Jonathan Rosenbaum’s DISCOVERING ORSON WELLES

Jonathan Rosenbaum’s new book, Discovering Orson Welles arrived in stores earlier this month, via the UC Press, and is highly recommended. Here is the table of contents: 1. I Missed It at the Movies: Objections to “Raising KANE” 2. The Voice and the Eye: A Commentary on the HEART OF DARKNESS Script 3. Notes on […]

Peter Tonguette on his new book ‘Orson Welles Remembered’

Peter Tonguette’s book about Welles, Orson Welles Remembered, has just seen publication, and he sent along the following about the book and why he put it together. – Jeff Wilson _________ By PETER TONGUETTE My fascination with Orson Welles began when I saw the restored Touch of Evil in December 1998. I was 15 at […]

Notes on Orson Welles’ unfinished ‘The Deep’

By LAWRENCE FRENCH THE DEEP (DEAD RECKONING) Written and Directed by Orson Welles. Based in the novel Dead Calm by Charles Williams. Cinematography by Willy Kurant and Ivica Rajkolvic (in Color). Music by Francois Rabath. Cast: Lawrence Harvey (Hughie Warriner); Jeanne Moreau (Ruth Warriner); Orson Welles (Russ Brewer); Oja Kodar (Rae Ingram); Michael Bryant (John […]

Pat Hobby and Orson Welles by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A full year before the premiere of CITIZEN KANE, Orson Welles had already made a big impact in Hollywood, as can be attested by this Pat Hobby story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in the May, 1940 issue of Esquire, the year  Fitzgerald died. ************************* PAT HOBBY AND ORSON WELLES By F. Scott Fitzgerald __________________________________ […]

The Transnational Orson Welles: A report on the Yale Symposium

Many thanks to Wellesnet correspondent Leslie Weisman for sending along this comprehensive report on the Yale University ORSON WELLES Symposium, that occurred in New Haven, Conn. a few weeks ago.  *******************   THE TRANSNATIONAL ORSON WELLES   _____________ By LESLIE WEISMAN The weekend of November 30 to December 2 was a rare opportunity for Wellesians who were able […]

Alfonso Cuaron’s CHILDREN OF MEN: A tribute to Orson Welles and the long take

As any good director working in movies will freely admit, they have been influenced by the cinema of Orson Welles in making their own films. And just having seen Alfonso Cuaron’s masterful new movie “Children of Men” (which will be opening from Universal Pictures on Dec 25th), I want to give everyone a very good […]

Peter Bogdanovich replies to Charles Higham – ‘It’s All True’

Here is Peter Bogdanovich’s reply to the interview with Charles Higham, below, that appeared in The New York Times on September 17, 1970. Mr. Higham’s interview, it should be noted, was conducted with himself. In other words, he wrote both the questions and the answers, which is of course, why it is now so apparent […]

Charles Higham interview on “The Films of Orson Welles”

Here’s an interview with that self-proclaimed “scholarly author,” poet and noted authority on the work of Orson Welles, Mr. Charles Higham. It was published in The New York Times on September 19, 1970 as a rebuttal to Peter Bogdanovich’s own article in The Times,  “Is It True What They Say about Orson?” (see Wellesnet November […]

Jack Moss: The Man Who Ruined Welles?

Note: This was originally published on the site in December 2004, but in part of an ongoing effort to streamline the site, it is being republished through the News page in order to make it easier to find. Other “classic” Wellesnet items will be posted this way in the coming days and weeks. -Jeff W […]

Orson Welles on Jean Renoir

Here is Orson Welles beautifully written tribute to one of his own favorite directors: Jean Renoir. It was written for The Los Angeles Times after Jean Renoir died in Feb, 1979. Re-reading this piece is quite interesting, since Welles is ostensibly talking about Jean Renoir’s own career difficulties, but in retrospect, Welles seems to be […]

Joseph McBride’s new book explodes a myth: IT’S ALL TRUE was under budget

Joseph McBride’s new book on Orson Welles features two chapters on the saga of the making, and unmaking of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. It’s the most comprehensive coverage of this unfinished Welles masterpiece that has yet been seen. In the book Mr. McBride also goes into some detail about the early problems Welles […]

Jack Arnold on directing Orson Welles in MAN IN THE SHADOW

Interview with JACK ARNOLD � on DIRECTING ORSON WELLES in MAN IN THE SHADOW (1957)�� � By Lawrence French � � *******************�� � The following are excerpts from an interview I conducted with director Jack Arnold, which took place in 1981 when Arnold had been invited by Mark Fishkin, the director of The Mill Valley […]