Wednesday With Welles — a monthly series of Orson Welles-directed movies — will be shown at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, California, over the next six months with filmmaker Stanley Sheff serving as host.
Sheff, an editor and uncredited co-director on the unsold talk show pilot, The Orson Welles Show, will share stories about his experiences working with Welles.
“The series is built around Orson’s most popular films, with stories and conversation drawn from my years working with Orson and from our personal friendship, the type of memories and behind-the-scenes moments that don’t usually make it into print,” Sheff told Wellesnet.
The Wednesday With Welles lineup for 2026 will feature:
• Citizen Kane – February 25, 7:30 p.m.
• The Magnificent Ambersons – March 18, 7:30 p.m.
• The Lady from Shanghai – April 22, 7:30 p.m.
• The Stranger – May 20, 7:30 p.m.
• Touch of Evil – June 17, 7:30 p.m.
• F for Fake – July 15, 7:30 p.m.
Advance tickets may be purchased at orsonwelles.net. Theater information may be found at fineartstheatrebh.com.
In a conversation last year, Sheff has said that working with Welles in the late 1970s “was like having my own private film school with him as my teacher.”
“When we first started working together, he was very specific, giving me detailed instructions as an editor,” Sheff said. “But as time went on and we got to know each other better, he started saying, ‘Well, you know what I want, go ahead, cut it together.’ Sometimes, on days when he wasn’t feeling well, he’d send his messenger with a note asking me to shoot the day’s scenes. That’s how I went from being just his editor to an uncredited co-director, and more than that, a real collaborator and a friend. And I still have those notes.”
Sheff, Welles, cinematographer Gary Graver, assistant cameraman Michael Little and key grip Michael Stringer began shooting the talk show TV pilot in September 1978 at KCOP-TV in Hollywood and 1041 Production Studios. It was completed the following year.
Sheff went on to direct and co-write the cult sci-fi movie Lobster Man from Mars starring Tony Curtis with its title suggested by Welles.
His work in television as director and editor includes Amos ‘n’ Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy; the Emmy Award winning Motown Returns to the Apollo; the NBC-TV special TV – The Fabulous Fifties with hosts Red Skelton and Lucille Ball; and Vincent Price: The Sinister Image, an hour-long interview with Price that aired on the A&E Channel as part of its popular Biography series.
In the early 1980s, Sheff produced, directed, and performed a popular comedy radio show for KROQ-FM in Los Angeles called The Young Marquis and Stanley. He has appeared as master of ceremonies on stage and at live vintage dance events as his character Maxwell DeMille.
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