[78-L] Me and "Me and Orson Welles"

[Cary Ginell]

Just got through watching "Me and Orson Welles" and I agree with David that it is a magnificent film. It kind of sank out of sight at the box office, and never came to my town, not even the art theaters, but that's probably because of its subject matter. The drooling teenage crowd that most theaters are courting these days would not sit still for a minute with something this esoteric, without any blatant sex or violence, car crashes, or explosions, and a plot that centers on Shakespeare and the theater. Talk about the cinematic kiss of death. But I found it to be a lovingly assembled, extremely faithful historical document of Orson Welles' Mercurial (pun intended) personality and the most realistic portrayal of what it was like to be in the New York theater during the 1930s that I've ever seen. Christian McKay was devastatingly good in the role of Welles. I did a lot of research on Welles when writing my Jazz Man book -(he is the subject of two chapters), and found this part of his career ultimately fascinating. 

I was reminded of the other outstanding performance as Welles in a film - by Paul Shenar in another extraordinarily well-done period piece, "The Night That Panicked America" (from 1975) about the "War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938. 

I thought the best line in "Me and Orson Welles" was during the tumultuous applause received after the opening of "Julius Caesar" when Welles quips, "Now how the hell can I top this?" The music was great - with Ellington, Goodman, Dorsey, all the bands you'd expect to hear on the radio in 1937, and it was also nice to hear Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven version of "The Music Goes 'Round and Around" played over the closing credits. There's one shot of a turntable playing a record - it was during the radio broadcast and the record was supposed to be a sound effects disc, but the label wasn't clearly displayed. No matter. The details of the film were marvelous and, from what I could see, perfectly correct, even down to the tabletop radio in Welles' apartment and the paste they used to stick playbills on walls and telephone booths. 

Discographical note: in "The Encyclopedia of Orson Welles," co-author Chuck Berg states that Welles' "Julius Caesar" was the first drama to be commercially recorded in its entirety - by Columbia Records, with a score by Marc Blitzstein. Apparently everything that was audible in the theatre production was captured, including dialogue, cries of the mob, offstage sounds, and conversations of secondary characters. Can anyone verify this?

Anyone reading this should go out and rent this movie - it's apparently only been available for a few months. Target had an exclusive on selling it but I rented mine from our neighborhood Blockbuster. 

Cary Ginell

> Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:26:11 -0500
> From: dlennick at sympatico.ca
> To: 78-L at 78online.com
> Subject: [78-L] Me and Orson Welles
> 
> Just watched this movie tonight..I don't recall seeing it mentioned on any of
> our groups, and it's a shame because it's fabulous and jam-packed with vintage
> 1930s recordings. Lots of Duke Ellington, which is fine by me..the music list
> will be huge and it was impossible to read. Oh, and the acting ain't half bad
> either, and Joseph Cotten looks like Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles looks (and
> sounds) like Orson Welles. Actually this is the best Welles portrayal I've ever 
> heard or seen.
> 
> Three false notes occur in a scene at a radio station. Don't know why those
> were the only ones I noticed. (Okay, the sprinkler makes four.)
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1175506/
> 
> dl
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