipeline soon.
Thanks again to everyone for supporting the site!
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