December 12, 2015 – January 3, 2016
The late film scholar Gilberto Perez referred to Orson Welles as “a director with an immediately recognizable style if there ever was one.” Perhaps no other filmmaker, with the exception of Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick, has been as globally discussed by film critics and connoisseurs. Welles’ films—many of which were made under considerable scrutiny and now precariously exist in contested multiple versions—remain enduring cinematic pleasures of the highest order.
On the occasion of his centennial year, the Northwest Film Center offers a primer of Welles’ work. While it proudly features some of his most lauded masterpieces, the series also dives deeper into some of Welles’ lesser-known work, as well as a handful of films he acted in and sometimes surreptitiously produced and directed. In grasping to capture Welles’ allure, film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum’s reflection speaks for many cinema lovers: “Though I wouldn’t necessarily call him my favorite, he remains the most fascinating for me, both due to the sheer size of his talent, and the ideological force of his work and his working methods…a major part of Welles’ talent as a filmmaker consisted of his refusal to repeat himself—a compulsion to keep moving creatively that consistently worked against his credentials as a ‘bankable’ director, if only because banks rely on known quantities rather than on experiments.”
Black Magic
Directed by George Ratoff
Meteoric rise and precipitous fall—hallmarks of Welles’ work, especially in the 1940s—are given the magical treatment in Black Magic, an …
Chimes at Midnight AKA Fallstaff
Directed by Orson Welles
His third “finished” Shakespeare adaptation, Chimes at Midnight, sees Welles dulling his edges a bit in offering up a highly …
Citizen Kane
Directed by Orson Welles
Routinely voted—by critics, scholars, and filmmakers—as one of the best films ever made, Citizen Kane is many things at once: …
Compulsion
Directed by Richard Fleischer
If anyone was born to play a high-powered, world-weary lawyer defending two murderers against the death penalty, it was Orson …
Confidential Report AKA Mr. Aradkin
Directed by Orson Welles
Bearing key similarities to The Third Man, Welles’ noir concerns small-time smuggler Guy Van Stratten (Robert Arden), who overhears a …
F for Fake
Directed by Orson Welles
F for Fake, a pseudo-documentary revolving around the shadowy world of art forgery, sees Welles at his most globe-trotting and …
Jayne Eyre
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Charlotte Brönte’s gothic 1847 novel about a penniless girl’s resolute journey through life stars Welles as the mysterious, brooding Edward …
Journey Into Fear
Directed by Orson Welles
Packed to the gills with his Mercury Theatre players, Journey into Fear is a Welles product through-and-through (though it was …
Macbeth
Directed by Orson Welles
Welles’ passion project was made at the scrappy Republic Pictures on discarded lots previously used for Roy Rogers Westerns. At …
Othello
Directed by Orson Welles
Among Welles’ finished films, Othello has one of the most troubled production histories. Financed largely out-of-pocket and shot intermittently over …
The Immortal Story
Directed by Orson Welles
Welles’ first color film—significant considering the development of scores of color processes since the 1920s—tells the story of Clay (Welles), …
The Lady From Shanghai
Directed by Orson Welles
Here writer/director Welles smolders alongside bombshell Rita Hayworth (Welles’ second wife) in a wildly stylish film noir that was years …
The Magnificent Ambersons
Directed by Orson Welles
Following the success of Citizen Kane, Welles embarked upon one of the most famously disastrous productions of the 1940s. The …
The Stranger
Directed by Orson Welles
Welles’ post-war thriller tackles Nazism head-on as UN War Crimes Inspector Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) searches for Welles’ fugitive Franz …
The Third Man
Directed by Carol Reed
Pulp novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) travels to shadowy postwar Vienna at the invitation of an old friend, black-market opportunist …
The Trial
Directed by Orson Welles
Welles translates one of Franz Kafka’s best-known literary works into a disorienting black-and-white cinematic world of crime and punishment. After …
Touch of Evil
Directed by Orson Welles
Celebrated as one of the greatest film noirs ever made, Welles’ mid-career morality tale sees him writing, directing, and starring …