By RAY KELLY
One of the things that continues to amaze me is what sparks people’s interest on social media.
When Wellesnet broke the news in April 2016 that Netflix was in talks to complete The Other Side of the Wind — something I painstakingly verified before publishing — it garnered 23,807 views on Twitter. It chalked up 67 retweets and 58 likes. It was the biggest piece of Orson Welles related news of the past decade and I thought 23,807 views on social media was quite impressive.
Then, Rosie reared her adorable, furry head.
Beatrice Welles shared two photos of her father with her terrier, Rosie, on his lap. With her permission, I posted the color candids taken in 1977 on the Wellesnet Twitter account and the results were astounding.
A little more than 24 hours later, the images were viewed by more than 300,000 people, The photos were retweeted more than 600 times and picked up more than 4,500 “likes.”
Twitter comments ranged from the Citizen Kane-inspired “Rosie (dies)” to a reworking of the popular Wellesian meme M’WAAAAHHHHH… The pooch.”
As for the photographs’ backstory, Beatrice Welles recounted she got Rosie as a child when the family was living in London in 1968. The two photos of her father that went viral (much to her amusement and delight) were taken 11 years later in Sedona, Arizona.
By my count, there are no fewer than a dozen photos across the internet of Welles posing with a dog, beginning with a childhood portrait of him with his much large Caesar beside him to a picture taken shortly before his death at age 70 of him cuddling the tiny Kiki.
______________
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.