Director Orson Welles Final Film To Screen?

COMMENTS (22)

• This is great news, of course, but I thought Peter Bogdanovich was already taking a crack at putting it together; certainly he has the best insights. Considering what happened to Welles’ “Don Quixote” (1955-1992), let’s hope that “The Other Side of the Wind” survives everybody’s good intentions.

  Comment by Santayana — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 4:01pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Let’s not forget The Magnificent Ambersons which the studio decided to edit while Welles was in South America. They completely changed the ending, and destroyed what would have been a brilliant film. Not only that, they destroyed the footage so that the film could not be re-edited. What remains is still, in my estimation, a great film, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it would have been even greater had the studio left it as Welles wanted it. If you listen to his interviews with Bogdanovich, which took place decades later, Welles is still nearly brought to tears by what happened to his film.

    Comment by Ken Shane — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 4:32pm PST  Reply to this post

• RAW!!!!!!!!!! Let’s see this GOD’S work. The thought of him is an oasis and a relief from the day-to-day garbage of the film industry. His legacy gives this town meaning.

  Comment by God — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 4:08pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Anyone who’s ever sat through dailies knows the gulf between raw footage and the director’s intentions.

    Comment by Steve — Monday January 24, 2011 @ 1:55am PST  Reply to this post

• About time.

  From the reports that would crop up every year or two, it would seem like financiers were willing to pay for the footage to be constructed, but it seemed like the rights (like all of Welles’s projects) were just tied up somewhere.

  Anyway, here’s to it actually working out, and we can see the movie.

  Also: It should be seen edited together; while it’s not necessarily easy to see, I’d prefer for the editing to be at least approximated in a theatrical cut. They can include both on the DVD materials.

  Comment by Matthias Galvin — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 4:21pm PST  Reply to this post

• Let Bogdanovich cut it together for the theatrical release, then release both on DVD.

  Comment by Chris — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 4:33pm PST  Reply to this post

  • Seconded.

    Comment by Usherette — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 8:35pm PST  Reply to this post

• From what I understand, Welles did leave behind editing notes, and I’d imagine he’d have wanted the film completed somehow. I trust Bogdanovich to get it in shape.

  Comment by PT Ryan — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 4:44pm PST  Reply to this post

• Give it to me raw, baby.

  Comment by Sam — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 5:03pm PST  Reply to this post

• Edit it. In edited form it’s legitimate film; in raw form it’s a curiosity.

  Comment by Andrew — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 5:12pm PST  Reply to this post

• I saw a segment of Other Side of the Wind at Gary Graver’s memorial service. Gary worked with Orson in the last fifteen years of his life, and I certainly wish I saw the segment under different circumstances, but what I saw was very well done. The clusterfuck of rights issues with this has made the untangling of Spider-Man look like a day at the beach. Am glad it may finally see the light of day in any form.

  Comment by David Konow — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 5:14pm PST  Reply to this post

• Excellent comment.

  Comment by Jen — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 5:42pm PST  Reply to this post

• Raw or edited?

  Both.

  Along with a documentary about the editing, taking us through the choices.

  Comment by Kurt Busiek — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 5:48pm PST  Reply to this post

• Kill it. Welles last film is and should remain Transformers: The Movie. Oh shit, what are you gonna do now?

  Comment by bill — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 7:24pm PST  Reply to this post

• Clearly — this should be show both raw AND edited (possibly by Bogdanovich). When it gets a video release — feature BOTH versions.

  Comment by Martin A. — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 7:56pm PST  Reply to this post

• Raw? You expect me to sit through dailies? How many takes do we have to sit through? Or was the entire film a huge Master shot bonanza with one take wonders?

  Comment by Frank Tien — Sunday January 23, 2011 @ 9:33pm PST  Reply to this post

• Obviously both. Raw will be a curio item for those playing editor; the good news about that is that everybody can play that game now, with Final Cut Pros in everyone’s personal computer (Sorry Orson, cheap filmmaking technology came in too late for you. Our loss) And an edited version from notes is not going to be the same as edited by Orson Welles himself; he was the first, after all, to admit that directing is presiding over accidents and that he would often discard his own plans (An unedited Hitchcock would be more faithful if following editing notes, but again, historians proved that the ‘film on paper’ theory Hitch popularized was not entirely true either) So we’ll have a set to play editor with, and another which will be an approximation, an editor’s assembly of his final film. Close enough.

  Comment by martin — Monday January 24, 2011 @ 5:59am PST  Reply to this post

  • Well said.

    Comment by TomF — Monday January 24, 2011 @ 8:09am PST  Reply to this post

• Peter B. was working on it for Showtime, which was supposed to air it many years ago. The film should be shown edited, while the remaining pieces should be on the Criterion disc. Snippets have been shown, the most interesting was when Orson showed clips from TOSOTW at his AFI salute, attended by Spielberg and other industry people. Welles pleaded for support to finish this film from a roomful of people who were there to honor and support him.

  He got nothing.

  Comment by Kane76 — Monday January 24, 2011 @ 7:56am PST  Reply to this post

• I can’t believe they’re seriously considering leaving this material in the hands of some Showtime editors. Plus Peter’s creative days are 3 decades behind him. All that remains is his enormous ego.

  Comment by ben — Monday January 24, 2011 @ 12:15pm PST  Reply to this post

• This is – correct me if I’m wrong – the last great unseen film of ANY major director of the past 50 years. I like to believe that if anyone has an inkling of Welles’s vision for this film it would be Peter Bogdanovich. But as many previous commenters have said, we can see it all on DVD with extras. Consider it a posthumous masterclass from one of cinema’s visionaries. Let Peter give us a movie…and let’s see Orson’s additional footage so we can have the best night at the movies for decades!

  Comment by Ross Barnard — Wednesday January 26, 2011 @ 12:31am PST  Reply to this post

• Martin Scorcese please step forward and edit this film. Please sir!!!

  Comment by Heathcliff Blair — Saturday January 29, 2011 @ 11:16am PST  Reply to this post