What a beautiful review. I’m a huge fan of Welles and a huge fan of this film, and what really stuck me immediately about it was how wonderfully each and every frame was composed - absolutely stunning. To me it’s the perfect balance of comedy and grief. Really can’t get any better than Chimes.
Great video, great film. I've had the pleasure of being somewhat of a pen-pal to Keith Baxter for the past few years. He told me once that they did in fact have the horses that characters talk about in the forest robbery scene. The horses weren't cooperating and at one point Welles fell off of his horse and decided to finish the shoot without them. Keith was disappointed that the shot of Welles falling didn't make it into to film, as it would have been fitting for Falstaff.
Wow, that’s interesting! I seem to remember one of the commentaries actually pointing out this fact, that they talk about horses that we never actually saw in the forest. I guess now we know why! I kind of want to see that shot of Welles falling off the horse now. That definitely sounds pretty fitting for Falstaff. (Though I guess you could argue that cutting his own fall out of the final film is an even bigger Falstaff move!) Thanks for the anecdote by the way! It’s really cool to hear you’ve corresponded with Keith Baxter!
I always love when Mr. Welles suddenly shows up in a small role in a film I'm watching. He was great as Cardinal Wolsey in "A Man For All Seasons" and as the king of France in "Waterloo."
A great review of my favorite Welles film, and I think it is absolutely one of the best Shakespeare films. The extraordinary battle scene was most recently referenced in the so-called Battle of the Bastards in Game of Thrones, in particular the end of the sequence where everyone is flailing around aimlessly (and dying) in the mud. In my opinion Chimes is absolutely Welles's greatest film, in part because I think the material resonated so strongly with his own life and feelings. The other Welles film which I think is seriously underrated is The Trial. It's a difficult, cold film, but one that speaks ever more presciently to the times we live in.
Thanks! The Trial is one of my favorites too but you’re right for whatever reason, that one gets often overlooked. It’s a bit harder to find than most of his other ones so that might play into it a bit. That being said, Chimes at Midnight was kind of that way for a while too so hopefully someone will be able to restore and rerelease The Trial again soon!
I remember stumbling on the battle scene on TV with three women yakking away in the room. It’s still one of the most violent scenes I have ever seen in movies. Thank you for the recommendation to read up on the plot. It’s not actually complicated at all but it was really helpful to know before watching the movie. Particularly Prince Hal’s off/on attitude towards his oily friends. Also great to be introduced to Jeanne Moreau.
I used to live near the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury. Some 50 years ago, the Army went over it with mine detectors: they found nothing. The townspeople donated mattresses for the wounded, along what is still known as Featherbed Lane
I think it’s a pity Welles couldn’t resist outdoing Larry, with that absurd ‘hoisting into the saddle’ nonsense! lol. I’d just cut the entire episode. Barnum and Bailey have much to answer for!
Thank you for introducing Falstaff or Chimes at Midnight. I was looking for a good copy of this film. Believe it or not, i found one in ebay for $7.00. When I got it, i realized that it is a spanish copy which came from Spain and PAL format. Fortunately, my slim DVD player played it and guess what? it was dubbed in Spanish. However, there was an audio option in original English too and many extra commentaries by (I assume) spanish commentators which unfortunately they were all in spanish and no subtitles. well, I am not too disappointed that's why I am not going to buy another expensive copy from criterion .
Well I'm glad you were able to watch it in English even if it was a bit of a hassle. Sounds like you got a pretty good deal on it though! As nice as Criterion discs are, I agree that they can be really expensive. Especially for those who aren't as big on collecting. Thankfully, they are consistently marked down at least to some extent most places online. Still, I would say its usually best to wait until one of criterion's 50% off sales to try and buy anything.
On amazon on the same page as the criterion collection, the DVD version is also for sale under 10 dollars. The criterion is quite worth it though..because the remaster of the film looks amazing. That's the thing about old movies, along as the physical film lives..it can be remastered into higher quality. Sad for the digitally filmed movies of the early 2000s...they will always look bad =/ while many older music videos and movies done on film, looks great after remaster. But seriously. Should splurge on the criterion copy once you have the extra cash. It has some great extras. And the HD makes the blocking and movement of the camera and the lighting looks so amazing. I bet is what Wells had imagined the scenes to look like, but was limited by the film resolution. It honestly looks great.
This is awesome, great review, thanks for showing that poster! I had no idea he was doing the extra commerical work to fund movies, He really was an artist, always thought he was a burned out drunk toward the end of his life, turns out he was a true creator.
Thanks! Yeah he had kind of a “lost period” I guess you could say where he didn’t release any movies and would just make celebrity appearances on tv shows and commercials but he was also constantly working on various short films and things at his home and in different places he would visit. There’s a documentary called One Man Band which I think you can find on RUclips that goes into this period and shows some of the films he was working on. From what I remember, they are quite different from his feature films and some are pretty silly like the one that the documentary takes it’s name from where he makes use of his love of makeup and plays literally every character in the film. It’s really interesting though as he seemed to just be making a lot of the films for himself as from what I gathered he never showed them to anybody outside of his friend group. It makes me wonder what the Orson Welles RUclips channel would have been like had he been born a bit later.
@@JoshuaSutlive Ha! Indeed, he would have been amazed of everyone having a camera on them at all times. Very interesting he would film just for friends, wonder how many of these rolls are sitting in a basement fadding away. Ill check out One Man Band, he sounds like a facinating specimen.
Great job! I am a Welles' fan. I just subscribed so not sure which of his films you covered--I assume "Citizen Kane," "The Third Man" and "Touch of Evil". If you haven't please review one of his best films, "The Magnificent Ambersons". Cheers.
Thanks! Yeah, I’m a huge Welles fan as well if you couldn’t already tell! I haven’t gotten around to covering any of Welles’ other films yet (I do have more of his films lined up in the near future!) though he does tend to come up in my other reviews as well! Thanks for subscribing by the way!
To ask if there are any Orson Welles fans out there ? Is like asking if there is a God? Hell yeah! Pinky And The Brain Animaniacs. I have a question for did Walter Houston ever direct Orson Welles
I great question, I don’t believe Walter Huston ever directed but his son John Huston was a good friend of Orson Welles. Though I don’t know if Huston ever directed Welles, he was one of the directors on the original Casino Royale film from the 60s which Welles acted in though as I said, I don’t know if he was ever specifically directed by John Huston.
@@JoshuaSutlive giants in their field, my guy was Walter Houston, his performance in “Treasure Of The Sierra Madre” is one of my favorites with an all stars cast directed by John Houston,what a film! 🎬
Thanks! That shot is taken from Welles' interview in 1965 on the Merv Griffin Show. Its kind of fuzzy but its a closeup of his editing machine (which can be fully seen behind him starting at 6:14) and its actually playing a bit of film from the battle sequence that he is editing. The whole interview is included as one of the bonus features on the Criterion disc but you may be able to find it somewhere on RUclips too if you're interested in watching it.
@@JoshuaSutlive Thanks for the answer. I would love to see this interview with Welles. I think hist best films are: Kane, Chimes, F for Fake, The Trial and Touch of Evil. However, my personal favorite is: The Magnificent Ambersons. And worst: Macbeth. His other „stuff” i like a lot (Mr Arkadin, Othello, Immortal Story, etc.)
Great Review! I am not exactly a "Welles Fan" I think Welles is an important director, and actor, and significant person of the 20th century. I own 7 of his films and an 8th (The Trial) is coming in the mail... Maybe his support for socialist FDR is what makes me sour... Welles style is self admittedly tawdry, and plodding. Welles is obsessed with filming ceilings. Otherwise, Welles is a great prodigy. If Welles could use all the German Expressionist techniques with out filming ceilings so much I might like his work better. I compare Welles to Paul Robeson: I often don't like him, but I have to admire him. IMHO
Your chimes treatment is superb. Dr. GeegConchelis
I just saw this movie last night for the first time. Well done analysis here.
Thanks!
What a beautiful review. I’m a huge fan of Welles and a huge fan of this film, and what really stuck me immediately about it was how wonderfully each and every frame was composed - absolutely stunning. To me it’s the perfect balance of comedy and grief. Really can’t get any better than Chimes.
You don’t see a lot of movie reviews on RUclips with this degree of thoughtfulness and originality. Keep it up.
Thanks!
I’m a welles fan. I’ve never seen a film of his i didnt like. I really like the Stranger
Love the ultra wide lenses.. modem movies could learn a lot from this 🎉
Great video, great film. I've had the pleasure of being somewhat of a pen-pal to Keith Baxter for the past few years. He told me once that they did in fact have the horses that characters talk about in the forest robbery scene. The horses weren't cooperating and at one point Welles fell off of his horse and decided to finish the shoot without them. Keith was disappointed that the shot of Welles falling didn't make it into to film, as it would have been fitting for Falstaff.
Wow, that’s interesting! I seem to remember one of the commentaries actually pointing out this fact, that they talk about horses that we never actually saw in the forest. I guess now we know why! I kind of want to see that shot of Welles falling off the horse now. That definitely sounds pretty fitting for Falstaff. (Though I guess you could argue that cutting his own fall out of the final film is an even bigger Falstaff move!) Thanks for the anecdote by the way! It’s really cool to hear you’ve corresponded with Keith Baxter!
I always love when Mr. Welles suddenly shows up in a small role in a film I'm watching. He was great as Cardinal Wolsey in "A Man For All Seasons" and as the king of France in "Waterloo."
A great review of my favorite Welles film, and I think it is absolutely one of the best Shakespeare films. The extraordinary battle scene was most recently referenced in the so-called Battle of the Bastards in Game of Thrones, in particular the end of the sequence where everyone is flailing around aimlessly (and dying) in the mud. In my opinion Chimes is absolutely Welles's greatest film, in part because I think the material resonated so strongly with his own life and feelings. The other Welles film which I think is seriously underrated is The Trial. It's a difficult, cold film, but one that speaks ever more presciently to the times we live in.
Thanks! The Trial is one of my favorites too but you’re right for whatever reason, that one gets often overlooked. It’s a bit harder to find than most of his other ones so that might play into it a bit. That being said, Chimes at Midnight was kind of that way for a while too so hopefully someone will be able to restore and rerelease The Trial again soon!
I remember stumbling on the battle scene on TV with three women yakking away in the room. It’s still one of the most violent scenes I have ever seen in movies. Thank you for the recommendation to read up on the plot. It’s not actually complicated at all but it was really helpful to know before watching the movie. Particularly Prince Hal’s off/on attitude towards his oily friends. Also great to be introduced to Jeanne Moreau.
I used to live near the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury. Some 50 years ago, the Army went over it with mine detectors: they found nothing. The townspeople donated mattresses for the wounded, along what is still known as Featherbed Lane
I think it’s a pity Welles couldn’t resist outdoing Larry, with that absurd ‘hoisting into the saddle’ nonsense! lol. I’d just cut the entire episode. Barnum and Bailey have much to answer for!
Thank you for this. Much appreciated.
1) Chimes At Midnight. 2) F For Fakeb. 3) Touch Of Evil ... each superb in it own way ... he never repeated himself.
Thank you very much for this review, it made me want to watch it right now!
a Great Review and Recommendation
Thank you for introducing Falstaff or Chimes at Midnight. I was looking for a good copy of this film. Believe it or not, i found one in ebay for $7.00. When I got it, i realized that it is a spanish copy which came from Spain and PAL format. Fortunately, my slim DVD player played it and guess what? it was dubbed in Spanish. However, there was an audio option in original English too and many extra commentaries by (I assume) spanish commentators which unfortunately they were all in spanish and no subtitles. well, I am not too disappointed that's why I am not going to buy another expensive copy from criterion .
Well I'm glad you were able to watch it in English even if it was a bit of a hassle. Sounds like you got a pretty good deal on it though! As nice as Criterion discs are, I agree that they can be really expensive. Especially for those who aren't as big on collecting. Thankfully, they are consistently marked down at least to some extent most places online. Still, I would say its usually best to wait until one of criterion's 50% off sales to try and buy anything.
On amazon on the same page as the criterion collection, the DVD version is also for sale under 10 dollars. The criterion is quite worth it though..because the remaster of the film looks amazing.
That's the thing about old movies, along as the physical film lives..it can be remastered into higher quality.
Sad for the digitally filmed movies of the early 2000s...they will always look bad =/ while many older music videos and movies done on film, looks great after remaster.
But seriously. Should splurge on the criterion copy once you have the extra cash. It has some great extras. And the HD makes the blocking and movement of the camera and the lighting looks so amazing. I bet is what Wells had imagined the scenes to look like, but was limited by the film resolution. It honestly looks great.
I was Magnificent Ambersons fairly recently and despite being butchered it's great.
This is awesome, great review, thanks for showing that poster! I had no idea he was doing the extra commerical work to fund movies, He really was an artist, always thought he was a burned out drunk toward the end of his life, turns out he was a true creator.
Thanks! Yeah he had kind of a “lost period” I guess you could say where he didn’t release any movies and would just make celebrity appearances on tv shows and commercials but he was also constantly working on various short films and things at his home and in different places he would visit. There’s a documentary called One Man Band which I think you can find on RUclips that goes into this period and shows some of the films he was working on.
From what I remember, they are quite different from his feature films and some are pretty silly like the one that the documentary takes it’s name from where he makes use of his love of makeup and plays literally every character in the film. It’s really interesting though as he seemed to just be making a lot of the films for himself as from what I gathered he never showed them to anybody outside of his friend group. It makes me wonder what the Orson Welles RUclips channel would have been like had he been born a bit later.
@@JoshuaSutlive Ha! Indeed, he would have been amazed of everyone having a camera on them at all times. Very interesting he would film just for friends, wonder how many of these rolls are sitting in a basement fadding away. Ill check out One Man Band, he sounds like a facinating specimen.
Great critique of a great film. You deserve to have far more followers, this is an excellent channel. Keep going!!
Thanks!
Great job! I am a Welles' fan. I just subscribed so not sure which of his films you covered--I assume "Citizen Kane," "The Third Man" and "Touch of Evil". If you haven't please review one of his best films, "The Magnificent Ambersons". Cheers.
Thanks! Yeah, I’m a huge Welles fan as well if you couldn’t already tell! I haven’t gotten around to covering any of Welles’ other films yet (I do have more of his films lined up in the near future!) though he does tend to come up in my other reviews as well! Thanks for subscribing by the way!
To ask if there are any Orson Welles fans out there ? Is like asking if there is a God? Hell yeah! Pinky And The Brain Animaniacs. I have a question for did Walter Houston ever direct Orson Welles
I great question, I don’t believe Walter Huston ever directed but his son John Huston was a good friend of Orson Welles. Though I don’t know if Huston ever directed Welles, he was one of the directors on the original Casino Royale film from the 60s which Welles acted in though as I said, I don’t know if he was ever specifically directed by John Huston.
@@JoshuaSutlive giants in their field, my guy was Walter Houston, his performance in “Treasure Of The Sierra Madre” is one of my favorites with an all stars cast directed by John Houston,what a film! 🎬
Great review man! From what is the fragment that begins in 6:09?
Thanks! That shot is taken from Welles' interview in 1965 on the Merv Griffin Show. Its kind of fuzzy but its a closeup of his editing machine (which can be fully seen behind him starting at 6:14) and its actually playing a bit of film from the battle sequence that he is editing. The whole interview is included as one of the bonus features on the Criterion disc but you may be able to find it somewhere on RUclips too if you're interested in watching it.
@@JoshuaSutlive Thanks for the answer. I would love to see this interview with Welles. I think hist best films are: Kane, Chimes, F for Fake, The Trial and Touch of Evil. However, my personal favorite is: The Magnificent Ambersons. And worst: Macbeth. His other „stuff” i like a lot (Mr Arkadin, Othello, Immortal Story, etc.)
@@sebastian11346 Great picks! Welles is one of my favorite directors so there are definitely more reviews of his films coming up in the future!
Nice, but you should know it is not "Jeen" Moreau it is pronounced "Zhaw(n)".
Ahh, that’s hot!
Great Review!
I am not exactly a "Welles Fan" I think Welles is an important director, and actor, and significant person of the 20th century. I own 7 of his films and an 8th (The Trial) is coming in the mail...
Maybe his support for socialist FDR is what makes me sour... Welles style is self admittedly tawdry, and plodding. Welles is obsessed with filming ceilings. Otherwise, Welles is a great prodigy. If Welles could use all the German Expressionist techniques with out filming ceilings so much I might like his work better.
I compare Welles to Paul Robeson: I often don't like him, but I have to admire him. IMHO