By RAY KELLY
What author Joseph McBride refers to as The Year of Orson Welles has received a stellar launch with a five-week retrospective of his work at the Film Forum in New York City.
Chris Welles Feder, the late filmmaker’s eldest daughter, made a rare on stage appearance on January 16, joining McBride for a screening of the “Scottish” version of Welles’ 1948 film adaptation of Macbeth.
Witty, charming and insightful, Welles Feder, who played Macduff’s child in the movie, recalled begging her father for a movie role and her subsequent daily trips to the Republic Studios sound stage.
She told tales of his endless energy and enthusiasm during the 21-day shoot.
“My father was never happier than when he was making a movie,” she told the receptive crowd that filled the Greenwich Village theater.
In addition to Macbeth, Welles Feder touched upon her unseen participation The Lady From Shanghai, plans to join McBride at the The Filmoteca de Catalunya celebration of Welles’ work in the spring and upcoming screenings at the Film Forum.
She said she was particularly excited about a February 2 event at the Film Forum where 10 actors will read the play Too Much Johnson, interspersed with the recently discovered film footage Welles intended to use in his 1938 stage production.
“It was as if he was trying to marry film and theater. I see that as the beginning of his leap into movies,” she said. “I can’t wait to see it. I am actually going to see my mother (actress Virginia Nicolson) on the screen six months after I was born.”
Welles Feder said her father had discouraged family members from granting interviews during his lifetime, but beginning with the Locarno festival in 2005 she said she has “come out of the closet.” It was Locarno she met and formed a subsequent friendship with McBride.
Her participation in the Film Forum screening was eagerly anticipated with some audience members lining up more an hour before the screening for a good seat. The line extended outside the West Houston Street theater and into the below freezing temperatures.
Welles Feder’s appearances on screen and on stage were regularly greeted with enthusiastic applause and she lingered after the showing to talk with fans.
Kudos to McBride and Bruce Goldstein, director of Repertory Programming at Film Forum and programmer/organizer of the series, for a wonderful evening.
McBride presented an evening of “Wellesiana”on January 15 and 17 comprised of rare footage ranging from his 1934 short The Hearts of Age to an interview he gave hours before his death in 1985.
Wellesnet veteran Jeffrey Brooks has provided a detailed summary of Wellesiana in a posting on the Wellesnet Message Board.
Will McKinley reported on McBride’s January 14 presentation of Touch of Evil on his informative blog, while a podcast of director William Friedkin’s presentation of Citizen Kane on January 7 can be heard on the Film Forum website.
The series run through February 3.
The recent Wellesnet interview with McBride and the complete series schedule can be found here.
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