The Brilliant and Unfinished works of Orson Welles

ORSON WELLES: THE ONE-MAN BAND (1995)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There are directors who never get noticed, and there are those who have one major hit only to have a slew of flops follow them. Then there are directors who have one major masterpiece and a host of films that follow, never quite matching the brilliance of their initial masterwork. Orson Welles falls in this category, though I have found that "Touch of Evil," "The Trial" and "F For Fake" are brilliant films that arguably surpass his most famous film, "Citizen Kane." This wonderful documentary, "Orson Welles: The One-Man Band," traces Welles' last twenty years of his life where he desperately tried to find financing to complete his films only to be turned down again and again.

Most people think that there was not much to Welles beyond "Citizen Kane" and some other studio efforts, not to mention his slew of acting jobs left and right. After "Chimes at Midnight" and "F For Fake," it is assumed that Welles was a has-been who had acted in any and every film, narrating documentaries, and performing in wine commercials. He was a genius who was no longer the shining star of the past. This is, of course, not true at all. Welles was very busy and never got dismayed from lack of funds. He would finance some of his projects with money he obtained from acting. According to his partner and collaborator, Oja Kodar, Welles would travel everywhere with his 16mm camera and an editing table. He was filled with ideas and wanted to explore them all.

Some of his projects include the unfinished Hollywood satire, "The Other Side of the Wind," "The Merchant of Venice," "The Deep" and "The Dreamers." In some cases, the incomplete status of some of these films was a result of either poor business entanglements or financiers who feared Welles's lack of wanting to finish anything, thus based on his reputation. In the case of "Other Side of the Wind," a relative of the Shah of Iran helped to finance the project and then pulled out holding the footage of Welles's 3 hour opus hostage. "The Merchant of Venice" was to be made for television and the film was actually completed but the negative was stolen! "The Deep" is based on a novel by Charles Williams III, which later became the basis for "Dead Calm" starring Nicole Kidman. Film was almost completed until the main lead, Laurence Harvey, died. "The Dreamers" was a project that began in the early 1980's and was shot in his own L.A. home, but financing was harder to come by at that point. A "King Lear" project was planned but no one was interested.

Some other footage shown is interesting though whether the films themselves were ever completed remains a mystery. A short clip about tailors measuring Welles's girth is good for a few laughs. An even funnier clip is shown of Welles playing a lord of the manor interviewed by a bearded Welles! There is also a seven-minute long trailer for "F For Fake" that makes most trailers today look positively unimaginative in comparison. Powerful film fragments of Welles performing a one-man take of "Moby Dick" sans makeup or costuming show what a grand, majestic actor he was, and what an enthralling voice he had! There is also a clip from "Swinging London" which shows typical Welles impersonations of a Chinese ticket-taker, a housewife, a police inspector and a one-man band player.

Oja Kodar

Oja Kodar held all these fragments and incompleted films in a storage room until one day she decided to release them as part of this documentary. What we witness is a fallen giant who had gone from a Hollywood director to an independent film artist who never got the financing he so desired and deserved (his last Hollywood film as a director was 1958's "Touch of Evil"). Director Vassili Silovic, however, fails to make us understand why Welles had so much trouble. One possible reason is that Welles languished for an eternity making his films. According to author Joseph McBride's book on Welles, "The Other Side of the Wind" was a project that lasted from 1970 to 1976. In this film, there is a scene where Welles is interviewed by a college class. He tells them that his dormant project from the 50's, "Don Quixote," will be finished in his own time, just like an author works on an unfinished novel. But why was the negative of "Merchant of Venice" stolen? Did Welles perhaps forget to pay the lab bill, as did Ed Wood with "Bride of the Monster"? Or was he overextending his finances? And how does one explain "F For Fake" and "Filming Othello," both from the 70's and both of them completed?

The main treat of "Orson Welles: The One-Man Band" is watching what the master was up to in that 20-year stretch. Clips from "Other Side of the Wind" prove to be extraordinary and way ahead of its time. One scene shows John Huston as a film director greeted by the press and there are dozens of fast cuts and jump cuts from different angles that anticipate MTV by more than a decade! Another clip shown from "Wind" is a sex scene in a car with Oja Kodar that is as erotic as anything I've ever seen. Curiously, clips from "The Deep" are shown minus a soundtrack. We only hear Welles's booming voice explaining the action that is occurring on screen. There are also clips of his magic shows with the Muppets, his crowd-pleasing acceptance of his Lifetime Achievement Award from the very industry that shunned him, and so much more.

"One-Man Band" is plain evidence of a man who had unfulfilled his legacy of a legendary film director - for his detractors, this film will prove to be quite illuminating. It is sad and upsetting to watch what might have been. I heartily recommend Frank Brady's book, "Citizen Welles," which covers Welles's whole career, including his last few years where he could not get financial help from Steven Spielberg nor procure a Hollywood star like Jack Nicholson for his completed screenplay, "The Big Brass Ring." It will serve to amplify the sadness of a man who remained obsessive and forthright, determined to keep making films at any cost.