Orson Welles: The One-Man Band (1995)

Directors:

Vassili Silovic
Oja Kodar (co-director)

Writers:

Vassili Silovic (writer)
Roland Zag (writer)

Release Date:

8 October 1995 (France)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Orson Welles' archives of unfinished/never released movies and the last years of his life from the perspective...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Character Name In Title

Cast

Oja Kodar
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ingrid Bergman	...	Herself (segment "Salute to Orson Welles") (archive footage)
Tim Brooke-Taylor	...	Algy in 'Stately Homes' segment, Presenter in 'One-Man Band' segment
Michael Bryant	...	(segment "The deep") (archive footage)
Graeme Garden	...	Interviewer in 'Stately Homes' segment (voice)
Charles Gray	...	(segment "Taylor's shop" / segment "The merchant of Venice") (archive footage)
Laurence Harvey	...	(segment "The deep") (archive footage)
François Marthouret	...	Narrator (french version) / Récitant (voice)
Jeanne Moreau	...	(segment "The Deep") (archive footage)
Orson Welles	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Orson Welles - l'homme orchestre (France) (TV title)
The Lost Films of Orson Welles (UK) (TV title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Germany | France | Switzerland

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on the 2-Disc Criterion Collection DVD for _Vérités et mensonges (1976)_, released in 2005.

Movie Connections:

Features Orson Welles' Magic Show (1985) (TV)

Orson Welles: The One-Man Band was a fascinating look at his unfinished works

After watching Orson Welles' first film, the experimental short The Hearts of Age, on UbuWeb, I decided to see the other one under his name there called Orson Welles: The One-Man Band. This documentary was directed by Vassili Silovic with the cooperation of Oja Kodar who takes us through her and Orson's house in search of his unfinished films and other stray materials. Among the most fascinating of those: scenes of The Other Side of the Wind like that of a female reporter interviewing a narcissistic director played by John Huston and his associate played by Peter Bogdanovich or a car scene with a young woman making love to a young man while the driver is being nonchalant through it all, Welles doing a monologue of reading "Moby Dick", and scenes of The Dreamers featuring compelling turns by both Ms. Kodar and Welles. There's also some funny scenes like that of Welles portraying Winston Churchill or the rejected F for Fake trailer where he claims his "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast wasn't a hoax after all! And then there's his acceptance speech at the American Film Institute honors, his performing with Muppets, and some partially funny moments from his Londan-based endeavors that were also fascinating to watch. There's others I haven't mentioned but I'll just say I heartily recommend Orson Welles: The One-Man Band for any of his enthusiasts out there. P.S. I recognized Charles Gray on The Merchant of Venice clips from his work in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Bond films, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever.