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Orson Welles
Orson Welles (1915-1985), American actor, producer, director, and writer, most noted for directing and starring in the landmark motion picture Citizen Kane (1941). He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rejecting college for world travel, Welles began his acting career in Ireland in 1931 and 1932. He toured the United States with the company of American actor Katharine Cornell, and he then acted and directed with the Federal Theatre Project. In 1937 he was a founder of the Mercury Theatre, which produced innovative stage and radio drama. His 1938 radio version of The War of the Worlds by English author H. G. Wells was so realistic that thousands believed an alien attack was actually occurring.
Welles's first completed motion picture, Citizen Kane, is often cited as one of the finest films ever made. Welles, then 25 years old, coscripted, starred in, and directed this psychological study of an American newspaper tycoon. His innovative expressionistic use of sound and camera techniques greatly influenced later filmmakers. The film was not commercially successful, however, and Welles spent most of the next two decades in Europe, acting and directing and continuing to experiment. He directed films that range from thrillers to television documentaries to works of English playwright William Shakespeare.
After Kane, Welles's greatest films (nearly all of which he both directed and acted in) were The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Stranger (1946), The Lady From Shanghai (1947), Macbeth (1948), Othello (finished in 1952 but not shown in the United States until 1955; reissued in 1992), A Touch Of Evil (1958), and Chimes at Midnight (1966). Other films he directed were Journey into Fear (1943), Mr. Arkadin (1955), The Trial (1963), The Immortal Story (1968; originally for French television), and the semidocumentary F Is for Fake (1974).
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Orson Welles - what members say
Orson Welles - filmography
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Modern Art - A Complete Guide
on DVD
(2003)
Starring: Orson Welles
Certificate: 
A tribute to Modern Art which features rare footage of modern artists working on their creations.
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53%
from 157 members
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Transformers - The Movie
on DVD
(1986)
Starring: Orson Welles, Robert Stack, Leonard Nimoy
Director: Nelson Shin
Certificate: 
In the year 2005, the Autobots and the Decepticons are still locked in battle, but a deadly new force enters the fray--a giant killer planet known as Unicron (voiced by film legend Orson Welles). The heroic Autobots must fight for their own survival and to save their home planet from destruction. A ..read more »
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67%
from 2,772 members
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The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
(1981)
Starring: Orson Welles
Director: Robert Guenette
Certificate: 
Is it possible that a man who died over four hundred years ago could see through the mists of time and foretell the future? In the year 1555 a French prophet predicated that during the first half of the twentieth century a fanatical German dictator named ''Hister'' would set off a reign of terror ..read more »
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60%
from 15 members
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F For Fake
on DVD
(1973)
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Oja Kodar
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate: 
Watch now: Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package.
Four people stand at the center of this documentary: Elmyr de Hory, who some believe forged more than a thousand masterpieces, many of which hang in some of the world's most famous museums; Clifford Irving, who is not only out to prove what a fake Elmyr is but also wrote a fake biography of Howard ..read more »
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68%
from 412 members
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Catch 22
on DVD
(1970)
Starring: Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Anthony Perkins
Director: Mike Nichols
Certificate: 
Based on Joseph Heller's much-loved best-selling novel, this sometimes disturbing antiwar satire centers around a group of World War II fliers in the Mediterranean and the insanity of war. The catch-22 of the title deals with a military snafu that results when a bombardier in the war attempts to ..read more »
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63%
from 2,705 members
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A Man For All Seasons
on DVD
(1966)
Starring: Robert Shaw, Paul Scofield, Orson Welles
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Certificate:
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, based on Robert Bolt's stage play, is an excellent biographical drama about the conflicts faced by Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield) when King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) asks him to break with Rome and grant him a divorce. The film is a powerful, cerebral story, supported by an ..read more »
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72%
from 3,995 members
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The Trial
on DVD
(1963)
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Jeanne Moreau, Elsa Martinelli
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
THE TRIAL is Orson Welles's claustrophobic adaptation of Franz Kafka's surreal tale of fear and paranoia in a nameless society. Tinged with background jazz, filmed in shadowy black and white--mostly with direct light--THE TRIAL looks like a classic film noir, with angled close-ups and characters ..read more »
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68%
from 223 members
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The Long Hot Summer
(1958)
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa
Director: Martin Ritt
Certificate:
When suspected barnburner Ben Quick (Newman) drifts into a town dominated by Will Varner (Welles), he is recruited to husband Varner's spinster daughter (Woodward) so that Varner can keep an eye on him. But the two men soon lock horns, and ultimately a chain of events leaves them all changed forever...
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69%
from 28 members
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Touch Of Evil
on DVD
(1958)
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate: 
Welles plays the racist Captain Hank Quinlan, a grotesque, troubled, and powerful figure who runs his small U.S. border town according to his own version of the law. Quinlan's brutishness and vulgarity contrast starkly with the idealism and playboy good looks of Charlton Heston as Mike Vargas, a ..read more »
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71%
from 5,110 members
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Mr. Arkadin
on DVD
(1955)
Starring: Robert Arden, Paola Mori, Michael Redgrave
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
A dying man's final words send two people to Gregory Arkadin (Orson Welles), a mysterious and much-feared billionaire who lives on a Xanadu-like castle. In Welles's noirish MR. ARKADIN, Robert Arden stars as Guy Van Stratten, an adventurer and fortune hunter who is interested in Arkadin's money--..read more »
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56%
from 519 members
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Trent's Last Case
on DVD
(1952)
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles, Michael Wilding
Director: Herbert Wilcox
Certificate:
Based on the famous novel by E.C. Bentley, Michael Wilding stars as journalist Philip Trent, who is convinced that the death of Sigsbee Manderson (Orson Welles) was really murder. Manderson's wife (Lockwood) and his secretary John Marlowe (John McCallum) are under suspicion but there's a twist in ..read more »
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59%
from 96 members
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Orson Welles' Othello
on DVD
(1952)
Starring: Orson Welles, Suzanne Cloutier, Michael MacLiammoir
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
The story of a man driven mad by the power of his self-contained emotion. A Shakespearean classic. Orson Welles' production began in 1948 but with money in short supply the production took a further four years to complete. An original negative found in 1992 allowed a restoration project to begin.
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64%
from 440 members
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The Third Man
on DVD
(1949)
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Trevor Howard
Director: Carol Reed
Certificate:
This classic noir mystery, from the team of Carol Reed and Graham Greene, is generally considered to be the best filmwork of both of these estimable talents. THE THIRD MAN features Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a pulp novelist who has come to post-WWII Vienna with the promise of work from his ..read more »
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75%
from 17,450 members
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Orson Welles' Macbeth
on DVD
(1948)
Starring: Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
A dark, moody screen version of the classic tragedy about a presumptuous Scottish prince's quest for power through patricide--in keeping with both the play's spirit and Welles' vision. As with his other masterpieces, Welles effectively mixes the use of shadow and oblique camera angles to achieve ..read more »
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60%
from 515 members
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The Lady From Shanghai
on DVD
(1948)
Starring: Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, an atmospheric film noir based on Sherwood King's novel IF I DIE BEFORE I WAKE, features Orson Welles as producer, director, screenwriter, and star. Welles plays rogue seaman Michael O'Hara, complete with Irish brogue. After saving beautiful Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) ..read more »
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68%
from 1,336 member
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Orson Welles - The Stranger
on DVD
(1946)
Starring: Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
Orson Welles directed and stars in THE STRANGER, a tense black-and-white thriller that Welles made for maverick producer Sam Speagle. Welles portrays Charles Rankin, a respected academic at a prominent Connecticut college. He seems to have the perfect life: a beautiful new wife, Mary (Loretta Young)..read more »
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61%
from 350 members
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Orson Welles Collection
(5 discs)
on DVD
(1946)
Starring: Orson Welles
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
Features THE STRANGER, directed and starring Welles; THE TRIAL, Welles' adaptation of the Kafka classic; the mad-for-TV production KING LEAR; the Italian epic DAVID AND GOLIATH, and the features THE HERB SHRINER SHOW, HOLLYWOOD REMEMBERS ORSON WELLES and HOLLYWOOD COUPLES - ORSON WELLES AND RITA ..read more »
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63%
from 165 members
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The Stranger
on DVD
(1946)
Starring: Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
Orson Welles directed and stars in THE STRANGER, a tense black-and-white thriller that Welles made for maverick producer Sam Speagle. Welles portrays Charles Rankin, a respected academic at a prominent Connecticut college. He seems to have the perfect life: a beautiful new wife, Mary (Loretta Young)..read more »
Rate this:
68%
from 94 members
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Follow The Boys
on DVD
(1944)
Starring: George Raft, Vera Zorina, Grace McDonald
Director: A. Edward Sutherland
Certificate:
A screen star organises all-star USO shows for the troops after being turned down himself for active duty. Features musical acts and guest stars galore, including Orson Welles, Dinah Shore, Marlene Dietrich, Donald O'Connor and many, many more.
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51%
from 21 members
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The Magnificent Ambersons
on DVD
(1942)
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Delores Costello, Anne Baxter
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
The sweeping saga of a prominent wealthy family's attempt to adapt to the changing times at the close of a decadent age. Though mutilated by studio executives before studio release, this film remains a masterpiece of directorial artistry, as Welles refined the techniques of shadow, quick-cutting, ..read more »
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71%
from 942 members
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Citizen Kane
on DVD
(1941)
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate:
CITIZEN KANE is Orson Welles's greatest achievement--and a landmark of cinema history. The story charts the rise and fall of a newspaper publisher whose wealth and power ultimately isolates him in his castlelike refuge. The film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, was based on a composite of Howard ..read more »
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70%
from 22,177 members
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The Last Sailors
on DVD
Starring: Orson Welles
Certificate:
Orson Welles narrates this story of the men from all corners of the world who, with their ancient craft, still harness the wind and the sea for their livelihood.
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52%
from 21 members
Orson Welles - watch online
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F For Fake
to Watch Now
(1973)
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Oja Kodar
Director: Orson Welles
Certificate: 
Watch now: Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package.
Run time: 85 minutes
Four people stand at the centre of this documentary: Elmyr de Hory, who some believe forged more than a thousand masterpieces, many of which hang in some of the world's most famous museums; Clifford Irving, who is not only out to prove what a fake Elmyr is but also wrote a fake biography of Howard ..read more »
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Orson Welles facts
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A good film, but not the greatest of all time: 18 July 2004
...ere first big screen appearance, there isn't a weak link to be seen. But it is Orson Welles who steals the show as Charles Foster Kane, he commands your attention whenever...
