Naremore's "Magic World of Orson Welles" - new 2015 edition

[Wellesnet]

A most welcome addition to the list of Welles centennial literature:
http://www.wellesnet.com/updated-magic- ... d-in-june/

[tonyw]

It is more than welcome since the University bookstore informed me that it was going out of print. So it will now be available for next Fall's class.

[Wellesnet]

James Naremore talks with Wellesnet about the centennial edition of "The Magic World of Orson Welles.":
http://www.wellesnet.com/james-naremore ... on-welles/

[mido505]

In my opinion still the single best book ever written about Welles and his work. I own the first two editions and will purchase the third.

One thing that is mentioned in this excellent interview, that also gets mentioned in the documentary MAGICIAN, is that THE STRANGER is a much better film than its reputation suggests. As Elvis Mitchell correctly points out in MAGICIAN, if only the rest of Hollywood's journeyman studio productions were that good! I'll take THE STRANGER over any number of Hollywood "classics" any day. It is brilliantly shot (by the great Russ Metty) in a slightly flattened version of Welles's distinctively baroque style; is convincingly acted by a superb cast; vividly evokes a small town American atmosphere; and is a cogently written dramatization of an important humanitarian theme. As Naremore notes, THE STRANGER is a very brave film.

Welles may not have been temperamentally suited to the Hollywood studio system, but even when faking it he was better than most, and still distinctly Wellesian.

[tonyw]

I'd also like to put in a good word for Joe McBride's revised edition of ORSON WELLES that I'm currently reading. I read the original edition when it first appeared in the UK and this DaCapo Press edition with new material is really stimulating. We are fortunate to have good reprints of both Naremore and McBride since their works are very important.