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Orson Welles

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).


What members say | Filmography | Watch online (1)

Orson Welles - what members say


  • Citizen Kane
  • Citizen Kane review by from the Midlands, England.
    Rated - 4 stars 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...  
  • Waterloo
  • Waterloo review by A customer from GLASGOW
    Rated - 4 stars TOP MOVIE !!! 28 January 2006
    ... loyalist troops when he returns by popular demand and defies King Louis XVIII (Orson Welles). Soon England, Austria, Prussia and Russia unite to try and stop the dictator....  
  • Orson Welles' Macbeth
  • Orson Welles' Macbeth review by from UK, London
    Rated - 4 stars Be sure you can understand scottish accents 12 August 2004
    ...Typical of Orson Welles' obsession with excellence all lines in this version of Macbeth are delivered in broad Scots accents. Make sure that you are comfortable with this ...  

Orson Welles - filmography


  • The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1981)
    Starring: Orson Welles
    Director: Robert Guenette
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    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 »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 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: Certificate: PG
    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 »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 412 members
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  • The Long Hot Summer (1958)
    Starring: Paul Newman,  Joanne Woodward,  Anthony Franciosa
    Director: Martin Ritt
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    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...
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 69% from 28 members
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  • Mr. Arkadin on DVD (1955)
    Starring: Robert Arden,  Paola Mori,  Michael Redgrave
    Director: Orson Welles
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    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 »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 56% from 519 members
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  • The Third Man on DVD (1949)
    Starring: Orson Welles,  Joseph Cotten,  Trevor Howard
    Director: Carol Reed
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    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 »
    Rate this: 4 stars out of 5 75% from 17,450 members
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  • Orson Welles Collection (5 discs) on DVD (1946)
    Starring: Orson Welles
    Director: Orson Welles
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    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 »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 63% from 165 members
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  • The Last Sailors on DVD
    Starring: Orson Welles
    Certificate: Certificate: Ex
    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.
    Rate this: 2.5 stars out of 5 52% from 21 members
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Orson Welles - watch online


  • F For Fake to Watch Now (1973)
    Starring: Joseph Cotten,  Orson Welles,  Oja Kodar
    Director: Orson Welles
    Certificate: Certificate: PG (TBC)
    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 »
    Rate this: 3 stars out of 5 No ratings yet. Be the first.
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Orson Welles facts

5 most recent films

Modern Art - A Complete Guide - 2.5 stars
Transformers - The Movie - 3.5 stars
Transformers - The Movie - BLU-RAY Version - 2.5 stars
The Witching - 2.0 stars
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow - 3.0 stars

5 highest-rated films

The Third Man - 4.0 stars
A Man For All Seasons - 3.5 stars
Touch Of Evil - 3.5 stars
The Magnificent Ambersons - 3.5 stars
Citizen Kane - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films

I'll Never Forget What's 'Isname - 2.0 stars
Tepepa... Viva la revolución - 2.0 stars
Necromancy - 2.0 stars
Follow The Boys - 2.5 stars
The Last Sailors - 2.5 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Joseph Cotten - 13 times - show films
Everett Sloane - 8 times - show films
Agnes Moorehead - 7 times - show films
Alan Ladd - 6 times - show films
Fortunio Bonanova - 6 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Carol Reed - 2 times - show films
Nelson Shin - 2 times - show films
Andrew McCullough - 2 times - show films
Richard Pottier - 2 times - show films
Bert I. Gordon - 2 times - show films


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