Europe (1948–1956) Orson Welles

1 europe (1948–1956)

1.1 othello
1.2 mr. arkadin
1.3 television projects

europe (1948–1956)

in italy starred cagliostro in 1948 film black magic. co-star, akim tamiroff, impressed welles tamiroff appear in 4 of welles s productions during 1950s , 1960s.

the following year, welles starred harry lime in carol reed s third man, alongside joseph cotten, friend , co-star citizen kane, script graham greene , memorable score anton karas.

a few years later, british radio producer harry alan towers resurrect lime character in radio series adventures of harry lime.

welles appeared cesare borgia in 1949 italian film prince of foxes, tyrone power , mercury theatre alumnus everett sloane, , mongol warrior bayan in 1950 film version of novel black rose (again tyrone power).

othello

during time, welles channeling money acting jobs self-financed film version of shakespeare s play othello. 1949 1951, welles worked on othello, filming on location in europe , morocco. film featured welles s friends, micheál mac liammóir iago , hilton edwards desdemona s father brabantio. suzanne cloutier starred desdemona , campbell playhouse alumnus robert coote appeared iago s associate roderigo.

filming suspended several times welles ran out of funds , left acting jobs, accounted in detail in macliammóir s published memoir put money in thy purse. american release prints had technically flawed soundtrack, suffering drop-out of sound @ every quiet moment. welles s daughter, beatrice welles-smith, restored othello in 1992 wide re-release. restoration included reconstructing angelo francesco lavagnino s original musical score, inaudible, , adding ambient stereo sound effects, not in original film. restoration went on successful theatrical run in america.

in 1952, welles continued finding work in england after success of harry lime radio show. harry alan towers offered welles series, black museum, ran 52 weeks welles host , narrator. director herbert wilcox offered welles part of murdered victim in trent s last case, based on novel e. c. bentley. in 1953, bbc hired welles read hour of selections walt whitman s epic poem song of myself. towers hired welles again, play professor moriarty in radio series, adventures of sherlock holmes, starring john gielgud , ralph richardson.

welles briefly returned america make first appearance on television, starring in omnibus presentation of king lear, broadcast live on cbs october 18, 1953. directed peter brook, production costarred natasha parry, beatrice straight , arnold moss.

in 1954, director george more o ferrall offered welles title role in lord mountdrago segment of 3 cases of murder, co-starring alan badel. herbert wilcox cast welles antagonist in trouble in glen opposite margaret lockwood, forrest tucker , victor mclaglen. old friend john huston cast him father mapple in 1956 film adaptation of herman melville s moby-dick, starring gregory peck.

mr. arkadin


welles in madrid during filming of mr. arkadin in 1954

welles s next turn director film mr. arkadin (1955), produced political mentor 1940s, louis dolivet. filmed in france, germany, spain , italy on limited budget. based loosely on several episodes of harry lime radio show, stars welles billionaire hires man delve secrets of past. film stars robert arden, had worked on harry lime series; welles s third wife, paola mori, voice dubbed actress billie whitelaw; , guest stars akim tamiroff, michael redgrave, katina paxinou , mischa auer. frustrated slow progress in editing room, producer dolivet removed welles project , finished film without him. 5 different versions of film released, 2 in spanish , 3 in english. version dolivet completed retitled confidential report. in 2005 stefan droessler of munich film museum oversaw reconstruction of surviving film elements.

television projects

in 1955, welles directed 2 television series bbc. first orson welles sketch book, series of 6 15-minute shows featuring welles drawing in sketchbook illustrate reminiscences camera (including such topics filming of s true , isaac woodard case), , second around world orson welles, series of 6 travelogues set in different locations around europe (such venice, basque country between france , spain, , england). welles served host , interviewer, commentary including documentary facts , own personal observations (a technique continue explore in later works).

in 1956, welles completed portrait of gina. film cans remain in lost-and-found locker @ hotel several decades, discovered after welles s death.