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Light!

Give me a mic.

I discovered
the director's work

seeing Citizen Kane
on TV for the first time.

I started
to become aware

of the assembly
and camera angles.

You are fine,
ladies and gentlemen?

It's Orson Welles.

Seventy years later,

these innovations were
assimilated and absorbed

by our way of perceiving
cinematic narration.

They modified
film grammar.

Welles was certainly a magician

and a prodigious actor.

But all this is nothing
compared to the grandeur of his cinema.

Citizen Kane
is an immense masterpiece

and an eminently strong experience,

physically and emotionally.

It upsets me every time.

You know, we directors,

we are not
that a bunch of poor fellows

who do a job
technologically

already almost out of fashion.

I grew up in Hollywood

or more precisely in Santa Monica

who, at the time,
was a private beach.

I am often asked why
my father named me Christopher.

My parents chose
this name before I was born.

When they saw that I was
a girl and not a boy,

they were even more excited

that no girl
was not called Christopher

and that my father always loved
go against the grain.

Even though when I was little,

I rubbed shoulders with a lot of people from the cinema,

I didn't perceive them
like stars.

It's only
remembering my childhood

that I said to myself:
“Elizabeth Taylor was there!

"She made sand pies
with me in the garden."

When my father
married Rita Hayworth,

I must have been around 5 years old,

and I had the chance
that she adopts me very quickly.

She invited me every weekend
to come and spend time with them.

They lived near us
in Santa Monica.

I was 5 years old when I saw
my father performing on stage.

He was going up
the Mercury Wonder Show,

a magic show

for American soldiers
based in Los Angeles.

We were at war at the time,

and they were waiting
to be sent to the Pacific.

The show
was free for the G.I.'s,

and my father paid for it out of his own pocket.

This time, the magician
emerges from the rabbit's hat.

But it was in his nature.

It goes hand in hand
with his love of magic.

He had a formidable aura.

Above all, he was someone
who wanted to entertain.

When he was young,
In my opinion, it's true,

his mother organized trade fairs

where she invited
all the good society of Chicago.

She told her son,
who was still a little boy,

that he had the right to come
provided it entertains its guests.

As soon as he was razor sharp,
he would be sent back to his room.

I suspect
that from a very young age,

he learned to entertain people

to stay with the adults
and not return to his room.

I never had a friend
who asks me for a magic trick.

In my entourage, no one
doesn't like magic tricks.

That's why I do it
professionally!

There are people in the world
who ask you for tricks.

One evening I introduced myself
on the birthday of Louis B. Mayer

with a rabbit in my pocket.

I was going to pull him out of his hat.

They succeeded each other
Judy Garland, Danny Kaye,

Danny Thomas
and all kinds of celebrities.

Then Al Jolson
did a long round of singing.

Meanwhile, my rabbit
happily pissed on me.

When the day dawned
on Hillcrest Country Club

and we took leave
by Louis B. Mayer,

no one asked me
magic trick.

I came home
at home with my rabbit.

What is a good magician?

Seriously.

A good magician is someone

who manages to come out
his rabbit in time.

In 1970,

I wanted to hire Orson
in my first film A Quiet Corner.

I went to see him in New York.

He was staying at the Plaza Hotel.

Peter Bogdanovich
gave him my name.

So I came to see him on his behalf.

I went up to his room
and I rang the bell.

He opened to me
in purple silk pajamas.

He looked like
to a huge bunch of grapes

in her big silk pajamas.

He didn't invite me in.

He opened it and said:
"That is why ?"

"I'm Henry Jaglom" and he says:

"It's supposed to
to tell me something ?"

“Peter set up our interview.”

"About what ?"
I was always outside.

"I want you
in my next film."

“Where is the script?”

"I do not have any.
Can I come in and explain to you?”

He agreed before adding:
“I will sit and not listen.”

He crossed his arms
looking at the ceiling

and refusing
obviously listening.

I started
to sell him the character.

I remembered
having read like everyone else

that he was obsessed with magic.

I told him he was a magician

and I even added

that he was a magician
which makes objects disappear:

zoo animals,

but there is one thing
who resists him.

Finally interested,
Orson looks at me and says:

"What ?"

"For the knowledge,
we will have to make the film.

"Otherwise you won't know."

He asked me :
“Can I wear a cape?”

I had won.

Disappear.

I was 23 in 1970

and I was almost done
the first of three books

that I wrote about Orson Welles.

I went to Hollywood
for the 1st time.

I had the number
by Peter Bogdanovich.

I called him, he told me:

"Wait, I'm online
with Orson."

He took me back and said:
“Orson wants to meet you.”

"Amazing! Orson is
in Hollywood and he wants to see me."

"Call him
to this number tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.

Welles had tasked Peter with recruiting
film buffs and directors

for his next film
The Other Side of the Wind.

I called him and he told me:
“We’re going to make a film.

“You want to play in it?”
I was stunned.

I had never played in my life

and I was delighted to be featured
in a Welles film.

I haven't found anything better
than to stupidly ask him:

“Will it be a feature film?”

Welles burst out laughing and said:
"I hope so !"

Welles has arrived
in New York in 1935

and founded the Mercury Theater
with John Houseman.

They were part
of the Federal Theater Project,

a measure of Roosevelt
to establish

a national theater,
which was great.

They put together several pieces
highly acclaimed on Broadway.

Welles refined
his apprenticeship on the radio.

He was doing the series
Mercury Theater on the Air

and he was in great demand
because of his awesome voice.

He did a lot of radio
and earned fortunes.

He started to rise
plays in 1936.

At only 21 years old,

he directed his "black" Macbeth,
or Macbeth “voodoo”,

as part of the federal project

black theater.

It was an incredible project.

There is even an excerpt

immortalized by the news
of the time.

The Black Theater Unit

presents a very successful version

from Macbeth by Shakespeare.

After New York,
the piece begins a tour

across the country.

Although transposed to Haiti,

this Macbeth remains faithful
in the spirit of the original text.

This staging
from American Theater

and another FTP project

open the way
of a brighter future.

It was an extraordinary feat.

You imagine a young man

who leads a troop
exclusively black?

He was famous all over the world
at the age of 21 or 22.

He made the cover
from Time Magazine at 23,

which was then the pinnacle
when it comes to fame.

I moved from one radio station to another
by ambulance,

I had discovered
that no law imposed

to be sick
to take an ambulance.

I booked an ambulance
to go from CBS to NBC.

The elevator was waiting for me.
I went up to the 5th floor,

I entered the studio
and asked: “What should I play?”

“An 80-year-old Chinese.”

I played the old Chinese
and went to another radio station.

My father did
this amazing radio show

War of the Worlds

who shook the country
and made him famous

almost overnight.

After this broadcast which caused
nationwide panic,

he made the news
newspapers around the world.

A radio play
terrifies the nation

Panicized listeners
believe they are at war

It was in the middle of the Munich crisis.
The world was on edge and afraid

a conflict.
The radio kept talking

of the imminence of a war
in Europe.

Welles had the idea
of the fake news bulletin.

We interrupt
our music show

for a special flash
of intercontinental radio.

I am handed a press release.

Martian cylinders
are falling on the country.

The enemy has been seen
above Palisades.

Five… five big machines…

The orchestra played
and was interrupted by a flash.

One of the presenters
had the voice of Roosevelt.

It seemed credible,

even if today,
It seems ridiculous.

I met people
who told me they believed

to the attack of the Martians.
Some fled by car.

A woman showed up
in a police station,

his clothes torn,

claiming to be a victim of the Martians.

Alert!

What terrified people the most,

it was the silences.

Orson was standing in the studio

while the presenter said:

“My God, it’s getting closer!
A bit more !"

Silence.

Orson was there in the middle of the studio…

He made the silences last.

That's what was scary.

More than anything else,
it was the silence that was scary.

Orson knew this perfectly well.

He claimed no,

but in my opinion,
he knew it very well.

The attack of the Martians on the radio
thousands of people panic

There are funny pictures
taken the day after the event

where Welles expresses his regrets
in a press conference.

He's doing a number
because he didn't regret anything.

He said that because they were afraid
to be prosecuted.

Some spoke of arrest.
But it ended up settling down.

Of course,

we are deeply
shocked and full of regret

facing the consequences
from last night's show.

I asked him
if he felt any regrets.

I meant by that
if he felt he had gone too far.

He answered me :
“What is there to regret?”

People are gullible with radio.

I therefore suggested to make believe
to an improbable scenario,

and then show
that it was just radio.

That was the original idea.

Today,
it is prohibited by law.

We can no longer present
a newsletter

and pretend it's true
without being pursued.

Those who tried
all ended up in prison.

It got me a contract
at Hollywood. It's the truth.

Next, Hollywood
searched at all costs

to bring in Orson Welles
on the West Coast.

They wanted him to do
War of the Worlds at the cinema.

RKO offered him a contract
tailor-made for Citizen Kane.

Welles had to have the studio's approval
on the script and casting

and not exceed a certain budget,

but he had the final cut,
extremely rare thing.

Before that, he had received
other proposals.

He had made 2 or 3 attempts
for Warner and Selznick,

but it was only
to act,

However, he wanted absolute control,
what he got on Citizen Kane.

He resisted
to Hollywood's proposals,

but the RKO made him
an extraordinary offer:

a three-film contract
with great autonomy.

The RKO was recovering
just from bankruptcy

and took risks
by defending authors.

She left carte blanche
to filmmakers like Ford or Hawks.

Its president George Schaefer
was an intelligent man,

he thought that a contract with Welles
would restore the studio’s image.

This naturally gave rise to
deep resentment...

Today, all the stars
make films.

Even TV stars
direct their own scenes.

It's normal for an actor to direct himself.

But at the time, it was no longer
arrived from von Stroheim.

It was unheard of.

That I am the author
and the absolute producer…

The producers hated me

because
if I could do all that,

So what
hire a producer?

On Citizen Kane,
Welles was still very naive.

He thought that the director
took care of the lighting

as is the case in the theater
for the director.

Welles hired Gregg Toland,
the greatest operational chef in the world,

and he was there
to decide on lighting.

According to Welles,
Toland was so nice

that he had asked the team
to say nothing.

It lasted for a few days.

Toland passed behind
and told the machines

to move such a projector.

He finally told Welles
that it was his job.

Welles was confused.
“You shouldn’t,” Toland said.

He wanted to work with Welles

precisely because
it was his first film.

"I thought your ignorance
would be instructive."

I can have a spotlight on them
to see what it gives?

The panoramic head tensioner
is reflected on the projector.

Can we move it?

Someone asked him in an interview

who were his favorite directors.

He replied: "I have a weakness
for the old masters.

"In other words, John Ford,
John Ford and John Ford.

"Ford makes you feel
the texture of the earth

"even if the film
is Mother Machree."

I showed Ford the quote.

He said, "Where's Orson?"

“At the Beverly Hills Hotel.”

The next day, Orson called me.

"You showed
what I said to Ford?"

"Yes why ?"

“I just got a telegram.”

"Thanks for the compliment !
Friendships. Mother Machree.”

I experienced another terrible moment:

I did not understand
the rules of cutting.

It must be said that I had learned
to make films

looking at
Fantastic Ride

for a month.

In this movie you will see,

the Indians attack
from left to right,

then from right to left.

In other words,
it goes in all directions.

No rules are respected.

I have seen the film 45 times.

When I was told,
in a shot/reverse shot,

that I had to watch
right camera and not left,

I refused
by invoking this argument.

We suspended filming.

It must have been 2 p.m.
I came home

and Toland explained to me
how it worked.

“I am very ignorant.”

Toland: "I can do anything
teach you in 3 hours."

I didn't bring you here
for nothing, gentlemen.

I had an idea in my head.

- The Chronicle is good.
- He has good ideas.

Look at the draw.

495,000!

But look who they have.

With these guys, no wonder!

Correct, Mr. Bernstein.

Do you know how long it takes
has the team been assembled?

- 20 years!
- 20 years ? In this case…

6 years ago, I looked at the photo
of the world's greatest reporters

like a kid
in front of candy.

Today, 6 years later,
I have them, my sweets.

Welcome to The Inquirer, gentlemen.

Make it a double
and send it to theChronicle.

Please know that this morning, our draw
was the tallest in New York.

684,000.

684,132 to be exact.

I confirm!

He opened new doors
and gave new impetus to cinema.

It's true.

With his cinematographer Gregg Toland,

he did something
completely new visually.

It had an impact.

There had already been cinema
German expressionist of the UFA,

but that wasn't it.

He breathed freshness
in American cinema,

a freshness
in vision and expression.

He refused
to comply with conventions

in terms of aesthetics
and tempo in cinema.

It gave
to future directors

the freedom they needed
to make films in their own way.

First, it was
official recognition

new ways
to tell stories.

There was also the fact
that Welles was 25 years old,

that he came from the theater
and radio,

and upset
film grammar.

Then, in the 1950s,

we saw the influence of the film
on the other films.

We talked about ceilings
which we saw for the first time.

But what was new,
it was the low angles.

That's why
that we could see the ceilings.

There was also
the texture of the images.

But above all it was the story,
this feeling of loss.

A hero
which is essentially defined

by what he lacks.

Cut! It was great. Cut!

Cut! What is he doing?

Why do you continue?
You must be tired.

- Ready?
- Yes.

Camera, scene 6, take 2.

Action.

He wasn't afraid
to put the camera in front

and say "this is a camera",

bluntly showing the viewer

that it crosses the ground
up to the ceiling.

I noticed the camera movements
thanks to the wide angle.

If we go fast enough
with a wide angle,

we see the walls passing by.

This is what Welles brought
in cinema, particularly American.

Until then, we preferred
invisible connections.

The camera was hidden,
she didn't exist.

It was Welles who opened
Pandora's box

with its cameras flying away.

What's crazy about this movie
that I have seen thousands of times,

is that Kane is an enigma.

We don't know him.
It's impossible.

It moves me less than at the beginning.

At the beginning, when I saw the film,

I was especially moved
by Orson Welles himself.

I loved him, personally.

Citizen Kane
was the film of the state of grace,

harmony reigned with the studio,

he had everything he needed.

There was also of course
the scandalous side of the film,

references to William Hearst.

Welles wanted to do
an anti-fascist film

which would be located in the United States

and would depict
a fascinating businessman.

Initially, it was aimed at Howard Hughes,
then he attacked Hearst.

As Hearst cried foul

and prevented the film

to go out to theaters
who were part of his network,

it doomed the film.

The following project,
The Splendor of the Ambersons,

has, again,
was shunned by the public.

The studio withdrew the film
to my father and returned the end.

They made changes

who, according to my father,
destroys the film.

In his eyes, it was no longer his film.

Everyone
agreed to say,

while I was
in South America,

that the film was too depressing,

a very popular adjective
in Hollywood at the time.

Everything was taken away
even though that was the point of the film.

There were two previews
catastrophic.

The studio panicked

and tore the film to pieces.

Orson was in Rio
and could not come to the rescue.

I was sent to Rio
with a million dollars

to make a film about carnival.

I hardly like
Mardi Gras and carnivals,

but I was told
that it was my patriotic duty.

The studio told me

that it would be good for relationships
with Latin America, etc.

The film was destroyed.

Only the 1st hour
corresponds to Orson's montage,

but the last half hour
was reassembled and returned.

They re-edited it.

They returned the last…

There are three scenes at the end
that I neither wrote nor toured.

The first hour
is so good

that the film remains
nevertheless a masterpiece.

But it was more painful
that the failure of Citizen Kane

because it was the second.

Despite an Oscar nomination,
the film did not do well.

This 2nd failure was fatal to Welles.

We don't want you here.

I don't understand.

That too?

The Splendor of the Ambersons
reprises the actors of Citizen Kane.

Orson Welles
commented, directed and produced

this brilliant and exciting film.

They butchered the ending of the film.

Then he never had
total control of his films

and none made any money.

I never recovered
of this low blow.

When I left for Brazil,
RKO promised me

to send me
a Moviola and an editor

so I can finish
editing there.

She did not do it,
she put it together herself.

They massacred
The Splendor of the Ambersons

and by extension,
the film destroyed my career.

I spent years
without making a film.

He never had a hit
in the USA.

No box office success,
except for a movie he didn't like

titled The Criminal.

It is his only film which brought in
money in the United States.

Welles called this film

commercial enterprise.
He wanted to make a popular film,

he who had not turned
since Amberson and It's All True.

Franz!

My next film was The Criminal.

I did it to show
that I was not an alien.

That I could say "Action"
and “Cut”, like the others.

Welles didn't like the film,

he had difficulty bending
to the producer's requirements.

He wanted Agnes Moorehead
in the role of the investigator

who tracks down the former Nazi
refugee in the United States

played by Welles.
They considered it too daring

and took Edward G. Robinson.

So you don't have confidence

in the reforms
which affect Germany.

I don't know, Mr. Wilson.

For me, people cannot
be reformed only from within.

The principles of equality and freedom
will never take to Germany.

The desire for freedom was expressed
in all languages.

All men are born equal.

But in German…

There is Marx. The union of the proletarians.
Break his chains.

Marx was not German,
he was Jewish.

This guy is
obviously garbage.

The film shows how
these Americans are naive:

they didn't see
that they were around someone

which, according to general opinion,
is garbage.

This is the message of the film.

It was also the first American film
to show images of the camps.

A gas chamber, Mrs. Rankin.

A hot shower
was given to the victims

to dilate their pores

and allow the gas
to act more quickly.

After the war,
Welles was concerned

by neo-Nazism.
He wrote articles.

Like others, he realized

that the American government
had collaborated with the Nazis,

using them as spies
or as researchers.

Quite a few culprits
got away with it.

The Vatican helped some Nazis
to flee to South America.

Welles was one of those
who condemned the situation

and tried to alert
public opinion.

He talked a lot about Rita Hayworth.

He adored her. She was his 2nd wife
and the great sex symbol of the time.

He had seen her in photos
and had sworn to marry her.

We shared
wonderful moments.

She was the perfect mother-in-law
because of his childish side.

His star status
didn't really suit him.

Like many stars
paid the price,

people fell in love
of her on screen

and when they met her
in reality, they were often disappointed

because it didn't fit
to their idol.

Rita had this famous phrase:

"Men fall asleep with Gilda
but wake up with me."

As a child, I only encountered
people who made cinema

and I said to myself
that I had to do some too.

I didn't see any other future.

I didn't stop
to break my father's feet

to star in one of his films.

But he turned a deaf ear.

He did not want
that I become an actress.

Today, I thank him for it,

but at the time,
I only thought about that

and I came back
constantly charging.

At one point,
he was filming sequences

from The Lady from Shanghai
in Acapulco, Mexico,

and my mother sent me
join him for a few weeks.

So I was there.

They mostly turned
the scenes on the yacht.

Errol Flynn had rented
his yacht to my father.

A good part of the filming
took place in the bay of Acapulco.

One day they finished
by leaving the yacht

to turn
on a dirt road, in town.

I jumped at the chance.

I rushed to my father

and begged him
to let me act in the film.

He looked at me exasperatedly.
and said to me:

"Okay. You'll be a kid
who eats his ice cream."

It was not
what I had in mind,

but I would have done anything,
so I said yes.

It calmed me down for a moment.
“I’m in the movie,” I said to myself.

I wasn't into it at all!
Either there was no film,

which is very likely,

or, if the scene was filmed,

it was cut during editing.

But for a while,

I was convinced of being
in the same movie as Dad and Rita.

Mrs. Bannister,

according to you, why
would your husband have hired

a detective
if not to watch over you?

Objection!

Actually, Michael O'Hara and you
you are kissed.

We surprised you

kissing you
at the aquarium.

Do you deny it?

No!

There was his ex-wife Rita Hayworth
from which he had already separated.

They remained friends.

He was a big star
at Columbia

and she insisted
for him to make the film.

She was famous
for her magnificent red hair

that Welles hastened
to cut him off

and discolor it.

He explained himself by saying
that he wanted to change his style,

but it was seen as an attack
against Columbia and its star.

Some have seen the film

like a misogynistic attack
against his ex-wife

because she plays a bitch.

She said :
“I want to make your film.

"I want you to come back."

The theory
which has been published a thousand times

according to which I was looking
to take revenge on Rita,

that the film was a means
to belittle her,

does not hold.
It's all in the book.

She had read it
and wanted to play this character.

Like the good actress she was.

No man
could never trust her…

she who is afraid of nothing…

My father can be considered
like a pioneer.

He was one of the first
directors of this country

to work
outside the studio system

and to self-finance his films.

He made money as an actor

and reinvested it in his films.

When we think of Welles,
we think of the Third Man

while it is not
director.

The film is attributed to him,
because it looks like a Welles film,

but it's by Carol Reed.

He made shadows
and very Wellesian plans,

but that was Reed's style.

Welles always denied
that it was his.

The plot is very Wellesian
since it is a betrayal,

justified, of course,
but it's a very dark film.

Welles said that in Europe,

as soon as he entered
in a restaurant or night club,

we played music for him
of Third Man.

It drove him crazy
because it wasn't his film.

He was better known
for a film that wasn't his.

I never contradict
a director,

but I usually arrive
by having rewritten the scene.

This is what I do to them.

If they don't like it,

I am coming back home
and I rewrite the scene for the next day

hoping they accept
my version.

But never
I won't tell a director

“Do this or that”
unless he asks me.

People wonder why
my father fell from grace.

Why the young Hollywood prodigy

had become the enfant terrible
that no one wanted to hire anymore.

At this stage of his career,

he had a lot of trouble finding
a studio that finances its films

because none
did not bring in any money

and that Hollywood did not defend
than films that make money.

Author's cinema
didn't interest anyone.

Unfortunately there was no audience
for these films in the United States.

It marked the end of the career
from my father in Hollywood.

This is why
that he turned towards Europe.

There perhaps he would have
artistic control of his films.

Once upon a time in Venice

a Moor named Othello

who, because of his prowess
warriors,

was held in high esteem.

He fell in love one day
of a young and noble lady

named Desdemona,

a gentle woman.

I will cut it into slices…

Make me cuckold!

He made few films in Europe,

but they are good,
and these are his films.

He said: "I could have done better,
but they wouldn't have been my films."

Mr Arkadin has a lot of faults,

but it's a fascinating film
and it's his.

Nobody else
could not have done it.

Same for Othello.

There are also his documentaries

and The Trial. Falstaffis
his best film. What splendor.

I have a personality
which requires me to play certain roles,

otherwise, I'll ruin the scene.

It's a handicap.

There used to be in France
a category of actors,

at the Comédie-Française,
called the actor-kings.

Without being better than the others,
they played the role of the king.

I am an actor-king,
bad maybe,

but it's my nature.

My father is
a Shakespearean character:

he alone embodies
so many characters.

Among his greatest roles,

there is Macbeth, Othello

and especially Falstaff.

It was a role made for him.

I can't watch this movie
without crying.

It is overwhelming,
especially in the scene

where the prince has nothing but contempt for him.

This scene moves me to tears
Everytime.

My king! My Jupiter!

It’s you I’m talking to, my heart.

I don't know you, old man.
Get to your prayers.

That white hair
go bad to a madman and a buffoon.

I have long dreamed
of a man of this species,

also puffed with pride

as old and as ungodly.

But once you wake up,

I despise my dream.

This is my favorite movie.

If I had to…

present a film
to enter paradise,

This is the one I would choose.

It is, in my eyes,
the one where I cheat the least,

let's put it that way.

It corresponds most
to what I tried to do.

It's a more complete success

than anything else I could do.

He wanted to make a film
who is successful,

but like King Midas who could
turning everything he touched into gold,

everything my father touched
turned into art,

and often in Gothic art,

what the American public
was not able to understand.

Still,
people come and tell me:

"Citizen Kane is supposedly
the greatest film of all time,

"but frankly,
I do not see why.

"I do not see
what's so great about it."

While in Europe,
Welles is revered.

Much more than in his country,
which is a shame.

As the years pass,

Welles was typecast
by a bunch of people in the trade

like a failure and a has-been.

Citizen Kane
was his only masterpiece.

We, the directors,
We didn't agree.

We had another vision.

I saw a number
other Welles films,

including his Shakespeare,
Macbeth, Othello…

For us, Welles…

was the absolute model

of an individual commitment
towards oneself

and with regard to art,
above everything else.

Of everything else.

He was accused of self-destruction,

we can say that, it's true,

for having appeared in too many commercials
and turnips,

but it was necessary
let him live in the meantime,

whatever the compromises
and constraints.

Just look at Falstaff

or any version
of Mr Arkadin to convince yourself of this.

He reinvested this money
in films that he had to complete,

Othello and several others.

I have seen The Thirst of Evil for a long time
in its studio version,

it remains a great film.

A remarkable cast:

Charlton Heston,

Janet Leigh,

Orson Welles.

I talked about the film
with Charlton Heston.

Lovers of Welles
owe him a debt of gratitude

because without him, Welles would not have
never made The Thirst for Evil.

It was the adaptation
from Badge of Evil, a very good novel.

The studio wanted
an in-house director,

and Welles would play the villain,

Hank Quinlan,
the crooked police chief.

When they proposed
the role of Charlton Heston,

they said that Welles
might play Quinlan.

- “And who will direct it?”
- "We do not know yet."

Heston said, “What about Welles?
He’s a great director.”

"It's as if I had proposed
that my mother directs the film.

“They were horrified.”

Heston being a star,
they promised to think about it.

They ended up saying yes,

and Welles was able to direct the film.

- What do you want to do?
- Send you to the chair.

You trapped him. Trapped!

It is the bridegroom who speaks,
not the cop.

Where is she?

He was back in Hollywood,
after 11 years.

When they saw
final version…

Until then, they had supported him,

but they were terrified
by its darkness

and its nightmarish side.

Take his legs.

Then everything changed.

He was banned from editing.
The film has been reworked.

An illustrious unknown
shot 15 minutes of film.

Again, a Welles film

didn't come out
in the form he wanted.

The studio loved the rushes.

Every day the boss came
offer me a contract to sign.

A wonderful contract
for several films.

Then they saw
a first edit.

They were so horrified

that they banned me
access to the studio.

Nobody told me
which shocked them.

They especially didn't want
of a success. But nothing was said.

Heston doesn't know.
They didn't tell him anything.

And to me, even less.

They found it too dark,

too weird.

Today,
the reactions would be different.

It was too violent,
too dark for the time.

But that's a guess.
I do not know.

Welles signed eight or ten films,
magnificent for some.

Falstaff
is the most beautiful adaptation

from a Shakespeare play.

It's a masterpiece,
and no one talks about it.

In the United States, it is never cited.

I love Truths and Lies.

He reinvents cinema in this film.

But he never got
support and recognition

with which he had been rewarded
at the age of 24 or 25.

That's why he said

that he should have changed career
late.

I made a mistake
by continuing to make cinema.

But it's a mistake
that I can't regret.

It's as if I were saying:

"Why did you stay
married to this woman?

If I did,
It’s because I loved him.

“I would have done better
if I had left her."

I would have done better
if I had given up on cinema.

Continued the theater,
plays politics, writes.

I messed up
most of my life

looking for money
to try to get out of it.

I tried to make a living

with this color box
ruinous as films are.

I spent too much energy

to things
unrelated to cinema.

A film is 2% creation

and 98% prostitution.

This is not a life.

Do you think this will continue?

I will continue to be faithful
to my darling. I love it.

But it was his calling.

He had to do this.

Despite the ups and downs,

despite the lean years,

he continued until his death
trying to make films.

This is all he wanted:
make films.

He died with his...

He had become too big
To sit on.

He is dead, his machine
to write on the stomach,

by writing a film.

He spent his life trying
to make a film, then another.

No matter how much he said
that he would have preferred another life,

he couldn't have.
It was cinema, his life.

When I met him,
he was filming Truths and Lies

and tried to finish
The Merchant of Venice remained unfinished.

Then he started
The Other Side of the Wind

which he fully financed.

He toured for 4 or 5 years,
intermittently.

He filmed at my house,
in my house in Bel-Air.

He stayed there

while I was filming
a film in Europe.

He almost had
finished filming,

but he could never
finish the assembly.

During lunch,
in the mid-70s,

he turned to me and said:

"If something bad happens to me,
Promise me you’ll finish the movie.”

"Orson, why
Something bad would happen to you, come on?

“Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

"I know, but just in case,

“promise me you’ll finish it.”

Many great men

are aware of their greatness,

they know they will live
beyond their time.

I think my father knew that

and in a way, that consoled him.

I remember one of our long
telephone conversations

where I told him I was furious
that no one wants to give him

enough to finish
The Other Side of the Wind

or his other current projects.

He said, “Don’t worry.
for me, my darling,

"they will love me
when I'm dead."

Remember.

Make a wish, maybe.

Remember.

And now open your eyes.

And the hands.

We made 3 films. The Other Side
of the Windwhere I played,

A quiet corner,
my first film, where he played,

and Someone to Love,
his last appearance.

One day I said to him:

"Orson, you're going to look at the camera
and say: remember."

"An actor
Never look at the camera."

And he started to negotiate.

"You're going to tell me that it suits you
after one or two takes.

"I don't have the impression
that you will choose the right take,

“because you’re not me.

"I want to be able to do
20 or 30 takes if necessary."

I said :
“Here’s what I offer you.

"You will do as many takes
What do you want,

"you will choose the two best,

"and I will note
They're your favorite."

He told me :
“They’ll let you do that?”

I said yes.
Him: “What do you want in return?”

"I want you to do
what I ask you,

"that you recite your text
facing the camera,

"that you stop saying
to others what to do.

“You shall not lead.”

He said: “Not there, the camera.
Here, the projector."

“Orson, none of that.

"In exchange,
as many takes as you want.”

He said, “Deal.”

He put his all into it.
In 2 or 3 takes, it was good.

But he was full of doubts.

And it begins with “Remember.”

Excuse me !

It's your fault !
He's the one who made me laugh.

Scene 296, 2nd take.

The brilliant idea
of all sockets has disappeared.

There was only one take!

His last appearance
date of Someone to Love.

I told him: "You're going to go
sit at the back of the theater

"and answer the questions
of a young director, me,

"to an old director, you.

“I would like you to come
as you are, as you said.

"No make-up,

“no accents, no fake noses.
You as you are."

He said, “Okay.
But just this time."

When he came back,
I said, “Orson, is that you?”

He had makeup
and a fake nose.

“I am a Greek.
How do you find me ?"

“What do you mean, a Greek?

"We talked about it. You're making this film
to show who you really are.”

"You do not like ?
Come back in an hour.”

I'll come back an hour later.
He is made up in Egyptian makeup,

he has an accent and a fake nose.

I told him, “Orson.”
But he wanted to continue.

It was stronger than him.

He needed to play this game

until I told him:
“That’s enough. No fake noses.

“No big voices.
You, on the screen,

"for the first time,
as you are."

“With that tiny nose?”

“Yes, with that tiny nose.”

I have the wrong impression
as I speak to you

from the back of the theater

and I have a white beard,

you expect
until I tell you the truth.

I'm talking to you about the henhouse,
not from Mount Sinai!

At the end of Someone to Love,

he turned to the cameraman
and said, “Cut.”

The cameraman obeyed.
Me: “Why did you do that?”

“Orson Welles asked me to cut it.
I had to.”

"All right."
And I turned the camera back on.

Orson didn't know that.

And he started laughing,
to laugh out loud.

Hearing it, I said to myself:

"Here we are, I found it !"
He will never let me use it,

but it would be an ideal ending

because with this laughter it sweeps away
half a century of problems.

It is he who, ultimately,
the last laughs.

Don't we need an ending?

Can I kill everyone?

At this time,
the credits roll

and the spectators,
if there is any,

are heading towards the exit.

It seems to me
that you have the end of this film.

- For what ?
- Because we're done.

- Glad you came.
- Me too.

THANKS.

You can't keep this.

- For what ?
- It's too stupid.

I won't say "Cut."

I'll take care of it.
I am a director. Cut!