Orson Welles

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well as his distinctive voice and personality, Welles is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, especially for his significant and influential early work—despite his notoriously contentious relationship with Hollywood. His distinctive directorial style featured layered, nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unique camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes. Welles's long career in film is noted for his struggle for artistic control in the face of pressure from studios. Many of his films were heavily edited and others left unreleased. He has been praised as a major creative force and as "the ultimate auteur." After directing a number of high-profile theatrical productions in his early twenties, including an innovative adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock, Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was occurring. Although these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to instant notoriety. Citizen Kane (1941), his first film with RKO, in which he starred in the role of Charles Foster Kane, is often considered the greatest film ever made. Several of his other films, including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Touch of Evil (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1965), and F for Fake (1974), are also widely considered to be masterpieces. In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two separate British Film Institute polls among directors and critics, and a wide survey of critical consensus, best-of lists, and historical retrospectives calls him the most acclaimed director of all time. Andrew Sarris in his influential book of film criticism The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 included him in the "pantheon" of the 14 greatest film directors who had worked in the United States. Well known for his baritone voice, Welles was also an extremely well regarded actor and was voted number 16 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the greatest American film actors of all time. He was also a celebrated Shakespearean stage actor and an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety shows in the war years.

Cast

Charles Foster Kane

A Man for All Seasons

Cardinal Wolsey

The Magnificent Ambersons

Narrator (voice)

Chimes at Midnight

Police Captain Hank Quinlan

History of the World: Part I

Twelve Plus One

The Transformers: The Movie

Unicron (voice)

Brigadier General Dreedle

The Lady from Shanghai

Is Paris Burning?

Konsul Nordling

Prof. Charles Rankin

And Then There Were None

Journey into Fear

Treasure Island

Long John Silver

Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees

Self - Narrator (voice)

Edward Rochester

According to Occam's Razor

Welles' Language

Self (archive footage)

Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional

Follow the Boys

Orson Welles (uncredited)

The Battle of Neretva

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Narrator / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)

The Long, Hot Summer

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Sir Hudson Lowe

American: An Odyssey to 1947

Self (archive footage)

The Southern Star

Prince of Foxes

From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight

Gregory Arkadin

Tomorrow Is Forever

John Andrew MacDonald

Three Cases of Murder

Lord Mountdrago ("Lord Mountdrago" segment)

The Kremlin Letter

Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance

Self (archive footage)

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

Presenter / Narrator (voice)

Royal Affairs in Versailles

Benjamin Franklin

Orson Welles: The One-Man Band

Self (archive footage)

The Biggest Battle

The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles

Self (archive footage)

Colonel Cascorro

The Secret of Nikola Tesla

Slapstick of Another Kind

Aliens' Father (voice)

Parklawn Mortuary (voice)

Trent's Last Case

Sigsbee Manderson

Ten Days' Wonder

The Immortal Story

Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"

(archive footage)

The Late Great Planet Earth

David and Goliath

Voyage of the Damned

Joseph Balsamo aka Count Cagliostro

Ferry to Hong Kong

The 'Director' (segment "La ricotta")

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Get to Know Your Rabbit

The Fountain of Youth

The Force Beyond

Himself (archive footage)

The Spanish Earth

Narrator (voice)

Marco the Magnificent

Akerman, Marco's Teacher

It Happened One Christmas

Henry F. Potter

Filming Othello

Mysterious Castles of Clay

I'll Never Forget What's'isname

Trouble in the Glen

Sanin Cejador y Mengues

Where Is Parsifal?

It's All Brazil

Self (archive footage)

Return to Glennascaul

Parkinson at 50

Self (archive footage)

The Road to Bresson

Too Much Johnson

Is It Always Right to Be Right?

Sheriff Paisley

Man, Beast and Virtue

Captain Perella, the Beast

Someone to Love

The Fight for Rome

Magic with the Stars

The Cave: a parable told by Orson Welles

Sentinels of Silence

The Greatest Adventure--The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon

Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote

Self (Archive footage)

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Tall Tales: The Ireland of Orson Welles

Notre Dame de la Croisette

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Othelo The Great

Self (archive footage)

The Sailor from Gibraltar

Louis de Mozambique

Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure

The Roots of Heaven

Crack in the Mirror

Hagolin / Lamerciere

To Build a Fire

Narrator (voice)

Orson Welles in Spain

Man in the Shadow

Virgil Renchler

The Muppet Movie

Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen

(archive footage)

The Battle Over Citizen Kane

Self (archive footage)

The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years

Self (archive footage)

Looking Back Before You Leap

General Zaroff (voice)

Ten Days That Shook the World

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)

It's Pretty, but is it Art?

Self (voiceover)

Flame of Persia

The Other Side of the Wind

Journalist (uncredited)

The Paranormal Peter Sellers

Self (Archive footage)

The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh

Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend

Self (archive footage)

Michelangelo (voice)

Tut: The Boy King

This Is Orson Welles

The Hearts of Age

Jodorowsky's Dune

Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Self (archive footage)

The Shadow Knows

Self (archive footage)

(archive footage 1982)

Swiss Family Robinson

Opening Narrator

The Merchant of Venice

On the tracks of a filmmaker

Who's Out There?

The Battle of Grovers Mill

Radio Host (voice) (archival footage)

English Narrator

The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail

Captain Ahab / Starbuck / Ishmael (archive footage)

Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Orson Welles' Magic Show

Benjamin Franklin

Filming 'The Trial'

The Finest Hours

Narrator (voice)

Portrait: Orson Welles

Directed by John Ford

Narrator (voice)

Rita Hayworth: Dancing Into the Dream

Self (archive footage)

Oedipus the King

Start the Revolution Without Me

Soft Self-Portrait of Salvador Dali

Narrator (voice)

The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal

With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film

Self (archive footage)

Winston Churchill / George Bernard Shaw

An Evening with Orson Welles: The Golden Honeymoon

A Huey P. Newton Story

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

From Fiber to Fabric: Wool's a Natural

Lost in La Mancha

Self (archive footage)

Show-Business at War

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Self (archive footage)

NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3

Duel in the Sun

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

A Horse Called Nijinsky

The Orson Welles Show

Narrator (voice)

They'll Love Me When I'm Dead

Self (archive footage)

The Quest for Fire Adventure

Working with Orson Welles

Himself (Archive Footage)

Filmmakers vs. Tycoons

Self (archive footage)

Bugs Bunny Superstar

Narrator (voice)

Enchanted Journey

Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces

Self (archive footage)

The Eyes of Orson Welles

Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)

The Hitch Hiker

The Battle of Sutjeska

Winston Churchill

The Welles Raft

Himself (Archive Footage)

Orson Welles: The Paris Interview

Around the World of Mike Todd

Self - Narrator

La Classe américaine

Self (archive footage)

Battle for Survival

Orson Welles at the Cinémathèque Française

The Other Side of Welles

Self (archive footage)

Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit

Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art

The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

Self - Roaster (archive footage)

Rosabella - La storia italiana di Orson Welles

Narrator (voice)

Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina

Orson Welles' Sketch Book

King Penguin: Stranded Beyond the Falklands

Self - Narrator

The Psychic Connection

Baryshnikov in Hollywood

Self - Narrator

Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Michael Landon

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind

Self (archive footage)

Let Poland Be Poland

Doug Henning's World of Magic

Self - Special Guest

Out of Darkness

Self - Narrator

Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years

A Legend a Lifetime: Citizen Welles

Orson Welles - Das vermarktete Genie

The Battle of Austerlitz

Disorder Is 20 Years Old

The Magic History of Cinema

Professor Richard Pierson / Self (voice) (archive sound)

Know Your Ally: Britain

Narrator/Bob (helpful taxi passenger)

Lords of the Forest

Narrator (voice)

An Arabian Night

Mexico City, Old and New

River of the Ocean

Narrator (English)

South Seas Adventure

It's Not All True

Himself (archive footage)

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Sheridan Whiteside

Magnificent Monsters of the Deep

Power and Corruption

Wagner e Venezia

Richard Wagner (voice)

The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed

To Try Again... and Succeed

Narrator (voice)

The New Deal for Artists

Narrator (voice)

The Double McGuffin

Narrator (voice)

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park

Almonds and Raisins

The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis

Search for the Titanic

The Enemy Before Us

A Gift of Harvest

NBC: The First Fifty Years

Self / Narrator

Jeanne Moreau : Vive le cinéma !

Self (archive footage)

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

Genghis Khan / Bayan (archive footage)

Caesar's Guide to Gaming with Orson Welles

The Land of the Basques

The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

Self (archive footage)

Beggars Would Ride

Who Is Henry Jaglom?

Self (archive footage)

Night of 100 Stars

Magic Mirror Maze

Aliens Uncovered: Close Encounters

The Scorpion and the Frog

Narrator (archive footage)

Lost in "The Thinking"

Self (archive footage)

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

Self - Professor in War of the Worlds Broadcast (archive sound)

Human Nature in Eleven Parts

Narrator "The Scorpion and the Frog" (archive footage)

Americans on Everest

Orson Welles Talks With Roger Hill

The UFO Conspiracy

Self (archive sound)

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Moby Dick Rehearsed

An Actor Manager /Father Mapple /Ahab

Voyage of the Brigantine Yankee

The Orson Welles Story

Profile No. 6: Orson Welles

The Real Charlie Chaplin

Self (archive footage)

A Mother's Tale

The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?

Troy2000 (Archive footage)

Orson Welles at The Magic Castle

Orson Welles' F for Fake Trailer

Self (archive footage)

Jim Henson Idea Man

Self (archive footage)

Citizen Kane Trailer

Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?

Magician (uncredited)

Crew

Screenplay, Producer, Director

The Magnificent Ambersons

Director, Producer, Screenplay, Additional Photography

Chimes at Midnight

Director, Screenplay, Costume Design

Director, Screenplay

Director, Screenplay, Editor

Editorial Services

The Land of the Basques

Director, Co-Writer

The Lady from Shanghai

Producer, Screenplay, Director

Director, Editor, Producer, Screenplay

Director, Costume Design, Producer, Screenplay, Set Designer

Director, Writer, Editor

Director, Screenplay, Producer, Production Design, Costume Design, Editor, Story, Art Direction

Director, Producer, Screenplay

Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina

Director, Writer

The Hearts of Age

Director, Writer

The Immortal Story

Director, Screenplay

The Fountain of Youth

Director, Producer, Production Design, Writer, Music Arranger

It's All True: Four Men on a Raft

Director, Writer

Director, Writer, Producer

Filming Othello

Director, Writer

The Magnificent Ambersons

Too Much Johnson

Director, Screenplay, Editor, Producer

The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles

The Other Side of the Wind

Director, Editor, Screenplay

Director, Writer

The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh

Producer, Director, Screenplay

The Merchant of Venice

Producer, Screenplay, Director, Editor

Hong Kong as seen by Orson Welles

The Bible: In the Beginning...

Additional Writing, Scenario Writer

Director, Theatre Play, Editor

Trick or Treats

Orson Welles' Magic Show

Director, Writer, Producer

Filming 'The Trial'

Director, Producer

Historias Breves 0: Distant encounters

Director, Adaptation, Costume Design, Director of Photography

Associate Producer

Director, Writer, Editor

An Evening with Orson Welles: The Golden Honeymoon

Writer, Director, Producer, Production Design, Editor, Music Arranger

Monsieur Verdoux

The Battle of Grovers Mill

Journey into Fear

Producer, Screenplay

The Orson Welles Show

Director, Writer

The Big Brass Ring

Portrait of a Murderer

Writer, Production Design

Treasure Island

The Way to Santiago

Original Concept

NBC: The First Fifty Years

Original Concept

The Hearts of Age

Original Concept

Original Concept

The Big Brass Ring

Treasury of Children's Stories

Theme Song Performance

Cerné par le diable

Dahmer vs. Gacy

The Brother Side of the Wake

Valentines. A Bouquet of Letters and Poetry of Lovers

Theme Song Performance

Theme Song Performance

Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV

Three Cases of Murder

Theme Song Performance

Passage to Mars

Theme Song Performance

The War of the Worlds: Next Century

Variations on a High School Romance

As Long as He Lives

Tim May Presents Reptile

Dieter & Andreas

Orson Welles' Sketch Book

The Debridement of Rome

Incident at Barstow

Orson Welles Talks With Roger Hill

Moby Dick Rehearsed

Director, Writer

Orson Welles at The Magic Castle

Orson Welles' F for Fake Trailer

Director, Writer

Citizen Kane Trailer

Director, Writer, Producer