La Cinematheque Francaise has uploaded 30 minutes of rushes of Orson Welles performing Shylock’s “Hath not a Jew eyes” monologue from The Merchant of Venice.
The footage, shot by Welles in the early 1970s, can be viewed on its HENRI free video-on-demand platform at cinematheque.fr/henri/film/155687-the-merchant-of-venice-rushes-orson-welles-c-1970/
According to the accompanying notes by Hervé Pichard, head of restoration at La Cinémathèque Francaise, the rushes were restored in 2025 by the film museum. The 4K work was carried out using a 16mm double-strip work print (Eastmancolor film, 1969) deposited in its collections by Welles’ longtime companion and collaborator Oja Kodar.
The outdoor footage of Welles performing the monologue in a trench coat is not to be confused with his unfinished The Merchant of Venice short, filmed in 1969 for an aborted CBS television project, Orson’s Bag.
His plans for the monologue, shot during the period when he was engrossed in The Other Side of the Wind, are unknown.
“Did he want to film himself to listen to and judge his work, with the intention of finalizing his film? But then, why film himself in modern clothing, disregarding the historical context of his film? One thing is certain: these shots testify to his obsession with this tirade which he knew by heart and his desire to pursue his project,” Pichard writes.
Cinémathèque Francaise posted the video to HENRI just as My Name Is Orson Welles, its three-month tribute to Welles, draws to a close in Paris on January 18.
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