How many times can you watch a movie before you discover its secrets? I’ve probably seen Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane more than any other movie. That’s not something I set out to do; it just sort of happened that way. Ten years ago, … Continue reading Fun with aspects ratios in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI
I guess you could say the low point arrived on March 27, 2022, with the broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards. No, the “slap heard ’round the world” wasn’t it—though that cast a pall over the proceedings, didn’t it?—but the … Continue reading Cinema 101
What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Careerby Joseph McBrideThe University Press of Kentucky, 394 pp., Paperback, $29.95Published Jan. 11, 2022 What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? grew out of writer Joseph McBride’s frustration with the public … Continue reading WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ORSON WELLES?
For many, it’s the greatest of all time. But when it was released 80 years ago, Citizen Kane was a death sentence. The movie’s director and star, Orson Welles, came to Hollywood by way of the stage and radio with a contract … Continue reading CITIZEN KANE
The legacy of Orson Welles looms large in the history of cinema. So large, even Welles himself fell into its blackness. “The word genius was whispered into my ear—the first thing I heard—while I was still mewling in my crib,” … Continue reading ORSON WELLES
You cannot capture a man’s entire life in two hours,” Herman J. Mankiewicz says. “All you can hope is to leave the impression of one.” The movie Mankiewicz refers to is Citizen Kane—arguably one of the most well-known movies ever made—but … Continue reading MANK
Do you know that I always liked Hollywood very much? It just wasn’t reciprocated. —Orson Welles Continue reading In Their Words — Friday, June 21, 2013
You see, I had the best contract anybody had for Kane. Nobody comes on the set. Nobody gets to look at the rushes. Nothing! You just make the picture and that’s it. If I hadn’t had that contract, they would have … Continue reading In Their Words — Monday, May 6, 2013
If I’d only stayed in the theater, I could have worked steadily, without stopping for all these years. But, having made one film, I decided that it was the best and most beautiful form that I knew and one that … Continue reading In Their Words — Monday, October 15, 2012
Michael J. Cinema 