By RAY KELLY
Below is a transcript of the 70-minute online chat featuring Beatrice Welles, which was conducted on Thursday, July 9, 2015.
The live online chat – a first for Wellesnet – was suggested by Beatrice during a casual conversation as means of answering fan questions during the centennial year.
No conditions were placed and only one question skipped because, frankly, I overlooked it. Minutes after the chat concluded, Beatrice answered the missed question, and elaborated on a few other answers. They are included below.
Thanks to everyone who took part. Beatrice was thrilled with the experience and immediately offered to do it again.
Wellesnet – We will be starting in just a few minutes…
Beatrice Welles – Hello everyone. Thank you all very much for participating in this. I am looking forward to your questions.
Andrea Abbatista – I know probably you don’t own the right of this two movies, but I would like to know if there is some project to collect every Don Quixote’s frame still existing (form Italy Mauro Bonanni, France Costa gavras edit and the recently show in Paris 80 min. reel, Spain and Oja Kodar the poor Jesus Franco edit) and restore it, to finally edit it in a new and definitve cut of Don Quixote. Second questioni: is there some kind of reasearch around the world nowadays to discover Ambersons original cut maybe in Brazil… I can’t find peace about how RKO treat THE great Artist your Father IS… thank you so much.
Beatrice Welles – Quijote? No, nobody is interested. NO money! Unless it’s UCLA or something like that. There isn’t a soul in the world interested in spending money! The footage should be seen! It’s so so beautiful, but have no idea how this could happen. Look at Wind? We can’t get financing for that! I don’t own Quijote! Let’s talk about something else!!!
I know nothing about the missing Ambersons. And Time Warner would be the ones to have to find it and do something about it.
[Postscript: Andrea, I did not answer your question properly. Quijote, is very upsetting to me. It’s one of the biggest tragedies of my father’s work. There are fragments left that would be impossible to edit and put together because the more hands on my father’s work the less it becomes “his.” If I had owned Quijote, I would have done exactly what Mr. Abbatista is suggesting, but it would have happened before Franco or Gravas got involved. Perhaps Quijote has a future with film students. That’s a dream of mine that I personally cannot make materialize, there have been and are too many people with their own agendas holding on to it. I will never give up on any of my father’s work. Perhaps after Wind is finished someone with influence, money and above all INTEGRITY will come along and save whatever there is left to save. For now the Quijote that we are able to see is not one my father’s name should even be connected to. It’s a disgrace].
Guest_823 – Are there any plans for a US Blu-ray release of a newly restored The Third Man?
Beatrice Welles – The Third Man? I don’t own it. I would imagine so. It’s available in England.
Tony Williams – Hello Beatrice, We’ve heard that your father distrusted institutional forms of education such as universities and that he did his version of home school with you when you were younger. Would you like to share with us the type of education you received which must have been really fascinating. Thanks, Tony Williams
Beatrice Welles – I was given the rudimentary basics of schooling through two teachers one in Italy and then one in Spain until I was 11. My real education was traveling all over the world with my father and being in his shadow for many years. I was very lucky. I believe I learned far more then the average person. I speak, write and read fluently in 3 languages.
Matthew Asprey Gear – You recently spoke of rediscovering your father’s unproduced scripts for ‘Two by Two‘ (about Noah’s Ark), ‘Saladin‘, and some other projects. I wonder if you have plans to attempt to publish those scripts, or if they will be made available to scholars at an archive like the Lilly Library. And one more question: Do you have any memories of your father’s work on the ‘Sirhan Sirhan’/’Assassin‘
Beatrice Welles – I intend to do what my father would have wanted – seeing these screenplays made into movies, if that’s possible. My father was always looking for interesting projects to transform into a script. The Sirhan / Assassin is a very good example.
Matthew Asprey Gear – Do you have any memories of your father working on Sirhan Sirhan / The Assassin in 1975/
Beatrice Welles – I don’t know anything about Sirhan Sirhan / The Assassin. I remember him mentioning it, but I do not have a manuscript.
Guest_473 – I recently watched your father’s documentary series ‘In The Land of Don Quixote‘. Do you have any strong memories of that family vacation in Spain?
Beatrice Welles – I lived in Spain from 1963 to 68 — five years. My father was in love with Spain. He introduced us to that country, my mother and I. I remember he had the damn camera on me all the time for “In the Land of Don Quixote.” It was one of the happiest times of his life. He filmed “Chimes at Midnight” there.
Guest_420 – Hi Beatrice! I have read about your love for animals and your efforts to inform people about spaying and neutering. Did you have many pets growing up that lead to this love for animals? Did your father have pets that sparked your interests?
Beatrice Welles – My parents, my father and my mother, collected strays all around the world. Thank you for mentioning spaying and neutering, it is the important thing we can do to save companion animals.
Guest_473 – Another question if I may, Beatrice. Can you clear up the story about the fire at the house in Madrid in 1970? Were a lot of your father’s papers and movies destroyed? For a long time it was thought Too Much Johnson was destroyed, and it was found…
Beatrice Welles – There were no movies destroyed, just three scripts he was working on. I believe one might have included a very early version of the Big Brass Ring. A lot of personal papers and letters were lost. It was just his office, which had a big bathroom and a balcony. All of that was burned down.
Michael Hinerman – Ms. Welles, the period from the time Orson married your mother, Paola, until he left Europe to relocate to the U.S. in 1970, can rightly be considered one of the most creatively fertile of Welles’s life. Can you tell us a bit about your mother’s role in Orson’s life at this time, and how she might have fostered this creative bonanza? Also, in retrospect, given that Orson had formed a tight cr…
Beatrice Welles – She was very influential in his work. She was heavily involved in Don Quixote, The Trial as well as Chimes at Midnight. She picked the music for The Trial. He called her twice a day when he was away. He would call her from the set. And he would call when he came back. Nobody knows a lot about her. She was a very private person. She did not give interviews. Thank you for asking about her. She was such a strong influence and nobody knows that.
Jeff Wilson – Hi Beatrice, thanks for taking the time to do this. I’d like to ask about your memories of appearing in Chimes at Midnight; what are your strongest memories from being on set?
Terry – Hi Beatrice, thank you for the visit. I wonder (if you remember) how seeing Chimes on the screen for the first time compared with how you saw it as part of the cast during the filming. Thanks again.
Beatrice Welles – Not the set as much as the editing. I was in the editing room during Chimes. I saw it every day on the moviola.
Matthew Asprey Gear – Can you give us an update on your book project that will collect your father’s early rediscovered letters? Thanks, Matthew Asprey Gear.
Beatrice Welles – I had a meeting on the book today. It is probably the single most exciting thing I have done for my father since Othello. Finally, people we be able to read his own words.
Guest_420 – Being that you headed your own cosmetics company, design lovely jewelry, handbags, etc., it’s fairly clear that you share your dad’s passion for art and culture. What artists and types of media were you inspired by growing up?
Beatrice Welles – Orson Welles! I mean it.
Charles – Hello Beatrice, I’ve been interested in the vocal aspect of your father’s work. He had a tremendous voice, one that a lot of high profile voice actors could only dream of having. Did he work on it sometimes at home, and if so how? Did he ever talk about it? I remember reading he went once to a doc who said he had the vocal cords of a tenor… And he said he lowered his voice cause of Chaliapin etc. Would love to hear more about that. Thank you
Beatrice Welles – He never worked on his voice. He didn’t take it seriously. He just had this incredible voice all the time.
Charles – Was it really so or was that part of his usual display of nonchalance? As a young adult he went to Ms. Carrington, Barrymore’s voice teacher, to take lessons etc. I still find it really unbelievable he could have such a perfect instrument without practicing. Speaking of which, did you ever hear him play the piano? And do you play an instrument yourself?
Beatrice Welles – If he had voice coaching, I am unaware of it. That voice was his — 24 hours a day. Some people are born like that. I never heard him play piano.
Charles – Thank you
Guest_93 – Frank Brady’s book claims that in the 1970’s or so you introduced your father to some of the Rock n’ Roll bands of the time. We know he eventually did some voice work for Manowar and The Alan Parsons Project. Which other ones did he express a liking for, if any? Is it true you worked as a roadie for awhile?
Beatrice Welles – Not true. (laughs). I never introduced him to rock and roll bands. This is a fine example of why you should not believe everything you read in biographies. [Postscript: I was never a roadie of any rock band. I knew the music world through friends which in turn created friendships with rock musicians and their wives].
Jean-Denis – Hello Beatrice, What would you say is the biggest misconception about your father? What do you feel most people misunderstand about him and his work?
Beatrice Welles – I don’t think people misunderstand his work. Nobody’s work has been as analyzed as much as my father’s. There is a misconception about him. He was very funny. He looked at life in a positive way. He loved The Dick Van Dyke Show. We must have watched every episode six times. He loved Dick Van Dyke and he adored Mary Tyler Moore. We watched The Mary Tyler Moore Show!
Michael Hinerman – Given the great films that resulted from Welles’s sojourn in Europe, and the relative paucity of works completed and released after your father relocated in 1970 from Europe to the U.S., do you, in retrospect, think he would have been better off staying in Italy or Spain?
Beatrice Welles – Perhaps, but he wanted to come back home. He was a true American, not a flag waving man. He loved this country.
Matthew Asprey Gear – What music did your father enjoy? Spanish music such as flamenco?
Charles – if I may chime in, I find it unlikely OW would have liked rock bands like Manowar. He was a classical music guy for the most part and he liked Italian opera most of all, it seems.
Beatrice Welles – He adored flamenco. He loved all kinds of music — except for rock and roll bands. He loved Portuguese Fados. [Postscript: “I just re-read the question about what music he liked and I forgot to mention Joan Baez and Johnny Cash! He brought home the album where Cash sang in a prison, remember that one? He wanted to make a film with Johnny Cash”].
Guest_93 – I have heard that you were considering plans for an Orson Welles Museum in Spain. If so, is that project still in the works?
Beatrice Welles – It’s not. The reason is because I realized it was something I wanted and not something he would have liked. In fact, he would have hated it. I try do what he would have done, not what I want.
Guest_902 – Thanks for your time Ms. Welles… I know he was an FDR guy back in the day. Did he stay a Democrat till the end?
Beatrice Welles – Absolutely. He kind of believed democracy died with FDR.
Guest_93 – During the times your father would stay with you at your home, did you go to the movies much? Did he mention any of the current movies of the time? If so, which ones did he like or dislike?
Beatrice Welles – When my father came home, the doors were closed and it was just us. Literally. We did not see anybody. TV, home cooking and a family life.
Matthew Asprey Gear – Beatrice, what is your favourite of your father’s films?
Beatrice Welles – I don’t have one. Each one is special. I love Chimes at Midnight, but I don’t know that I love it more than The Trial. Each one speaks for itself.
Matthew Asprey Gear – Do you have any memories of Roger Hill, your father’s original school master?
Beatrice Welles – Of course. A wonderful, warm man. Also, his wife Hortense, who my father adored. There was a great friendship and a great respect between the two.
Mike Smith – Hi. I was wondering what you think of all the books written about him. Which are the best which and which are trashy and or just false?
Beatrice Welles – I have yet to read an autobiography that remotely comes close to what my father was like. Christopher Plummer got him right in three pages in his autobiography. I liked Josh Karp’s book on The Other Side of the Wind.
Mike Smith – Thx…I have the Karp book on hold at my library. Lots of people want to read it.
Tony Williams – I’m having problems with the internet, being bumped off this site every 10 minutes. Did you receive my question as to what kind of home education your Dad may have given you?
Beatrice Welles – Sorry if it did not come through. I was given the rudimentary basics of schooling through two teachers one in Italy and then one in Spain until I was 11. My real education was traveling all over the world with my father and being in his shadow for many years. I was very lucky. I believe I learned far more then the average person. I speak, write and read fluently in 3 languages.
Tony Williams – Thank you. I also wondered if he taught you any subjects such as art and history?
Beatrice Welles – He talked about everything. He was interested in everything.
Tony Williams – I would expect so. He was a real Renaissance man and one of my graduate students mentioned that he would be the one director he would really like to meet and discuss the broader issues of art and life.
Michael Hinerman – Ms. Welles, did your father ever speak of the King Lear project he was working on in later years. It sounds fascinating, something he was very emotionally connected to, but all traces seem to have disappeared.
Beatrice Welles – He was very emotionally connected to King Lear. We talked about it a lot in the last six months of his life.
Guest_95 – (Filip) Jan Rymsza has said that the footage for The Other Side of the Wind will be shipped from France and editing will begin 2 weeks from now. When will you get to see the footage?
Beatrice Welles – Soon I hope!
Matthew Asprey Gear – Forgive me for another question. I wonder if you recall Louis Dolivet, who was a friend and the producer of your father’s Mr Arkadin. I know they had a falling out over that production, which was a great shame for the picture, but I wonder if they kept in touch and patched up their relationship? I wonder also whether your father was aware Dolivet was a Soviet spy in his early years?
Beatrice Welles – I was not alive when he made Mr. Arkadin. I don’t know anything about that.
E – When did you last speak with your father?
Beatrice Welles – I spoke with him by telephone the day he died, right before the taping of the Merv show.
Guest_93 – In a recent interview, Mauro Bonanni claims he gave a completed workprint of “Don Quixote” to you in Paris in 1969. In an interview you did last year, you said that this never happened. Do you think Bonanni is making that story up, or is he merely misremembering?
Beatrice Welles – No, I met with him in 1991 in Rome for the first time about trying to pull together Don Quixote. I really tried. I could not find anybody even remotely interested. I tried Chimes and Quixote and got nowhere. Please realize I don’t own these films.
Mike Smith – Why do you think he was in demand as an actor, but rarely as a filmmaker?
Guest_533 – Were you nervous at all knowing you were going to play a role in Chimes at Midnight? Did your father give you any specific direction and advice on how to “play the part?”
Beatrice Welles – No, I was not nervous. I never wanted to act. I did it for him. I did Chimes on stage at 5 and I did not know what I was doing. When I was 9, I knew I did not want to be an actress. As a director, he was soft and very gentle, as he was with all his actors.
Wellesnet – Final questions?
Charles – Any movies/directors he liked or hated… apart from Antonioni… I still wonder why he hated the Blue Angel so much though…
Beatrice Welles – He really thought Rocky was an amazing picture. Not parts 2, 3, 4 and 5. He thought Eastwood’s Outlaw Josey Wales was amazing.
Tony Williams – He was right about Josey Wales, the best representation of the Civil War guerilla groups ever filmed.
Mike Smith – Did he ever tell you about The War of the Worlds craziness?
Beatrice Welles – He never talked about The War of the Worlds
Tony Williams – I’ve read that your mother, Paola, was in a concentration camp as a young girl. Did she ever speak of those times and why she was there. Or was it too painful?
Beatrice Welles – She spoke of it and it was painful. The Germans rounded up the Italians in Northern Africa after the collapse of Italy.
Tony Williams – My deepest sympathies. Also thanks for participating and your very gracious responses.
Matthew Asprey Gear – Thanks very much for participating, Beatrice. Wish you all the best and I look forward to seeing The Other Side of the Wind as soon as it’s done
Guest_93 – Thank you, Beatrice.
Michael Hinerman – Ms. Welles, thank you so much for answering our questions this evening!
Charles – thank you, Beatrice, and the guys at Wellesnet
Guest_95 – Thank you so much
Mike Smith – Thank you! I hope this can happen again!
Matthew Asprey Gear – Thanks to Wellesnet, too.
Beatrice Welles – Thank you all. I would love to do this again. I hope you realize that what I do, I do because I love my father. It is a huge responsibility. It has not been easy. By doing this, I have become that much closer to my father than I thought possible. He is always with me.
Wellesnet – Good night folks!
Tony Williams – Thank you for making this possible, Ray and all at Wellesnet. TW
Guest_533 – Thank you Beatrice and Wellesnet! This was fascinating!
________
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.