This Is Orson Welles

Rating:
Summary: A painful descent in the Inferno
Review: Peter Bogdanovich's interviews with Orson Welles demonstrate (although it was probably not his intention) that his subject was a "monstre sacré", but not a genius. He tries to deny Pauline Kael's thesis ("Raising Kane") where the famous film critic made clear, that the real author of Citizen Kane's screenplay was Herman Mankiewicz and not Welles. But as the pages go on, Bogdanovich's interviews painfully describe the errors of a "boy-wonder" who could have been almost everything, if he had not been Orson Welles. Most of his films, sometimes made with his own money, after he had been banned by all American studios, were not finished, or mutilated, because he made them too long, or was not present when cuttings were asked. One has the feeling of some kind of self destructive behavior, even more painful as we realize how gifted, and talented an author, director, and actor he was. This book is a must for anybody who wants to try to find some answers about an extraordinary career (including "Citizen Kane", "Touch of Evil", "The Third Man") with even more failed or destroyed dreams. The best quote of the book: Peter Bogdanovich: And you don't love theatre anymore? Orson Welles: I love empty theatres. For explanations, refer to page 3 of 'This is Orson Welles".

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Word On An American Filmmaker
Review: Some have criticized this book, which Welles felt was the definitive word on his films, by stating that it never deals with Orson's children or his failed marriages. That has nothing to do with what this book is about. If you are looking for a biography then look elsewhere. This is Orson Welles talking about his films and his life in film and what he was trying to do and say. When I finished reading I knew that for once Welles was getting the final word on his films and that what he said was honest. If you want to really know him as an artist I would strongly recommend reading this book. It's a very fast read even though it's crammed full of insights. As a bonus it also contains the shooting script for Magnificent Ambersons which would have exceeded Citizen Kane in its beauty if RKO hadn't cut it to shreds. I strongly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Definitive Word On An American Filmmaker
Review: Some have criticized this book, which Welles felt was the definitive word on his films, by stating that it never deals with Orson's children or his failed marriages. That has nothing to do with what this book is about. If you are looking for a biography then look elsewhere. This is Orson Welles talking about his films and his life in film and what he was trying to do and say. When I finished reading I knew that for once Welles was getting the final word on his films and that what he said was honest. If you want to really know him as an artist I would strongly recommend reading this book. It's a very fast read even though it's crammed full of insights. As a bonus it also contains the shooting script for Magnificent Ambersons which would have exceeded Citizen Kane in its beauty if RKO hadn't cut it to shreds. I strongly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, lots of information and source material
Review: The first good thing about this book is that the interviews are by Peter Bogdanovich who is also a movie maker. He knows as much about movies as Orson and is not afraid to challenge him. There is a lot of source material, e.g. notes/letters/memos written by Orson and other people he worked with which give a very personal feeling to the overall book. Also the fact that the interviews were conducted over a number of years (we are lucky the book ever got published) lends a sense of intimacy.

The full version of the Magnificent Ambersons and a very extensive listing of all of Orson's works make this a must for any Orson fan and indeed for any serious fan of the movies.

Rating:
Summary: Intimate Conversations w/ the Master by an Intelligent Fan
Review: There is not better way to get a sense of who Orson Welles was and what his take on the various happenings of his career was, than via this set of recordings. Yes, the quality is not always great -- but you get to hear Orson telling the driver where to turn, as he and Peter chat in the back seat, or Orson asking the waiter a question, in the middle of their conversation. Of course, that also means you get some road noise in the background, or the sounds of various restuarants.

The major drawback is that for those that are unfamiliar with Orson's films, the conversation may be a little hard to follow at times. And, more importantly, there were MANY more hours of recordings made and used for the printed version of these interviews.... and all we get are a few hours of the prime material.

Come on, Peter: Release the whole shebang. Of, if that can't be done because of the economics of it, do the scholarly community a favor and place it online to that people can listen to it over the internet! (I'll help!)

Rating:
Summary: Intimate Conversations w/ the Master by an Intelligent Fan
Review: There is not better way to get a sense of who Orson Welles was and what his take on the various happenings of his career was, than via this set of recordings. Yes, the quality is not always great -- but you get to hear Orson telling the driver where to turn, as he and Peter chat in the back seat, or Orson asking the waiter a question, in the middle of their conversation. Of course, that also means you get some road noise in the background, or the sounds of various restuarants.

The major drawback is that for those that are unfamiliar with Orson's films, the conversation may be a little hard to follow at times. And, more importantly, there were MANY more hours of recordings made and used for the printed version of these interviews.... and all we get are a few hours of the prime material.

Come on, Peter: Release the whole shebang. Of, if that can't be done because of the economics of it, do the scholarly community a favor and place it online to that people can listen to it over the internet! (I'll help!)

Rating:
Summary: Welles considers this book his definitive biograpy.
Review: We are told on the back cover that Welles considers this his difintive biography and the way in which he would want to be remembered. This is a sad statement, when you consider that there is no mention by Welles of either of his daughters, Christopher and Rebecca. One has to refer to the chronology at the back of the book to find that these people actually existed. It seems that Welles treated them in the same way as everything he cared about, he left. Admiration for Hitchcock, he finished his films.