Thursday, May 06, 2010

In Memoriam: Orson Welles

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Born this day in 1915, Orson Welles first attained prominence following the October 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, which caused widespread panic.

His masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941) was nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and Welles himself for Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. This achievement alone established him as a major Hollywood presence. In the end, he won only Best Original Screenplay, which he shared with Herman J. Mankiewicz. Citizen Kane is generally regarded as one of the finest American films ever made.

Despite a run of films including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady From Shanghai (1947), The Third Man (1949), and Touch of Evil (1958), Welles was hampered by the studios, who viewed him as a major troublemaker.

He died in October 1985.
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3 comments:

Gavin said...

Rosebud!

tankmontreal said...

What always intrigued me most about Citizen Kane was seeing in it a young Agnes Moorehead.

michael sean morris said...

It's true. If you'd only ever seen her as Endora, her appearances in Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons are a shock.