Educational pgms narrated by OW

[Terry]

A Town in Old Mexico

"U.S. Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs with cooperation of Tourist Department of Mexico and Mexican Tourist Bureau, 1944. Villages of Puebla, Orizaba, and Fortinde de las Floras; 17th Century architecture, flowers, etc. (10 minutes, color)" - from a 1951 list of US Government films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t127N_B6Z3M

[Le Chiffre]

Another good find, Terry. Thanks. Quite a departure from IT'S ALL TRUE.

[Wellesnet]

From "Orson Welles - The Man Who Was Magic" by Bart Whaley:

Charles Fawcett, a 32-year-old American novice actor, wasn't in the troupe (for Welles's 1951 European stage production "The Blessed and the Damned"), but he often sneaked into the theater during rehearsals. At first he expected to observe the Director as Dictator. Instead he was fascinated to see and hear Orson lead his players by gentle suggestions into their roles. After a few days, just when an actor had memorized his lines, a new directorial style emerged:

Then, Orson calmly and almost confidentially would read the line in a different way—as he did the role came alive and almost as if by magic there was a “happening" on stage that was almost like looking at real life. As time went on he would practically “play" each role in a way that embarrassed no one and inspired all.

Whenever Orson thought his instructions might embarrass a particular actor, he'd explain privately in a dressing room. (In this regard he’d become like the gentle George S. Kaufman.) Fawcett credits his “eavesdroppings" both backstage and from the stall seats for the profound changes in his own acting style that led French film director Jean Boyer to promote him in 1953 to a supporting role with Sophia Loren, thereby launching Fawcett's career in nearly one hundred movies.

[NoFake]

This was new to me, tho I'm sure other Wellesnetters are familiar with it.

Thoughts?

https://aeon.co/videos/orson-welless-ps ... f-the-cave

[Wellesnet]

Mysterious Castles of Clay is an Oscar-nominated 1978 film about a termite colony; filmed in Kenya by film-makers Joan and Alan Root, and narrated by Orson Welles:
https://rarefilmm.com/2017/12/mysteriou ... clay-1978/

[Terry]

Never heard of this one before. Welles in the late 50s sounded just as melodic and mercurial as ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZaLL-vQ58s

[Le Chiffre]

I'd never heard of it either; thanks for the tip. I found it a very interesting and visually spectacular program, apparently made to promote the NATO alliance and celebrate air power which, as Welles's narration reminds us, gives us "a new way of looking at an old world." Some of the aerial footage reminded me of another, later Welles-narrated documentary short, the 1971 SENTINELS OF SILENCE, about the ancient ruins of Mexico.

Interestingly, HIGH JOURNEY's narration was written by British comic actor Peter Bayliss, who would work again with Welles for the 1963 documentary on Winston Churchill, THE FINEST HOURS. They also both appeared in the 1968 thriller, HOUSE OF CARDS, with George Peppard.

[NoFake]

I also found it an unintentional (and delightful) example of Welles's vocal mastery: his simple yet melodious tone, in gracefully paced narration, is in stark contrast with another "role" he played that same year: Hank Quinlan.

[admusicam]

Directed by François Reichenbach!

https://vimeo.com/472945071

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks for the interesting find, admusicam. Welles is only in it for the first five minutes, but it's an interesting program, not listed on Reichenbach's imdb page. It's apparently a fundraising film to raise money for the "Organization For Rehabilitation Through Training" or ORT in Israel, which according to Wiki, is "part of a global education network driven by Jewish values. It promotes education and training in communities worldwide. It was founded in 1880 in Saint Petersburg to provide professional and vocational training for young Jews."

Welles may have done it as a favor to Reichenbach, for nearly driving him into bankruptcy on F FOR FAKE, according to Francoise Widhoff, one of the editors on Fake, who in 1983 became the person in charge of Films de l’Astrophore:

Films de l’Astrophore was established in 1972 by a man named Mehdi Boushehri who wanted to
introduce his country – Iran – to movies.

I was instrumental in his saving François Reichenbach from bankruptcy by buying him out of Orson
Welles’ F for Fake. Which is how Films de l’Astrophore inherited Orson’s last, unfinished film, entitled
The Other Side of the Wind – a movie that took the company close to liquidation.
http://www.pascaleramonda.com/wp-conten ... 05/KMU.pdf

[Wellesnet]

Those links apparently no longer exist, but here are a couple of pages on the above films Welles made in 1973 as part of the "Great Themes in Literature" series for the Learning Corporation of America:
Conscience in Conflict-
https://www.worldcat.org/title/conscien ... 120#borrow
Man and Woman-
http://bufvc.ac.uk/shakespeare/index.php/title/13221

There were six 30-minute films in all. Besides the three listed above there was-

"Authority and Rebellion" - featuring clips from "The Caine Mutiny"
"Heroes and Cowards" - featuring clips from "Lord Jim"
"Crime and the Criminal" - featuring clips from "In Cold Blood"

How much artistic control Welles had over these programs is unknown, but the conversational tone he uses in this clip from "Power and Corruption" suggests it was at least some: