Orson Welles was one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century. There are so many tangental threads about Welles in the forum but not a single general one dedicated to the late filmmaker, magician, raconteur, con-man, adventurer... Why not start with Orson shooting the breeze with various talk show hosts -
wonderful movie from 71 F For Fake : Orson Welles : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
The noir thriller Mr. Arkadin is my favorite of the master's. Orson once again plays a reclusive millionaire. It has the same carnival/freak show feel of Touch Of Evil with endless strange character actors. For some reason Welles re-dubbed over a dozen of their voices himself. It has a reputation as another "unfinished" Welles film but but it feels really complete to me. Criterion assembled a "comprehensive cut" with all existing footage, it is a great picture. There's many existing international cuts, a novel by Welles and a radio play of it as well. The story obviously meant a lot to him. Orson left a giant endless puzzle.
Orson Welles is probably my favorite director, Chimes at Midnight is probably his best movie, although Citizen Kane and Touch of Evil are very close contenders, shame that we're never going to see the complete Magnificent Ambersons or The Lady from Shanghai, but at least we got The Other Side of the Wind. Hard to imagine what would've been TOSOTW's reception back in the mid-late 70s, especially the general movie-going audience's reaction.
My introduction to Orson Welles was Orson Welles as the bon vivant, talk show raconteur and credibility-on-loan shill/narrator. Orson on the Tonight Show! Orson in The Muppet Movie! Orson re-introducing me to the reunited cast of Star Trek: The Motion Picture! Only much later did I discover Orson Welles as a significant and influential creative force - and Hollywood's original maverick.
Here is his introduction to the B&W "film noir" episode of Moonlighting from 1985 (filmed five days before he passed):
+ 1 I think Touch of Evil might be his apex. Not only does he write and direct it, but he also turns in a fantastic performance. A Hat Trick for the ages.
The Trial is a great movie too, but kinda hard to watch, probably the best depiction of nightmare in movies I've ever seen.
To use the overused word irony Orson Welles life ended up resembling Charles Foster Kane’s a lot: quite a few projects never finished. Still one of the most fascinating people to ever come out of the entertainment industry.
I read the book in high school and then my literature level German course in college was Kafka. Fast forward some years and I am studying in Germany and The Trial- overdubbed German- is showing at the reperatory theater. I th ought it was pretty good.
Only really unfinished movies he started to shoot were Don Quixote, The Deep, Merchant of Venice and The Other Side of the Wind. Merchant of Venice and TOSOTW weren't really due Welles; The reels for Merchant of Venice were stolen and TOSOTW got into a huge legal limbo, wikipedia article has very extensive history on the production. The Deep was apparently most finished shooting except for the climax and dubbing, and I'm not sure how complete his Don Quixote actually is.
Obscure Audio 2: Orson Welles Outtakes - Frozen Peas. (This clip runs 5 minutes 56 seconds on YT). CRUMB CRISP COATING? IT'S TOUGH ON THE ((EAR))! HE ISN'T THINKING! YOU'RE SUCH PESTS!
Another bump for F For Fake. Really fun and one of a kind film essay. The editing and pacing are brisk enough to still be enjoyed by a non-Welles fan/someone with a more contemporary attention span.
If you fancy watching "slumming Orson" then check out THE WITCHING (1972). Orson is 'Mr. Cato', who wants to bring his dead son back to Life . . . but how to do it? Orson decides to use Pamela Franklin for his 'revival' goals!
Welles editing style was always pretty "modern", and they did fantastic job replicating it in The Other Side of the Wind, which I was very pleasantly surprised, and TOSOTW being pretty hectic was apparently a bit too much even for some younger people, but I really liked it.