Orson Welles
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
The most well-known filmmaker to the public this side of Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles was the classic example of the genius that burns bright early in life only to flicker and fade later. The prodigy son of an inventor and a musician, Welles was well-versed in literature at an early age -- particularly Shakespeare -- and, through the unusual circumstances of his life (both of his parents died by the time he was 12, leaving him with an inheritance and not many family obligations), he found himself free to indulge his numerous interests, which included the theater. He was educated in private schools and traveled the world, even wangling stage work with Dublin's Gate Players while still a teenager. He found it tougher to get onto the Broadway stage, and traveled the world some more before returning to get a job with Katharine Cornell, with help from such notables as Alexander Woollcott and Thornton Wilder. He later became associated with John Houseman, and, together, the two of them set the New York theater afire during the 1930s with their work for the Federal Theatre Project, which led to the founding of the Mercury Theater. The Mercury Players later graduated to radio, and their 1938 "War of the Worlds" broadcast made history when thousands of listeners mistakenly believed aliens had landed on Earth. In 1940, Hollywood beckoned, and Welles and company went west to RKO, where he began his short-lived reign over the film world. Working as director, producer, co-author, and star, he made Citizen Kane (1941), the most discussed -- if not the greatest -- American movie ever created. It made striking use of techniques that had been largely forgotten or overlooked by other American filmmakers, and Welles was greatly assisted on the movie by veteran cinematographer Gregg Toland. Kane, himself, attracted more attention than viewers, especially outside the major cities, and a boycott of advertising and coverage by the newspapers belonging to William Randolph Hearst -- who had served as a major model for the central figure of Charles Foster Kane -- ensured that it racked up a modest loss. Welles second film, The Magnificent Ambersons, ran into major budget and production problems, which brought down the studio management that had hired him. With the director overextending himself, the situation between Welles and RKO deteriorated. Faced with a major loss on a picture that was considered unreleasable, RKO gained control of the film and ordered it recut without Welles' consent or input, and the result is considered a flawed masterpiece. However, it was a loss for RKO, and soon after the Mercury Players were evicted from RKO, word quickly spread through the film community of Welles' difficulty in adhering to shooting schedules and budgets. His career never fully recovered, and, although he directed other films in Hollywood, including The Stranger (1946), Macbeth (1948), and Touch of Evil (1958), he was never again given full control over his movies. European producers, however, were more forgiving, and with some effort and help from a few well-placed friends, Welles was able to make such pictures as Othello (1952), Chimes at Midnight (1967), and The Trial (1963). He also remained highly visible as a personality -- he discovered in the mid-'40s that, for 100,000 dollars a shot, he could make money as an actor to help finance his films and his fairly expensive lifestyle, which resulted in Welles' appearances in The Third Man (1949), The Roots of Heaven (1958), and Catch-22 (1970), among other pictures. He also made television appearances, did voice-overs and recordings, and occasional commercials until his death in 1985. Despite his lack of commercial success, Welles remains one of the most well-known, discussed, and important directors in the history of motion pictures.
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | David and Goliath |
|
— | 2020 |
88% | Hopper/Welles |
|
— | 2020 |
84% | The Other Side of the Wind |
|
— | 2018 |
92% | They'll Love Me When I'm Dead |
|
— | 2018 |
73% | Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles |
|
$9.3k | 2014 |
No Score Yet | Tudo É Brasil |
|
— | 2013 |
No Score Yet | Recuerdos de una mañana |
|
— | 2011 |
100% | Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story |
|
— | 2007 |
No Score Yet | The Orson Welles' War of the Worlds Scandal |
|
— | 2007 |
No Score Yet | Searching for Orson |
|
— | 2006 |
No Score Yet | The Hitch Hiker |
|
— | 2005 |
No Score Yet | The Other Side of Welles (Druga strana Wellesa) |
|
— | 2005 |
No Score Yet | Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film |
|
— | 2005 |
No Score Yet | H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds: The Real Story |
|
— | 2005 |
No Score Yet | Brunnen (The Well) |
|
— | 2005 |
No Score Yet | To Build a Fire |
|
— | 2003 |
No Score Yet | Rita |
|
— | 2003 |
No Score Yet | Black Magic |
|
— | 2003 |
No Score Yet | Malpertuis |
|
— | 2001 |
100% | A Huey P. Newton Story |
|
— | 2001 |
No Score Yet | Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces |
|
— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | Best of Film Noir |
|
— | 2000 |
57% | The Big Brass Ring |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | The Dominici Affair |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Secrets of the Millennium: Ancient Prophecies |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | The Universal Story |
|
— | 1996 |
100% | Orson Welles: The One-Man Band (The Lost Films of Orson Welles) |
|
— | 1995 |
86% | Who Is Henry Jaglom? |
|
— | 1995 |
83% | It's All True |
|
— | 1993 |
No Score Yet | Working with Orson Welles |
|
— | 1993 |
No Score Yet | Hollywood Mavericks |
|
— | 1990 |
71% | Someone to Love |
|
— | 1988 |
No Score Yet | Salvador Dali: A Soft Self-Portrait |
|
— | 1987 |
62% | The Transformers - The Movie |
|
— | 1986 |
No Score Yet | Hot Money |
|
— | 1986 |
No Score Yet | Scene Of The Crime |
|
— | 1985 |
No Score Yet | The Greenstone |
|
— | 1985 |
No Score Yet | In Our Hands |
|
— | 1984 |
No Score Yet | Last Sailors |
|
— | 1984 |
No Score Yet | The Enchanted Journey |
|
— | 1984 |
No Score Yet | Butterfly |
|
— | 1982 |
No Score Yet | Wagner and Venice |
|
— | 1982 |
No Score Yet | Slapstick of Another Kind |
|
— | 1982 |
61% | History of the World---Part I |
|
— | 1981 |
No Score Yet | The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (Nostradamus) |
|
— | 1981 |
No Score Yet | Genocide |
|
— | 1981 |
75% | Shogun |
|
— | 1980 |
89% | The Muppet Movie |
|
— | 1979 |
No Score Yet | The Double McGuffin |
|
— | 1979 |
No Score Yet | The Secret of Nikola Tesla |
|
— | 1979 |
100% | The New Deal for Artists |
|
— | 1979 |
No Score Yet | Greatest Adventure: Story of Man's Voyage to the Moon |
|
— | 1979 |
No Score Yet | Tut: The Boy King |
|
— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | A Woman Called Moses |
|
— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | The Late Great Planet Earth |
|
— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | Rime of the Ancient Mariner |
|
— | 1977 |
No Score Yet | Tut - The Boy King |
|
— | 1977 |
No Score Yet | Lions of Capitalism: Great American Millionaires |
|
— | 1977 |
83% | Voyage of the Damned |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | America at the Movies |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | Rikki-Tikki-Tavi |
|
— | 1975 |
No Score Yet | Bugs Bunny Superstar |
|
— | 1975 |
No Score Yet | The AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards: Orson Welles |
|
— | 1975 |
No Score Yet | Ein unbekannter rechnet ab (Ten Little Indians)(And Then There Were None) |
|
— | 1974 |
88% | F for Fake |
|
— | 1974 |
No Score Yet | Who's Out There? |
|
— | 1973 |
No Score Yet | Parables for the Present |
|
— | 1973 |
No Score Yet | Necromancy (The Witching) (A Life for a Life) (Horror-Attack) (Rosemary's Disciples) (The Toy Factory) |
|
— | 1972 |
No Score Yet | Treasure Island |
|
— | 1972 |
No Score Yet | Get to Know Your Rabbit |
|
— | 1972 |
60% | Ten Days' Wonder |
|
— | 1972 |
No Score Yet | Directed by John Ford |
|
— | 1971 |
No Score Yet | A Safe Place |
|
— | 1971 |
No Score Yet | Sentinels of Silence |
|
— | 1971 |
27% | Waterloo |
|
— | 1970 |
79% | Catch-22 |
|
— | 1970 |
No Score Yet | Tepepa (Blood and Guns) (Long Live the Revolution) |
|
— | 1970 |
83% | Start The Revolution Without Me |
|
— | 1970 |
No Score Yet | The Kremlin Letter |
|
— | 1970 |
No Score Yet | The Battle of Neretva |
|
— | 1969 |
No Score Yet | 12 + 1 (The 13 Chairs) (Twelve Plus One) |
|
— | 1969 |
No Score Yet | The Southern Star |
|
— | 1969 |
92% | The Immortal Story |
|
— | 1968 |
No Score Yet | I'll Never Forget What's'isname |
|
— | 1968 |
25% | Casino Royale |
|
— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | Oedipus The King |
|
— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | Orson Welles |
|
— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | King's Story, A - The Love Story of the Century |
|
— | 1967 |
84% | A Man for All Seasons |
|
— | 1966 |
71% | Is Paris Burning? (Paris brûle-t-il?) |
|
— | 1966 |
96% | Chimes at Midnight |
|
— | 1965 |
No Score Yet | The Finest Hours |
|
— | 1964 |
No Score Yet | The Finest Hours |
|
— | 1964 |
No Score Yet | Churchill: The Finest Hours |
|
— | 1964 |
0% | The V.I.P.s |
|
— | 1963 |
No Score Yet | RoGoPaG |
|
— | 1963 |
83% | Le Procès (The Trial) |
|
— | 1962 |
74% | Mr. Arkadin |
|
— | 1962 |
85% | King of Kings |
|
— | 1961 |
No Score Yet | David and Goliath |
|
— | 1961 |
No Score Yet | Crack in the Mirror |
|
— | 1960 |
No Score Yet | The Tartars |
|
— | 1960 |
40% | The Battle of Austerlitz |
|
— | 1960 |
No Score Yet | Orson Welles: The Paris Interview |
|
— | 1960 |
100% | Compulsion |
|
— | 1959 |
No Score Yet | Ferry to Hong Kong |
|
— | 1959 |
No Score Yet | The Roots of Heaven |
|
— | 1958 |
76% | The Vikings |
|
— | 1958 |
95% | Touch of Evil |
|
— | 1958 |
86% | The Long, Hot Summer |
|
— | 1958 |
No Score Yet | Man in the Shadow |
|
— | 1957 |
83% | Moby Dick |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | Around the World with Orson Welles |
|
— | 1955 |
87% | Othello (The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice) |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Three Cases of Murder |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Napoleon |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Trouble in the Glen |
|
— | 1954 |
No Score Yet | Le Petit Monde de Don Camillo (The Little World of Don Camillo) |
|
— | 1953 |
No Score Yet | Omnibus: King Lear |
|
— | 1953 |
No Score Yet | Trent's Last Case |
|
— | 1952 |
No Score Yet | Return to Glennascaul (Orson Welles' Ghost Story) (A Story That Is Told in Dublin) |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | The Black Rose |
|
— | 1950 |
86% | Macbeth |
|
— | 1950 |
No Score Yet | Prince of Foxes |
|
— | 1949 |
99% | The Third Man |
|
— | 1949 |
No Score Yet | Magia Negra |
|
— | 1949 |
83% | The Lady From Shanghai |
|
— | 1948 |
78% | Duel in the Sun |
|
— | 1946 |
No Score Yet | Tomorrow Is Forever |
|
— | 1946 |
97% | The Stranger |
|
— | 1946 |
100% | Jane Eyre |
|
— | 1944 |
No Score Yet | Follow the Boys |
|
— | 1944 |
73% | Journey Into Fear |
|
— | 1943 |
89% | The Magnificent Ambersons |
|
— | 1942 |
99% | Citizen Kane |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Swiss Family Robinson |
|
— | 1940 |
No Score Yet | The Green Goddess |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Too Much Johnson |
|
— | 1938 |
No Score Yet | The Hearts of Age |
|
— | 1934 |
No Score Yet | Tajna Nikole Tesle |
|
— | |
No Score Yet | L'uomo, la bestia e la virtù |
|
— |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
89% |
Moonlighting
1985-1989
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Magnum, P.I.
1980-1988
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
I Love Lucy
1951-1957
|
|
|
Quotes from Orson Welles' Characters
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud... |
Mary Longstreet: | You killed him? |
Prof. Charles Rankin: | With these hands. The same hands that have held you close to me. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Sgt. Towser: | A man was killed in his plane over Avignon last week and bled all over him. His clothes haven't come back from the laundry yet. |
Gen. Dreedle: | Where are his other uniforms? |
Sgt. Towser: | In the laundry too, sir. |
Gen. Dreedle: | Where are his underwear? |
Sgt. Towser: | In the laundry, sir. |
Gen. Dreedle: | That sounds like a lot of crap to me. |
Capt. Yossarian: | It is a lot of crap, sir. |
Gen. Dreedle: | Why aren't you wearing clothes, Captain? |
Capt. Yossarian: | I don't wanna. |
Gen. Dreedle: | What do you mean you don't want to, why the hell don't you? |
Capt. Yossarian: | I don't know, I just don't wanna [laughs]. |
Gen. Dreedle: | Why isn't he wearing clothes? |
Col. Korn: | [to Cathcart] He's talking to you. |
Col. Cathcart: | Why isn't he wearing clothes, Major? |
Major Major: | Why isn't he wearing clothes, Sergeant? |
Gen. Dreedle: | There'll be no more moaning in this outfit. The next man who moans is going to be very sorry. |
Charles Foster Kane: | I run a couple of newspapers. What do you do? |
Charles Foster Kane: | We have no secrets from our readers. Mr. Thatcher is one of our most devoted readers, Mr. Bernstein. He knows what's wrong with every issue since I've taken charge. |
Charles Foster Kane: | I always gagged on the silver spoon. |
Charles Foster Kane: | You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man. |
Walter Parks Thatcher: | Don't you think you are? |
Charles Foster Kane: | I think I did pretty well under the circumstances. |
Walter Parks Thatcher: | What would you like to have been? |
Charles Foster Kane: | Everything you hate. |
Charles Foster Kane: | This gentleman was saying... |
Boss Jim Gettys: | I am not a gentleman. I don't even know what a gentleman is. |
Charles Foster Kane: | You can take my word for it. There'll be no war. |
D.A. Horn: | The state psychiatrists have declared them completely sane. |
Jonathan Wilk: | Yes, after a searching and exhausting study. Isn't that right Harold? 10 minutes in a crowded hotel room. Oh, we're up against some brilliant minds in this case, and we - we haven't a minute to lose. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Charles Foster Kane: | You Know, Mr. Bernstein, If I Hadn't Been Very Rich, I Might Have Been A Really Great Man. |
Charles Foster Kane: | You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Sure we're speaking, Jedediah...you're fired. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Walter Parks Thatcher: | Is that your idea of how to run a newspaper? |
Charles Foster Kane: | I don't know how to run a newspaper, Mr. Thatcher. |
Narrator: | And of course, with the birth of the artist came the inevitable afterbirth... the critic. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Are we going to declare war on Spain, or are we not? |
Jedediah Leland: | The Inquirer already has. |
Charles Foster Kane: | You long-faced, overdressed anarchist! |
Jedediah Leland: | I am not overdressed! |
Charles Foster Kane: | You are too! Mr. Bernstein, look at his necktie. |
Charles Foster Kane: | You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich I may have been a really great man. |
Walter Parks Thatcher: | Don't you think you are? |
Charles Foster Kane: | I think I did pretty well under the circumstances. |
Walter Parks Thatcher: | What would you like to have been? |
Charles Foster Kane: | Everything you hate. |
Charles Foster Kane: | There's only one person who's going to decide what I'm going to do and that's me. |
Louis XVIII: | Ney, you will be the first to confront the werewolf. I know you love this man.... |
Louis XVIII: | Ney, you will be the first to confront the werewolf. I know you love this man... |
Marshal Michel Ney: | I did -- once. But I promise Your Majesty I will bring him back to Paris in an iron cage! |
Harry Lime: | In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They producedd Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock. |
Hank Quinlan: | Intuition |
Hank Quinlan: | Intuition. |
Harry Lime: | Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. |
Charles Foster Kane: | People will think what I tell them to think |
Charles Foster Kane: | People will think what I tell them to think. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Narrator [uncredited]: | And when the tomb was found empty, some days passed, and Christ was seen at Emmaus, and in Jerusalem, and those who saw Him knew He was the Lord God. And then a final time He came among His disciples by the shore of Galilee... |
Jesus Christ: | [offscreen] Do you know and love Me? Feed My sheep, for My sheep are in all the nations. Go you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature who hungers. I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. [We see the shadow of Jesus coming nearer toward the ocean, soon the shadow becomes perpendicular with the wood lying on the sand which makes a cross. The disciples leave; Peter is the last to go] |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Michael O'Hara: | "One who follows his nature, keeps his original nature in the end." |
Michael O'Hara: | One who follows his nature, keeps his original nature in the end. |
Harry Lime: | In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, and they had 500 years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud. |
Charles Foster Kane: | Rosebud... |