TV and Movies

[Mz iMac]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe Orsen Wells was the first to shoot scenes & actors from the ground up as if you are looking up at them.  He did this first in Citizen Kane I believe.

[bikerbabe]

I've mentioned before, I totally have a thing for Orson Welles. That voice. That brooding presence. I find him mesmerizing. Such a genius. Brilliant, mercurial, sometimes cruel, but always fascinating. 

Citizen Kane is not my favorite but the movie is brilliant nonetheless, especially since it's all Welles.  The cinematography is genius even by today's standards. You couldn't do the same movie in color. 

It's a tragedy we will never see what Ambersons could have been. The studio was mad at Welles and totally did a hatchet job editing it, cutting it down to fit the running time, without his knowledge and approval. Film historians pieced together what they could find but the original film as envisioned by Welles is gone forever. In my opinion, what survives is still - Magnificent. I've often wondered what Welles' achievements could have been if he lived in an age when independent films had better support. He was strangled by the studio system. Sadly, he was also at times his own worst enemy. 

In his later years, he was a regular on the the talk show circuit, which is where I first discovered him as a child, doing his magic act and reciting Shakespearean soliloquies. He was funny, wickedly smart, and a great gossip on old Hollywood. 

P.S. If you are a Joseph Cotton or Welles fan make sure to watch The Third Man. It is occasionally on TCM. 

[silkyk]

I LOVED the movie and loved it even more after visiting Hearst Castle (truly a must see).

[on the bay]

@Jaspersmom -

Based on your review, I'll have to watch it again!

Who knows, I might appreciate it this time around. Especially for some reason I am into watching dark things. You'd think it would be the opposite! Maybe watching others dark worlds, it takes my mind off ours right now or something!