Orson Welles
Directing
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.
WeirdWorld
Troy2000 (Archive footage)
Human Nature in Eleven Parts
Narrator "The Scorpion and the Frog" (archive footage)
The Scorpion and the Frog
Narrator (archive footage)
Othelo The Great
Self (archive footage)
The Battle of Grovers Mill
Radio Host (voice) (archival footage)
Aliens Uncovered: Close Encounters
Self
Jim Henson Idea Man
Self (archive footage)
From Introduction to Orson Welles’s Falstaff: Chimes at Midnight
Falstaff
It's Pretty, but is it Art?
Self (voiceover)
Looking Back Before You Leap
General Zaroff (voice)
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
Self (archive footage)
American: An Odyssey to 1947
Self (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
Self (archive footage)
The Welles Raft
Himself (Archive Footage)
The Real Charlie Chaplin
Self (archive footage)
Tall Tales: The Ireland of Orson Welles
Self
Parkinson at 50
Self (archive footage)
Morceaux de Cannes
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard
Self (archive footage)
Hopper/Welles
Self
Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
Self (archive footage)
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
(archive footage)
The Other Side of the Wind
Journalist (uncredited)
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Self (archive footage)
The Eyes of Orson Welles
Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)
Jeanne Moreau: Free Spirit
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The Magic History of Cinema
Embers & Dust
Professor Richard Pierson / Self (voice) (archive sound)
This Is Orson Welles
Self
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Self - Filmmaker / Various Roles (archive footage)
Alfonso Sansone: Producer by Chance
Self (archive footage)
Jodorowsky's Dune
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Magic Mirror Maze
The Shadow Knows
Self (archive footage)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
Self
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Genghis Khan / Bayan (archive footage)
Orson Welles: The Paris Interview
Himself
Hollywood sul Tevere
Lucifer et moi
(archive footage 1982)
Lost in "The Thinking"
Self (archive footage)
Orson Welles Talks With Roger Hill
(Self)
Filmmakers vs. Tycoons
Self (archive footage)
The Other Side of Welles
Self (archive footage)
The Well
Orson Welles Uncut
The Hitch Hiker
Ronald Adams
The UFO Conspiracy
Self (archive sound)
The Dominici Affair by Orson Welles
Self (archive footage)
Heart of the Festival
Self (archive footage)
Lost in La Mancha
Self (archive footage)
The Movie Movie (An Excerpt)
Archival Footage
A Huey P. Newton Story
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
NASA: A Space Odyssey Vol. 3
Narrator
The Paranormal Peter Sellers
Self (Archive footage)
Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote
Self (Archive footage)
Lon Chaney: A thousand faces
Self (archive footage)
Moby Dick
Captain Ahab / Starbuck / Ishmael (archive footage)
One Man Band
Presenter / Various
Hi-Fi
According to Occam's Razor
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Self - Roaster (archive footage)
It's All Brazil
Self (archive footage)
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Self (archive footage)
Celebração - 100 Anos do Cinema Nacional
Self
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Self (archive footage)
Orson Welles: The One-Man Band
Self (archive footage)
La Classe américaine
Self (archive footage)
It's All True
Self
Rosabella - La storia italiana di Orson Welles
Working with Orson Welles
Himself (Archive Footage)
Don Quixote
Self
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Self - Professor in War of the Worlds Broadcast (archive sound)
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film
Self (archive footage)
Rita Hayworth: Dancing Into the Dream
Self (archive footage)
Welles' Language
Self (archive footage)
On the tracks of a filmmaker
Orson Welles
Someone to Love
Danny's Friend
It's Not All True
Himself (archive footage)
The Transformers: The Movie
Unicron (voice)
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
Self (archive footage)
The Dreamers
Marcus Kleek
Orson Welles' Magic Show
Self
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Michael Landon
Self
Almonds and Raisins
Narrator
The Road to Bresson
Self
The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail
Narrator
In Our Hands
Himself
The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh
himself
Where Is Parsifal?
Klingsor
The Witching
Mr. Cato
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
Magician (uncredited)
The Psychic Connection
Narrator
King Penguin: Stranded Beyond the Falklands
Self - Narrator
Orson Welles at the Cinémathèque Française
Himself
Notre Dame de la Croisette
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hot Money
Sheriff Paisley
Slapstick of Another Kind
Aliens' Father (voice) (uncredited)
Wagner e Venezia
Richard Wagner (voice)
Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady
Self
The Orson Welles Story
Self
Baryshnikov in Hollywood
Self - Narrator
Genocide
Narrator (voice)
Night of 100 Stars
Self
Doug Henning's World of Magic
Self - Special Guest
Butterfly
Judge Rauch
Let Poland Be Poland
Self
Magic with the Stars
Self - Host
The Quest for Fire Adventure
Narrator
A Gift of Harvest
Narrator
Brasil
Self (archive footage)
Search for the Titanic
Self - Host
Enchanted Journey
Pippo
The New Deal for Artists
Narrator (voice)
History of the World: Part I
Narrator (voice)
Filming 'The Trial'
Self
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Presenter / Narrator (voice)
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
Narrator
The Secret of Nikola Tesla
J.P. Morgan
A Step Away
English Narrator
The Greenstone
Narrator (voice)
The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis
Narrator
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
Self
To Try Again... and Succeed
Narrator (voice)
Filming Othello
Host
The Muppet Movie
Lew Lord
The Double McGuffin
Narrator (voice)
The Orson Welles Show
Self
The Greatest Adventure--The Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon
Narrator
Orson Welles at The Magic Castle
Self
The Biggest Battle
Narratore
The Late Great Planet Earth
Self
Caesar's Guide to Gaming with Orson Welles
Himself
Tut: The Boy King
Himself - Host
Mysterious Castles of Clay
Narrator
It Happened One Christmas
Henry F. Potter
The Lions of Capitalism: Some Call It Greed
Narrator
The Force Beyond
Himself (archive footage)
Hot Tomorrows
Parklawn Mortuary (voice)
The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?
Self
From Fiber to Fabric: Wool's a Natural
Narrator
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Narrator
Voyage of the Damned
José Estedes
NBC: The First Fifty Years
Self / Narrator
Bugs Bunny Superstar
Narrator (voice)
A Mother's Tale
Narrator
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Orson Welles - Das vermarktete Genie
Self
Magnificent Monsters of the Deep
Narrator
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Narrator / Nag / Chuchundra (voice)
Who's Out There?
Host
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
Narrator
A Legend a Lifetime: Citizen Welles
And Then There Were None
Voice on Tape
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Power and Corruption
Himself
Kelly Country
Narrator
F for Fake
Self
The Battle of Sutjeska
Winston Churchill
The Cave
Narrator
The Cave: a parable told by Orson Welles
Narrator
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Sheridan Whiteside
Treasure Island
Long John Silver
Necromancy
Mr. Cato
Get to Know Your Rabbit
Mr. Delasandro
Malpertuis
Cassavius
Jeanne Moreau : Vive le cinéma !
Self
Future Shock
Narrator
Ten Days' Wonder
Théo Van Horn
A Safe Place
The Magician
Directed by John Ford
Narrator (voice)
Sentinels of Silence
Flame of Persia
Narrator
Freedom River
Narrator
An Evening with Orson Welles: My Little Boy
An Evening with Orson Welles: Two Wise Old Men – Socrates and Noah
An Evening with Orson Welles: American Heritage, Vol. II – Clarence Darrow
An Evening with Orson Welles: American Heritage, Vol. I – Selections from George Ade, Thomas Wolfe, Mark Twain
An Evening with Orson Welles: The Happy Prince
An Evening with Orson Welles: The Golden Honeymoon
Is It Always Right to Be Right?
Narrator
Waterloo
Louis XVIII
The Enemy Before Us
Narrator
Catch-22
Brigadier General Dreedle
Start the Revolution Without Me
The Narrator
The Kremlin Letter
Bresnavitch
The Merchant of Venice (Rushes)
Shylock
A Horse Called Nijinsky
Narrator
Upon This Rock
Michelangelo (voice)
The Deep
Russ Brewer
Soft Self-Portrait of Salvador Dali
Narrator (voice)
The Merchant of Venice
Shylock
The Battle of Neretva
Četnik
Twelve Plus One
Markan
The Southern Star
Plankett
The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal
Justinian
Tepepa
Colonel Cascorro
To Build a Fire
Narrator (voice)
The Fight for Rome
Justinian
The Immortal Story
Charles Clay
House of Cards
Leschenhaut
Around the World of Mike Todd
Self - Narrator
Oedipus the King
Tiresias
Portrait: Orson Welles
Self
Vienna
Himself
I'll Never Forget What's'isname
Jonathan Lute
Beggars Would Ride
Narrator
Disorder Is 20 Years Old
Self
Casino Royale
Le Chiffre
Ten Days That Shook the World
Narrator
The Sailor from Gibraltar
Louis de Mozambique
A Man for All Seasons
Cardinal Wolsey
Is Paris Burning?
Konsul Nordling
Orson Welles in Spain
Himself
Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees
Self - Narrator (voice)
Chimes at Midnight
Falstaff
Americans on Everest
Narrator- Self
Marco the Magnificent
Akerman, Marco's Teacher
Profile No. 6: Orson Welles
A King's Story
Narrator
The Finest Hours
Narrator (voice)
The V.I.P.s
Max Buda
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
The 'Director' (segment "La ricotta")
River of the Ocean
Narrator (English)
The Trial
Albert Hastler
Lafayette
Benjamin Franklin
King of Kings
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The Tartars
Burundai
The Battle of Austerlitz
Robert Fulton
An Arabian Night
Storyteller
Crack in the Mirror
Hagolin / Lamerciere
Five Columns on the Front Page: Hong Kong as seen by Orson Welles
Self (narrator)
David and Goliath
King Saul
High Journey
Narrator
Ferry to Hong Kong
Captain Hart
Compulsion
Jonathan Wilk
Lords of the Forest
Narrator (voice)
The Roots of Heaven
Cy Sedgewick
The Fountain of Youth
the narrator
Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina
Self - Host
South Seas Adventure
Narrator
The Vikings
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
The Long, Hot Summer
Will Varner
Touch of Evil
Police Captain Hank Quinlan
Man in the Shadow
Virgil Renchler
Out of Darkness
Self - Narrator
Moby Dick
Father Mapple
Orson Welles and People: Camille, the Naked Lady and the Musketeers
Self - Narrator (voice)
The Land of the Basques
Himself
Mr. Arkadin
Gregory Arkadin
Moby Dick—Rehearsed
An Actor Manager /Father Mapple /Ahab
Orson Welles' Sketch Book
Self - Host
Napoleon
Sir Hudson Lowe
Three Cases of Murder
Lord Mountdrago ("Lord Mountdrago" segment)
Trouble in the Glen
Sanin Cejador y Mengues
Royal Affairs in Versailles
Benjamin Franklin
King Lear
King Lear
Man, Beast and Virtue
Captain Perella, the Beast
Return to Glennascaul
Narrator
Trent's Last Case
Sigsbee Manderson
Othello
Othello
Disorder
Self
The Black Rose
Bayan
The Miracle of St. Anne
The Director
Prince of Foxes
Cesare Borgia
The Third Man
Harry Lime
Black Magic
Joseph Balsamo aka Count Cagliostro
Macbeth
Macbeth
The Lady from Shanghai
Michael O'Hara
Duel in the Sun
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Battle for Survival
Narrator
The Stranger
Prof. Charles Rankin
Tomorrow Is Forever
John Andrew MacDonald
Mexico City, Old and New
Narrator
Follow the Boys
Orson Welles (uncredited)
Know Your Ally: Britain
Narrator/Bob (helpful taxi passenger)
Jane Eyre
Edward Rochester
Show-Business at War
Self
Journey into Fear
Colonel Haki
The Magnificent Ambersons
Narrator (voice)
Citizen Kane
Charles Foster Kane
Swiss Family Robinson
Opening Narrator (uncredited)
Citizen Kane Trailer
himself
The Green Goddess
Rajah/Narrator
Too Much Johnson
Keystone Kop
The Spanish Earth
Narrator (voice)
The Hearts of Age
Death
Twelfth Night
Narrator