1. Me and Orson Welles — Richard Linklater Christian McKay’s performance as Orson Welles highlights this fictionalized, but still highly accurate account of the staging of Welles’s 1937 production of Julius Caesar. An absolute must see for anyone with the slightest interest in Welles or acting and the theatre. 2. Inglourious Basterds — Quentin Tarantino […]
Since Me and Orson Welles was written by Robert Kaplow, a New Jersey English teacher, and concerns a fictional student who discovers the world of the lively arts in 1937 New York, it’s only fitting that the movie will become a subject in classroom discussions. To this end, Film Education in the UK has put […]
As Me and Orson Welles expands this week to theatres across America, one of the primary audiences who may be especially interested in seeing the film and talking about it will be teachers and their students. Therefore, here is a short excerpt from Orson Welles chapter taken from Everybody’s Shakespeare, the book he wrote in […]
Chris Welles Feder’s wonderful new book about her life and times with Orson Welles, In My Father’s Shadow has just been released by Agonquin Books. Chris Welles began her book tour in San Francisco with a showing of The Lady From Shanghai at the Rafael Theatre on November 2, and earlier that day Alex Fraser […]
Southern Illinois University Press has released Orson Welles and The Unfinished RKO Projects: A Postmodern Perspective by scholar Marguerite Rippy.
Catherine L. Benamou, the curator of the Univ. of Michigan Welles collection recently wrote to tell Wellesnet that the Richard Wilson–Orson Welles papers are now open for viewing and research by Welles scholars and all other interested parties. You can access the online site to see an overview of the 62 boxes of material on […]
32 years ago, in 1978 when I was the the chairman of The Cinema Guild at a New England College, we received a grant from the Johnson-Mellon foundation for $10,000 to bring important artistic speakers to our campus for a day of interaction with students. Early in our talks with the University “committee” for the […]
Back in March of 1967, when Falstaff was first released in New York, it was a time of great social upheaval in America. Protests against the war in Viet Nam were about to reach critical mass. LSD made the cover of Life Magazine. Hippies and flower children were preparing for the “Summer of Love” in […]
Orson Welles: Genius and Innovator of the American Cinema is a short documentary written and directed by a 14-year old student, David La Rosa, as part of the National History Day Competition. It won third place out of all the finalists from New York State and can be viewed on YouTube HERE. I found it […]
A few months ago I found several old issues of Theatre Arts magazine in the tenderloin district of San Francisco, a few short blocks from where Wellesnet “legend” Glenn Anders lives. The mags were priced at a big 100% mark-up over their original price. Well, since the original price was only .50 cents, they were […]
Heart of Darkness is a story we came to Hollywood to make a movie of—we never did and maybe someday we will—but I think it’s particularly well suited to radio. Here it is, one of the best regarded and most typical of the works of Joseph Conrad. The Heart of Darkness could be described as […]
Bonham’s auction house in London recently sold items from the estate of Bernard Herrmann which included some truly fascinating items from Orson Welles, including this letter, which sold for 360£. ******************* Dearest Maestro: Your letter brought me more pleasure than I can say. Not the tone of it, which was a trifle severe, but the […]