Orson Welles

[Drucker]

Literally once saw two 60+ year old men get in a fight while waiting for the bathroom. One was mad the other wasn't waiting on the right side of the aisle, and physically tried giving a nudge to the other guy, which lead guy being touched to almost start a real fight.

I've only been to the place like...20 times. And 10 of those were these Welles' screenings.

[EddieLarkin]

I'm not sure how the quality of the recent restoration holds up in comparison, but apparently Distribpix (i.e. the sexploitation label) have found an uncut mint condition 35mm print of Falstaff in their archives.

[hearthesilence]

Hahah, awesome, and the stills definitely look great!

[FrauBlucher]

Hopefully, this is Criterion....
"Beatrice Welles told a receptive audience at showings of Chimes at Midnight and, later, Chuck Workman's Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles that a major DVD/Blu-ray label is interested in restoring and releasing Chimes at Midnight.

While she is not involved in the restoration or release, she has offered to do press and whatever is necessary to get the film out on home video."(A formal announcement has not been made, but we hope to have more details in the months ahead).

[Calvin]

Hopefully, this is Criterion....

They may well be who she's referring to but, from the Distribpix blog posted above, it would seem that Cohen would be interested too (are they "major" yet?).

[FrauBlucher]

Hopefully, this is Criterion....

They may well be who she's referring to but, from the Distribpix blog posted above, it would seem that Cohen would be interested too (are they "major" yet?).

Distribpix may have a pristine print but that doesn't mean they own any distribution rights to the film. I'm highly skeptical of them.

[Roger Ryan]

A Wellesnet article on Welles' original 1952 edit of OTHELLO which includes a link to the actual film. Be aware, the video is from a tape recording off a French broadcast decades ago of a poor quality print. However, it's an opportunity to hear Welles' original soundtrack under all the pops and clicks, and, most importantly, to see the extended Venice sequence.

[Calvin]

A member of Blu-Ray.com has posted that Mr. Bongo in the UK will be releasing Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight, Too Much Johnson/The Immortal Story and The Stranger on Blu-Ray on June 29th.

[Drucker]

Luckily this being a UK release, hopefully there's a better US label also prepping a release. Very disappointing.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Luckily this being a UK release, hopefully there's a better US label also prepping a release. Very disappointing.

That is if Bongo's is the legit resto.

[Drucker]

I mean, they just released Chimes at Midnight 3 years ago, why would there be a reason to believe this label is doing it more legitimately now and it won't be the same source/wrong AR/etc. etc.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Precisely my point also

[Calvin]

To say that they have a spotty record is an understatement, but the fact that they basically stopped DVD output two years ago and have since released a couple of Blu-Rays (Santa Sangre, Tropicalia) that are of good quality makes me hopeful.

[FrauBlucher]

It's looking more and more likely that CC will release Chimes at Midnight.

[FrauBlucher]

Joseph McBride at the recently held Welles symposium in Spain.

[Max von Mayerling]

It's looking more and more likely that CC will release Chimes at Midnight.

I just posted in the forthcoming thread about this. Issa Clubb has confirmed that Criterion will be releasing Chimes at Midnight. It sounds like it will perhaps come out in 2016.

[Numero Trois]

NSFW: Watch the Porn Scene Edited by Orson Welles

Josh Karp’s new book, Orson Welles's Last Movie: The Making of The Other Side of the Wind — written up recently in these pages — contains a marvelous, little-known story about the legendary filmmaker’s involvement in a high-end mid-1970s pornographic film

[Raymond Marble]

NSFW: Watch the Porn Scene Edited by Orson Welles

Josh Karp’s new book, Orson Welles's Last Movie: The Making of The Other Side of the Wind — written up recently in these pages — contains a marvelous, little-known story about the legendary filmmaker’s involvement in a high-end mid-1970s pornographic film

That clip is a total waste of time. It's not the full scene, and literally after each shot it's interrupted with asinine "text commentary," which totally disrupts Welles' contribution--we're watching this for the editing, are we not?

Stupid Vulture. I should have known better than to follow that link.

[FrauBlucher]

For those interested...

[J Wilson]

A restoration of Welles' shortened version of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE will be screened on September 1 at the Venice Film Festival, with 30 minutes recovered out of what's thought to have been a 40 minute runtime. The original Italian-dubbed cut of OTHELLO (the longest cut of the film at 96 mins) will also be screened.

[big ticket]

Happy to share that volume three of Simon Callow's Welles biography has received a release date!

http://www.wellesnet.com/simon-callows- ... il-in-u-s/

In One-Man Band, the third volume in his epic and all-inclusive four-volume survey of Orson Welles’s life and work, the celebrated British actor Simon Callow again probes in comprehensive and penetrating detail into one of the most complex, contradictory artists of the twentieth century, whose glorious triumphs (and occasional spectacular failures) in film, radio, theater, and television introduced a radical and original approach that opened up new directions in the arts.

This volume begins with Welles’s self-exile from America, and his realization that he could function only to his own satisfaction as an independent film maker, a one-man band, in fact, which committed him to a perpetual cycle of money raising. By 1964, he had filmed Othello, which took three years to complete; Mr. Arkadin, the most puzzling film in his output; and a masterpiece in another genre, Touch of Evil, which marked his one return to Hollywood, and like all too many of his films was wrested from his grasp and reedited. Along the way he made inroads into the fledgling medium of television and a number of stage plays, of which his 1955 London Moby-Dick is considered by theater historians to be one of the seminal productions of the century. His private life was as spectacularly complex and dramatic as his professional life. The book reveals what it was like to be around Welles, and, with an intricacy and precision rarely attempted before, what it was like to be him, answering the riddle that has long fascinated film scholars and lovers alike: Whatever happened to Orson Welles?

[FrauBlucher]

New details on the Merchant of Venice resto

[teddyleevin]

Happy to share that volume three of Simon Callow's Welles biography has received a release date!

http://www.wellesnet.com/simon-callows- ... il-in-u-s/

In One-Man Band, the third volume in his epic and all-inclusive four-volume survey of Orson Welles’s life and work, the celebrated British actor Simon Callow again probes in comprehensive and penetrating detail into one of the most complex, contradictory artists of the twentieth century, whose glorious triumphs (and occasional spectacular failures) in film, radio, theater, and television introduced a radical and original approach that opened up new directions in the arts.

This volume begins with Welles’s self-exile from America, and his realization that he could function only to his own satisfaction as an independent film maker, a one-man band, in fact, which committed him to a perpetual cycle of money raising. By 1964, he had filmed Othello, which took three years to complete; Mr. Arkadin, the most puzzling film in his output; and a masterpiece in another genre, Touch of Evil, which marked his one return to Hollywood, and like all too many of his films was wrested from his grasp and reedited. Along the way he made inroads into the fledgling medium of television and a number of stage plays, of which his 1955 London Moby-Dick is considered by theater historians to be one of the seminal productions of the century. His private life was as spectacularly complex and dramatic as his professional life. The book reveals what it was like to be around Welles, and, with an intricacy and precision rarely attempted before, what it was like to be him, answering the riddle that has long fascinated film scholars and lovers alike: Whatever happened to Orson Welles?

I really love Callow's biography so far and I'm thrilled with his choice of title, having just used it myself in a project.

[FrauBlucher]

The restored Merchant of Venice shows well in Venice. (no puns intended, really)

[Drucker]

MOMA is screening clips from King Lear, Merchant of Venice and The Deep work print in November.