WELLESNET MESSAGE BOARD

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Here's some comments Christopher Lee made about working with Welles on his unfinished TV adaptation of his 1955 London stage show, MOBY DICK.

Q: I understand you once worked with Orson Welles on a film version of MOBY DICK.

CHRISTOPHER LEE: Yes, that's right. It was made for television, but I've no idea what happened to it. I don't think it was ever shown. Welles played Captain Ahab, Patrick McGoohan played Starbuck, the first mate, and I played Flask, the 2nd mate. Kenneth Williams played Elijah and Gordon Jackson played Ishmael. Joan Plowright, the present Lady Olivier, played the cabin boy. It was a version of his stage play, which was mostly done in mime, drinking from non-existent cups, throwing non-existent harpoons. The notion was that of a play within a play, where the actors step in and out of their roles, in the story of MOBY DICK. I remember one of the first lines in the film. Orson came up to me and said, "If we touch land, Mr. Flask, for God's sake, no fornication!"

He was most encouraging, very helpful, appreciative and very, very funny. It's amazing we ever got any filming done, because most of the time Orson would be telling us stories about John Barrymore or Errol Flynn, people like that. He'd also talk all through your scenes, so of course they would have to be looped later on. We did MOBY DICK at two theater's in London, The Hackney-Empire and The Scala. In one scene, I had to say to Patrick McGoohan, "There's bad news from that ship," when the Pequod is approaching the Rachel. And suddenly, Orson's voice came booming from behind the camera, "There's bad news from that ship - mark my words." Well, I looked at Patrick, and Patrick looked at me, because we didn't quite know what was going on - why he was repeating our lines.

On another occasion Orson came charging down the center aisle of the theater while the cast and crew were all waiting on the stage, turned to the cameraman and said "action," and the cameraman said, "Mr. Welles, I haven't got a set-up yet," and Orson said to him, "find one and surprise me!" Welles was one of the very few people in the history of the cinema to whom the word "genius" could appropriately be applied. He was a great, great filmmaker.

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Does anyone have any idea where this material may be resting? I would dearly love to see this production not only because I find "Moby Dick Rehearsed" to be a brilliant piece of work but because Patrick McGoohan is probably the only actor who could shine as brightly as Welles on stage or screen. This must have been spectacular work, indeed.

Surely someone has some idea where this material could be found? Yes? Please?

This would indeed be fantastic to see, but Welles was reportedly displeased with the results and stopped work on it. Even if it were found, it wouldn't be in any finished form. I think about an hour or 70 minutes was shot, if i recall correctly. Presumably, it was lost or destroyed somewhere along the line.

Thank you for the reply. I'm heartbroken to hear that the material may have been destroyed.

If Christopher Lee's comments are accurate, it sounds as though the production was disorganized and impaired by Welles himself. I suppose that I can understand why he found the results unsatisfactory. Such a shame, though...

I have seen a couple of stage productions of Moby Dick Rehearsed and enjoyed them both enormously. The flexibility of the concept leaves open infinite possibilities for new productions. The two that I saw were radically different yet all the more marvelous because Welles was brilliant enough to allow for such spontaneity. It is a magical piece of work that deserves a big city, major talent revival.

I'm not sure if the project failed due to Welles' behind the scenes activities, but it sounds like he was going to do with it what he had done with Othello, Arkadin and other projects, which was to dub all the sound later. He shot about 75 minutes, according to This is Orson Welles, and hoped to sell it to the television program Omnibus, but then decided not to pursue it. It is a good question to wonder where the footage went; it's a project that is rarely mentioned in the annals of Welles' career.

Further info on the production, from a McGoohan site. The author states that the film was destroyed in the mythical villa fire that also claimed Too much Johnson...

Moby link

Thank you, once again, for the details. I will continue to hope that the footage still exists somewhere even though it probably doesn't.

You allude to the "mythical" villa fire. Does this imply that the fire did not, in fact, happen? Or is it just that the event has attained mytic proportion due to so many references to it?

The fire apparently never happened. Welles claimed that many of his possessions were destroyed in it, but if the fire never happened, where did they go? Did he simply destroy them himself, or what?

Ahhh....

There's probably a storage unit somewhere in Hollywood with a 50-year lease under the name of "Harry Lyme" or some such that contains all the treasures for which we are all lusting. I hope someone finds it soon.

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prof., from what i've read, i agree with jeff, doubtful that welles' could not get it together. according to houseman's book, welles could only work in total pandemonium and total confusion. during the mercury shows, houseman said, somehow, at the very last second welles would pull all the strings together and bring a production out of the mess.

i've read that about an hour was filmed, nothing intricate, just a camera on a tripod, but it's lost.

too bad lee didn't share his opinions on the play, how it was received when it played, etc. the over all effect, with welles' direction, must have been something. would be interesting to read the reviwes from the few times it played.

incidently, prof., this method of staging welles learned at the gate theater from michael macliammoir, and hilton edwards. i've read they were the originators of what they called, anti-naturalist theater; the cast provides the action, the audience's imagination provides the scenery and props. have read mac liked putting on plays with nothing on stage, just the red brick of the rear wall, and all those back stage rope and rigs hanging on it.

the play script is available through your local library, and it's a good read.
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Here's a brief Guardian article on Welles' London production of MD Rehearsed:

Moby Dick Rehearsed

Dear Jeff: I was lucky enough to see this 1955 production of Orson Welles' Moby Dick Rehearsed, at the Duke of York's Theater, and it remains one of the great theatrical experiences of my life.

As the critics report, the setting was a mid 19th Century American repetory theater. The play opened, save for a few ropes hanging down from the flies, on an a bare, open stage (with a thrust), influenced no doubt by the example of Welles' friend and mentor, Thornton Wilder. The cast milled around briefly, grumbling about the boss and the fact that the play they thought they were to do, King Lear (?), for reasons I've forgotten, could not be done. Smoking a cigar, Welles, in a long black cape and the feathered hat of a musketeer, made an entrance as a starring actor manager of the time, and told them that they were going to do another piece they had been working on: Moby Dick.

The cast, after more grumbling, began to improvise scenery with the ropes, and soon got into it. And what a cast it was. Gordon Jackson, a young actor, scrambled out on the thrust to say: "Call me Ishmael." Christopher Lee, as the Stage Manager arranged the cast for the Spouter Inn scene, and becam Flask the Third Mate. Patrick McGoohan, as a serious actor who particularly resented the change, played the commanding First Mate, Starbuck, and listened with trepidation to Father Mapple (Welles) give his sermon on Jonah. Kenneth Williams as Elijah confronted Ishmael with his apocalyptic vision. In my memory, I remember Bernard Miles played Stubb (even though I see Winsley Pithey given the credit). Certainly, Joan Plowright, a young actress, unknown at the time, played Pip, and Welles was the towering Ahab.

I don't remember a Quee-Quegg, but I do know who was Moby Dick. We were -- the audience!

The production was full of imaginative arrangements, lighting, sound, sea chanteys and staging. The cast sometimes climbed the ropes up to the precenium to scan the sea for the White Whale. In particular, I recall the hunt for Moby Dick, in which the cast kneeled, sat, and stood on each others shoulders, faced the audience at center stage, swaying from side to side, as if in a whaling boat.

At the end, after the bows to a shouting, standing ovation, Welles walked out on stage to praise the players (most of whom where just getting started in London theater, Movies and TV, and to thank the audience. He took a step forward, and just where he had stood, a weight fell from the flies, and sent sand flooding around him. He commented that someone must be still be angry, saying: "Many have tried to prevent us from getting together." He used that bit of business to urge us, Whale and all, to go forth and spread the good news.

I see evidence that this production was broadcast on BBC-TV in 1955, but if so, it must be another one of those lost masterpieces . . . another golden age, perhaps lying in a bin in some cellar.

A memorable night in the theater, in any case, and one of two occasions on which I saw Welles personally.

Hope this is useful.

Glenn

Nice recollections, Glenn. You're very fortunate to have seen Welles in his original production of the play. I'd settle for just seeing it performed by anyone.

Now playing in Virginia - Moby Dick Rehearsed

Most everyone may be aware of this by now, but -- because the topic of the fire is discussed in this thread -- I just want to note that the record seems clear now that there was a significant fire at Welles' house in Spain in the 1970s. And a number of significant Welles works were lost.