"In my father's Shadow" by Chris Welles Feder

[ToddBaesen]

The Barnes & Noble event was much more successful than the L.A. event... Over 100 people showed up and Chris Welles Feder posted a picture of it on her Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... 1180477831

[mido505]

One of the great benefits of Ms. Feder's indispensable memoir is that it serves as a sturdy means by which we can test, as it were, the relative worthiness of any recollection, anecdote, or character judgement regarding her father. Ms. Feder, with this one book, has finally detonated that grotesque edifice known as Welles the Monster, the pathological, demon-haunted, serial-killer-in-waiting sociopath first sculpted out of mephitic clay by the once-besotted and subsequently hatred-consumed John Houseman; then later polished and displayed in the vulgar arena by the likes of Charles Higham and David Thomson. For example, in his otherwise interesting and insightful review of Ms. Feder's work, linked to above by Alan Brody, Joseph McBride writes the following:

"When Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper was having dinner with Welles, Rita, and Rebecca in the mid-forties, Hopper watched Welles fuming as a burned chicken was put on his plate after a two-hour wait. "What a bore — this domesticity!" he bellowed. That seemed to be his bottom line on the subject, but for reasons of comfort and security he seemed to need to make sporadic and futile attempts at being a family man."

Does anyone really believe that the endlessly patient and scrupulously polite Welles detailed by Ms. Feder would ever say such a thing? And say it in front of the gossip columnist who nearly caused the destruction of Citizen Kane. After Ms. Feder, biographers and memoirists should think twice about quoting such piffle.

[tonyw]

This is a great photo and I'm really looking forward to reading this book.

[ToddBaesen]

Mido:

Thanks for pointing out the Hedda Hopper story in Joseph McBride's review, which I have no doubt is clearly apocryphal.

I doubt if anybody would have to wait two hours for dinner, even in the forties. And while the chicken may have been burned, I find the two hour wait is the clue that makes this story totally unbelievable.

Of course, as you point out, why would Rita Hayworth or Orson Welles even invite Hedda Hopper to their home?

As you say, this sounds like a big confabulation to me.

[Magentarose67]

One of the great benefits of Ms. Feder's indispensable memoir is that it serves as a sturdy means by which we can test, as it were, the relative worthiness of any recollection, anecdote, or character judgement regarding her father. Ms. Feder, with this one book, has finally detonated that grotesque edifice known as Welles the Monster, the pathological, demon-haunted, serial-killer-in-waiting sociopath first sculpted out of mephitic clay by the once-besotted and subsequently hatred-consumed John Houseman; then later polished and displayed in the vulgar arena by the likes of Charles Higham and David Thomson. For example, in his otherwise interesting and insightful review of Ms. Feder's work, linked to above by Alan Brody, Joseph McBride writes the following:

"When Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper was having dinner with Welles, Rita, and Rebecca in the mid-forties, Hopper watched Welles fuming as a burned chicken was put on his plate after a two-hour wait. "What a bore — this domesticity!" he bellowed. That seemed to be his bottom line on the subject, but for reasons of comfort and security he seemed to need to make sporadic and futile attempts at being a family man."

Does anyone really believe that the endlessly patient and scrupulously polite Welles detailed by Ms. Feder would ever say such a thing? And say it in front of the gossip columnist who nearly caused the destruction of Citizen Kane. After Ms. Feder, biographers and memoirists should think twice about quoting such piffle.

Ugh. That Thomson book was terrible, and like Chris Feder Welles, I didn't finish it. It was such a terrible attack on Orson to and it came to the point where I couldn't take it seriously. I didn't care much for the first volume of Callow's book, either. The second one was an improvement and seemed as if were written by a totally different person, considering the sudden change of heart. I am glad Chris wrote the book, and I look forward to reading it .

BW...I think I might want to add that fiend Mary Pacios to your list of Orson haters, because she also spread a horrible lie about him, and probably the worst one, too...

[mido505]

Todd:

As your analysis of the Hopper fable clearly shows, a few minutes of logical thought would expose the absurdity, idiocy, and downright malicious intent of three quarters of the garbage printed about Welles. Why a serious, sympathetic guy like McBride would even bother with such swill is beyond me.

Magentarose67:

I have alluded to that, yes, fiend Mary Pacios a few times in the past, although I have a hard time mentioning her name as she is so beyond the pale. She is the worst one, but a Mary Pacios and her loathsome theory would not have been possible without the abhorrent image of Welles promulgated by the likes of Houseman, Thomson, and Higham. The smiler with the knife of Ms. Pacios' fevered imagination is the logical result of the monster Welles created by those other three horsemen of the Wellesian biographical apocalypse.

[Magentarose67]

Magentarose67:

I have alluded to that, yes, fiend Mary Pacios a few times in the past, although I have a hard time mentioning her name as she is so beyond the pale. She is the worst one, but a Mary Pacios and her loathsome theory would not have been possible without the abhorrent image of Welles promulgated by the likes of Houseman, Thomson, and Higham. The smiler with the knife of Ms. Pacios' fevered imagination is the logical result of the monster Welles created by those other three horsemen of the Wellesian biographical apocalypse.

Yes, you're right, Mido, and it's pretty heartbreaking to me...poor Orson ...

[ToddBaesen]

I hear that The New York premiere of ME AND ORSON WELLES November 23rd will include a ceremony at the building at 110 West 41st street in New York City where they will place a plaque in honor of Orson Welles Mercury Theater, which once occupied that site.

They are apparently hoping to get Chris Welles Feder to attend the event, and presumably the main cast and crew of ME AND ORSON WELLES will be on hand for the unveiling, as well.

[RayKelly]

Todd,

I hope that is true. It's long overdue. The theater was torn down in 1942. I am not sure what is there now.

Welles has a star on Vine Street on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring his film career. Grovers Mill, NJ has a great plaque at the "Martian landing site" depicting The War of the Worlds radio broadcast.

It would be wonderful if there was something on Broadway to mark his achievements on stage.

[Magentarose67]

I hear that The New York premiere of ME AND ORSON WELLES November 23rd will include a ceremony at the building at 110 West 41st street in New York City where they will place a plaque in honor of Orson Welles Mercury Theater, which once occupied that site.

They are apparently hoping to get Chris Welles Feder to attend the event, and presumably the main cast and crew of ME AND ORSON WELLES will be on hand for the unveiling, as well.

That would be awesome ! I hope it's true! Where did you hear about this, Todd? Is it, in your opinion, a reliable source?

[ToddBaesen]

Yes, it's quite reliable, as it comes from Wellesnet's own Lawrence French, even if he told me and Glenn the news after he had downed a couple of James Bond style Martini's at the Ha-Ra Club!

Mr. French also tells me Richard Linklater and Christian McKay will be coming to San Francisco in early December and he will be talking to both of them for an in-depth Wellesnet interview!

[Magentarose67]

Yes, it's quite reliable, as it comes from Wellesnet's own Lawrence French, even if he told me and Glenn the news after he had downed a couple of James Bond style Martini's at the Ha-Ra Club!

Mr. French also tells me Richard Linklater and Christian McKay will be coming to San Francisco in early December and he will be talking to both of them for an in-depth Wellesnet interview!

Thank you, Todd! Good to know it comes from our own Mr. French!

Lucky Mr. French, meeting with Chrisitan McKay !

I swear, if I get annoyed by squealing Zac Efron fans when I see "Me and Orson Welles", I will squeal and go ga-ga whenever Mr. McKay enters the scene ...

Okay, I'm getting off-topic. I am done swooning ...

[Alfred Willmore]

RayKelly wrote:

Welles has a star on Vine Street on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring his film career.

He also has a star for his radio career at 6652 Hollywood Boulevard.
But amazingly, he does not have one for theater even though he was one of the most influential Americans in the 20th Century theater. I went to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce about 15 years ago to point out the need to rectify this.

They said they'd be happy to award Welles a star for theater if I would simply write them a check for ___ thousand dollars.

They explained to me that the star dedication is typically paid by producers to promote something.

Don't CinemaNX, Cinetic Media, Detour Filmproduction, Framestore, Fuzzy Bunny Films, Hart-Lunsford Pictures and
Isle of Man Film have something to promote this month ???

[Glenn Anders]

I think Alfred Willmore has made a modest and most reasonable proposal.

Might Todd Baesen get cracking with Mr. French to put his shoulder to the wheel?

Put me down for a small subscription, if Linklater & Co will be forthcoming.

Glenn Anders

[purplepines]

I attended the Saturday afternoon appearance of Chris Welles Feder in Clinton, NJ. About 15 people attended. She said she had just had a milkshake for lunch at a neighboring restaurant. She then read a brief passage from the book and immediately opened the floor to questions. She said she wasn't aware of the status of any future product releases of Orsons, be it Ambersons or Other Side of the Wind DVDs etc. She seemed quite out of the loop in that regard. Even still, I probably should have recorded the audio.