A legendary American actor and director (1915-1985).
One of the most revered directors in film history, Orson Welles was born 105 years ago today. While has passed away several decades ago, his art lives on. I could have turned this into a list of 10 films, but I didn't want to lower the level of the few masterpieces he made or was part of, so this is a shorter list. As all of these films boast some of the most amazing black and white cinematography ever seen on screen, I will include many film stills.
His most famous masterpiece is Citizen Kane, which is loosely based on the life of media mogul William Randolph Hearst. Not only the storytelling is wonderful, but the cinematography and lighting are artistic and are studied by film students worldwide until today. Welles himself plays the protagonist Kane, and is joined by Joseph Cotten.
There are three other films in Welles's career, that are almost on the same level as Citizen Kane: Touch of Evil, The Lady from Shanghai and The Third Man (in the last one, he only stars but it was directed by Carol Reed, in the other two he acted and directed ). All three films belong to the genre of Film Noir, and - once again - have wonderful imagery full of shadows and suspenseful plots.
Similar to the great British director Kenneth Branagh, Welles often directed himself, and love to create adaptations of English literature. In the case of Orson Welles, the two literary masterpieces are Jane Eyre (with Joan Fontaine and young Elizabeth Taylor) and Othello. He also directed an adaptation of Macbeth, and well as an adaptation of Franz Kavka's The Trial.
So here’s the essential watchlist to celebrate Orson Welles:
*Citizen Kane (1941) director, screenplay and actor
*Jane Eyre (1943) director and actor
*The Lady from Shanghai (1947) director, screenplay and actor
*Othello (1951) director and actor
*The Third Man (1949) only actor
*Touch of Evil (1958) director, screenplay and actor
(Images: IMBD)