Orson Welles

George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.

While in his 20s, Welles directed high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project, including an adaptation of ''Macbeth'' with an entirely African-American cast and the political musical '' The Cradle Will Rock''. In 1937, he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941, including ''Caesar'' (1937), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar''.

In 1938, his radio anthology series ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' gave Welles the platform to find international fame as the director and narrator of a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel ''The War of the Worlds'', which caused some listeners to believe that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was in fact occurring. Although reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed 23-year-old Welles to notoriety.

His first film was '' Citizen Kane'' (1941), which is consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made and which he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in as the title character, Charles Foster Kane. Welles released twelve other features, the most acclaimed of which include '' The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1942), ''The Lady from Shanghai'' (1947), ''Touch of Evil'' (1958), ''The Trial'' (1962), ''Chimes at Midnight'' (1966) and ''F for Fake'' (1973). His distinctive directorial style featured layered and nonlinear narrative forms, uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unusual camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots and long takes. He has been praised as "the ultimate auteur".Rosenbaum, Jonathan (2007)
Discovering Orson Welles
'. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press.

Welles was an outsider to the studio system and struggled for creative control on his projects early on with the major film studios in Hollywood and later in life with a variety of independent financiers across Europe, where he spent most of his career. Many of his films were either heavily edited or remained unreleased. Some, like ''Touch of Evil'', have been painstakingly re-edited from his notes. With a development spanning almost 50 years, Welles's final film, '' The Other Side of the Wind'', was posthumously released in 2018.

Welles had three marriages, including one with Rita Hayworth, and three children. Known for his baritone voice, Welles performed extensively across theatre, radio, and film. He was a lifelong magician, noted for presenting troop variety shows in the war years. He was a lifelong member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the Society of American Magicians. In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two British Film Institute polls among directors and critics. In 2018, he was included in the list of the 50 greatest Hollywood actors of all time by ''The Daily Telegraph''.

Early life

George Orson Welles was born May 6, 1915, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a son of Richard Head Welles (1872–1930)Ancestry.com, ''Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index 1916–1947'' atabase online Provo, Utah. Ancestry.com Operations 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2014. and Beatrice Ives Welles (''née'' Beatrice Lucy Ives; 1883–1924). He was named after one of his great-grandfathers, influential Kenosha attorney Orson S. Head, and his brother George Head. Higham, Charles, ''Orson Welles: The Rise and Fall of an American Genius''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985 An alternative story of the source of his first and middle names was told by George Ade, who met Welles's parents on a West Indies cruise toward the end of 1914. Ade was traveling with a friend, Orson Wells (no relation), and the two of them sat at the same table as Mr. and Mrs. Richard Welles. Mrs. Welles was pregnant at the time, and when they said goodbye, she told them that she had enjoyed their company so much that if the child were a boy, she intended to name him after them: George Orson.

Despite his family's affluence, Welles encountered hardship in childhood. His parents separated and moved approximately 55 miles south to Chicago in 1919. His father, who made a fortune as the inventor of a popular bicycle lamp, became an alcoholic and stopped working. Welles's mother, a pianist, played during lectures by Dudley Crafts Watson at the Art Institute of Chicago to support her son and herself; the oldest Welles boy, "Dickie", was institutionalized at an early age because he had learning difficulties. Beatrice died of hepatitis in a Chicago hospital on May 10, 1924, just after Welles's ninth birthday. The Gordon String Quartet, a predecessor to the Berkshire String Quartet, which had made its first appearance at her home in 1921, played at Beatrice's funeral.

After his mother's death, Welles ceased pursuing music. It was decided that he would spend the summer with the Watson family at a private art colony established by Lydia Avery Coonley Ward in the village of Wyoming in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. There, he played and became friends with the children of the Aga Khan, including the 12-year-old Prince Aly Khan (years later, they successively married Rita Hayworth). Then, in what Welles later described as "a hectic period" in his life, he lived in a Chicago apartment with both his father and Maurice Bernstein, a Chicago physician who had been a close friend of both his parents. Welles briefly attended public school before his alcoholic father left business altogether and took him along on his travels to Jamaica and the Far East. When they returned, they settled in a hotel in Grand Detour, Illinois, that was owned by his father. When the hotel burned down, Welles and his father took to the road again.

"During the three years that Orson lived with his father, some observers wondered who took care of whom," wrote biographer Frank Brady.

"In some ways, he was never really a young boy, you know," said Roger Hill, who became Welles's teacher and lifelong friend.

Welles briefly attended public school in Madison, Wisconsin, enrolled in the fourth grade. On September 15, 1926, he entered the Todd Seminary for Boys, an expensive independent school in Woodstock, Illinois, that his older brother, Richard Ives Welles, had attended ten years before until he was expelled for misbehavior. At Todd School, Welles came under the influence of Roger Hill, a teacher who was later Todd's headmaster. Hill provided Welles with an ''ad hoc'' educational environment that proved invaluable to his creative experience, allowing Welles to concentrate on subjects that interested him. Welles performed and staged theatrical experiments and productions there.

"Todd provided Welles with many valuable experiences," wrote critic Richard France. "He was able to explore and experiment in an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement. In addition to a theatre, the school's own radio station was at his disposal." Welles's first radio experience was on the Todd station, where he performed an adaptation of ''Sherlock Holmes'' that was written by him.Heyer, Paul, ''The Medium and the Magician: Orson Welles, the Radio Years 1934–1952''. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005

On December 28, 1930, when Welles was 15, his father died of heart and kidney failure at the age of 58, alone in a hotel in Chicago. Shortly before this, Welles had announced to his father that he would stop seeing him, believing it would prompt his father to refrain from drinking. As a result, Orson felt guilty because he believed his father had drunk himself to death because of him. His father's will left it to Orson to name his guardian. When Roger Hill declined, Welles chose Maurice Bernstein.

Following graduation from Todd in May 1931, Welles was awarded a scholarship to Harvard College, while his mentor Roger Hill advocated he attend Cornell College in Iowa. Rather than enrolling, he chose travel. He studied for a few weeks at the Art Institute of ChicagoHill, Roger
''One Man's Time and Chance, a Memoir of Eighty Years 1895 to 1975''
. Privately printed, 1977. Woodstock Public Library collection, digitized by Illinois State Library. with Boris Anisfeld, who encouraged him to pursue painting.

Welles occasionally returned to Woodstock, the place he eventually named when he was asked in a 1960 interview, "Where is home?" Welles replied, "I suppose it's Woodstock, Illinois, if it's anywhere. I went to school there for four years. If I try to think of a home, it's that."

Early career (1931–1935)

After his father's death, Welles traveled to Europe using a small portion of his inheritance. Welles said that while on a walking and painting trip through Ireland, he strode into the Gate Theatre in Dublin and claimed he was a Broadway star. The manager of the Gate, Hilton Edwards, later said he had not believed him but was impressed by his brashness and an impassioned audition he gave. Welles made his stage debut at the Gate Theatre on October 13, 1931, appearing in Ashley Dukes's adaptation of ''Jud Süß'' as Duke Karl Alexander of Württemberg. He performed small supporting roles in subsequent Gate productions, and he produced and designed productions of his own in Dublin. In March 1932, Welles performed in W. Somerset Maugham's ''The Circle'' at Dublin's Abbey Theatre and traveled to London to find additional work in the theatre. Unable to obtain a work permit, he returned to the U.S.

Welles found his fame ephemeral and turned to a writing project at Todd School that became immensely successful, first entitled ''Everybody's Shakespeare'' and subsequently, ''The Mercury Shakespeare''. Welles traveled to North Africa while working on thousands of illustrations for the ''Everybody's Shakespeare'' series of educational books, a series that remained in print for decades.

In 1933, Roger and Hortense Hill invited Welles to a party in Chicago, where Welles met Thornton Wilder. Wilder arranged for Welles to meet Alexander Woollcott in New York in order that he be introduced to Katharine Cornell, who was assembling a repertory theatre company. Cornell's husband, director Guthrie McClintic, immediately put Welles under contract and cast him in three plays. '' Romeo and Juliet'', ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' and '' Candida'' toured in repertory for 36 weeks beginning in November 1933, with the first of more than 200 performances taking place in Buffalo, New York.

In 1934, Welles got his first job on radio—with ''The American School of the Air''—through actor-director Paul Stewart, who introduced him to director Knowles Entrikin. That summer, Welles staged a drama festival with the Todd School at the Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois, inviting Micheál Mac Liammóir and Hilton Edwards from Dublin's Gate Theatre to appear along with New York stage luminaries in productions including ''Trilby'', ''Hamlet'', '' The Drunkard'' and ''Tsar Paul''. At the old firehouse in Woodstock, he also shot his first film, an eight-minute short titled, '' The Hearts of Age''.

On November 14, 1934, Welles married Chicago socialite and actress Virginia Nicolson (often misspelled "Nicholson") in a civil ceremony in New York. To appease the Nicolsons, who were furious at the couple's elopement, a formal ceremony took place December 23, 1934, at the New Jersey mansion of the bride's godmother. Welles wore a cutaway borrowed from his friend George Macready.

A revised production of Katharine Cornell's '' Romeo and Juliet'' opened December 20, 1934, at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York. The Broadway production brought the 19-year-old Welles (now playing Tybalt) to the notice of John Houseman, a theatrical producer who was casting the lead role in the debut production of one of Archibald MacLeish's verse plays, '' Panic''. Houseman, John, ''Run-Through: A Memoir''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1972, On March 22, 1935, Welles made his debut on the CBS Radio series ''The March of Time'', performing a scene from ''Panic'' for a news report on the stage production

By 1935, Welles was supplementing his earnings in the theatre as a radio actor in Manhattan, working with many actors who later formed the core of his Mercury Theatre on programs including ''America's Hour'', ''Cavalcade of America'', ''Columbia Workshop'' and ''The March of Time''. "Within a year of his debut Welles could claim membership in that elite band of radio actors who commanded salaries second only to the highest paid movie stars," wrote critic Richard France. France, Richard, ''The Theatre of Orson Welles''. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 1977

Theatre (1936–1938)

Federal Theatre Project

File:Voodoo-Macbeth-Poster.jpg, '' Macbeth'' (1936)
File:Lafayette-Theatre-Macbeth-1936-1.jpg, ''Macbeth'' opening night at the Lafayette Theatre (April 14, 1936)
File:Horse Eats Hat by Edwin Denby after Eugène Labiche.jpg, ''Horse Eats Hat'' (1936)
File:Faustus-FTP-Poster.jpg, '' Faustus'' (1937)
File:The Cradle Will Rock.jpg, '' The Cradle Will Rock'' (1937)

Part of the Works Progress Administration, the Federal Theatre Project (1935–39) was a New Deal program to fund theatre and other live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States during the Great Depression. It was created as a relief measure to employ artists, writers, directors and theatre workers. Under national director Hallie Flanagan it was shaped into a truly national theatre that created relevant art, encouraged experimentation and innovation, and made it possible for millions of Americans to see live theatre for the first time.

John Houseman, director of the Negro Theatre Unit in New York, invited Welles to join the Federal Theatre Project in 1935. Far from unemployed—"I was so employed I forgot how to sleep"—Welles put a large share of his $1,500-a-week radio earnings into his stage productions, bypassing administrative red tape and mounting the projects more quickly and professionally. "Roosevelt once said that I was the only operator in history who ever illegally siphoned money ''into'' a Washington project," Welles said.

The Federal Theatre Project was the ideal environment in which Welles could develop his art. Its purpose was employment, so he was able to hire any number of artists, craftsmen and technicians, and he filled the stage with performers. The company for the first production, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'' with an entirely African-American cast, numbered 150. The production became known as the '' Voodoo Macbeth'' because Welles changed the setting to a mythical island suggesting the Haitian court of King Henri Christophe, with Haitian ''vodou'' fulfilling the role of Scottish witchcraft. The play opened April 14, 1936, at the Lafayette Theatre in Harlem and was received rapturously. At 20, Welles was hailed as a prodigy. The production then made a 4,000-mile national tour that included two weeks at the Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas.

Next mounted was the farce ''Horse Eats Hat'', an adaptation by Welles and Edwin Denby of '' The Italian Straw Hat'', an 1851 five-act farce by Eugène Marin Labiche and Marc-Michel.Leaming, Barbara, ''Orson Welles, A Biography''. New York: Viking, 1985 The play was presented September 26 – December 5, 1936, at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, New York, and featured Joseph Cotten in his first starring role. It was followed by an adaptation of '' Dr. Faustus'' that used light as a prime unifying scenic element in a nearly black stage, presented January 8 – May 9, 1937, at Maxine Elliott's Theatre.

Outside the scope of the Federal Theatre Project, American composer Aaron Copland chose Welles to direct ''The Second Hurricane'' (1937), an operetta with a libretto by Edwin Denby. Presented at the Henry Street Settlement Music School in New York for the benefit of high school students, the production opened April 21, 1937, and ran its scheduled three performances.

In 1937, Welles rehearsed Marc Blitzstein's political operetta, '' The Cradle Will Rock''. It was originally scheduled to open June 16, 1937, in its first public preview. Because of severe federal cutbacks in the Works Progress projects, the show's premiere at the Maxine Elliott Theatre was canceled. The theater was locked and guarded to prevent any government-purchased materials from being used for a commercial production of the work. In a last-minute move, Welles announced to waiting ticket-holders that the show was being transferred to the Venice, 20 blocks away. Some cast, and some crew and audience, walked the distance on foot. The union musicians refused to perform in a commercial theater for lower non-union government wages. The actors' union stated that the production belonged to the Federal Theatre Project and could not be performed outside that context without permission. Lacking the participation of the union members, ''The Cradle Will Rock'' began with Blitzstein introducing the show and playing the piano accompaniment on stage with some cast members performing from the audience. This impromptu performance was well received by its audience.

Mercury Theatre

Breaking with the Federal Theatre Project in 1937, Welles and Houseman founded their own repertory company, which they called the Mercury Theatre. The name was inspired by the title of the iconoclastic magazine '' The American Mercury''. Brady, Frank, ''Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1989 Welles was executive producer, and the original company included such actors as Joseph Cotten, George Coulouris, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Arlene Francis, Martin Gabel, John Hoyt, Norman Lloyd, Vincent Price, Stefan Schnabel and Hiram Sherman.

"I think he was the greatest directorial talent we've ever had in the mericantheater," Lloyd said of Welles in a 2014 interview. "When you saw a Welles production, you saw the text had been affected, the staging was remarkable, the sets were unusual, music, sound, lighting, a totality of everything. We had not had such a man in our theater. He was the first and remains the greatest."

The Mercury Theatre opened November 11, 1937, with ''Caesar'', Welles's modern-dress adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy ''Julius Caesar''—streamlined into an anti-fascist tour de force that Joseph Cotten later described as "so vigorous, so contemporary that it set Broadway on its ear." The set was completely open with no curtain, and the brick stage wall was painted dark red. Scene changes were achieved by lighting alone. On the stage was a series of risers; squares were cut into one at intervals and lights were set beneath it, pointing straight up to evoke the " cathedral of light" at the Nuremberg Rallies. "He staged it like a political melodrama that happened the night before," said Lloyd.

Beginning January 1, 1938, ''Caesar'' was performed in repertory with '' The Shoemaker's Holiday''; both productions moved to the larger National Theatre. They were followed by '' Heartbreak House'' (April 29, 1938) and '' Danton's Death'' (November 5, 1938). As well as being presented in a pared-down oratorio version at the Mercury Theatre on Sunday nights in December 1937, ''The Cradle Will Rock'' was at the Windsor Theatre for 13 weeks (January 4 – April 2, 1938). Such was the success of the Mercury Theatre that Welles appeared on the cover of ''Time'' magazine, in full makeup as Captain Shotover in ''Heartbreak House'', in the issue dated May 9, 1938—three days after his 23rd birthday.

On April 6, 1938, during a production of ''Caesar'', Orson Welles accidentally stabbed Joseph Holland with a steel knife during Act 3 Scene 1 where Brutus betrays Caesar, a real knife being used for the way it dramatically caught light during the scene. Holland took a month to recover from the injury, and this incident permanently damaged relations between the two.

Radio (1936–1940)

Simultaneously with his work in the theatre, Welles worked extensively in radio as an actor, writer, director and producer, often without credit. Between 1935 and 1937 he was earning as much as $2,000 a week, shuttling between radio studios at such a pace that he would arrive barely in time for a quick scan of his lines before he was on the air. While he was directing the ''Voodoo Macbeth'' Welles was dashing between Harlem and midtown Manhattan three times a day to meet his radio commitments.

In addition to continuing as a repertory player on ''The March of Time'', in the fall of 1936 Welles adapted and performed ''Hamlet'' in an early two-part episode of CBS Radio's ''Columbia Workshop''. His performance as the announcer in the series' April 1937 presentation of Archibald MacLeish's verse drama '' The Fall of the City'' was an important development in his radio career and made the 21-year-old Welles an overnight star.''Orson Welles on the Air: The Radio Years.'' New York: The Museum of Broadcasting, catalogue for exhibition October 28 – December 3, 1988.

In July 1937, the Mutual Network gave Welles a seven-week series to adapt ''Les Misérables''. It was his first job as a writer-director for radio, the radio debut of the Mercury Theatre, and one of Welles's earliest and finest achievements. He invented the use of narration in radio.

"By making himself the center of the storytelling process, Welles fostered the impression of self-adulation that was to haunt his career to his dying day", wrote critic Andrew Sarris. "For the most part, however, Welles was singularly generous to the other members of his cast and inspired loyalty from them above and beyond the call of professionalism."

That September, Mutual chose Welles to play Lamont Cranston, also known as ''The Shadow''. He performed the role anonymously through mid-September 1938.

''The Mercury Theatre on the Air''

After the theatrical successes of the Mercury Theatre, CBS Radio invited Orson Welles to create a summer show for 13 weeks. The series began July 11, 1938, initially titled ''First Person Singular'', with the formula that Welles would play the lead in each show. Some months later the show was called ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air''. The weekly hour-long show presented radio plays based on classic literary works, with original music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann.

The Mercury Theatre's radio adaptation of ''The War of the Worlds'' by H. G. Wells October 30, 1938, brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance with the between-breaks dial spinning habits of listeners was later reported to have created widespread confusion among listeners who failed to hear the introduction, although the extent of this confusion has come into question. Panic was reportedly spread among listeners who believed the fictional news reports of a Martian invasion. The myth of the result created by the combination was reported as fact around the world and disparagingly mentioned by Adolf Hitler in a public speech."evidence of the decadence and corrupt condition of democracy" –

Welles's growing fame drew Hollywood offers, lures that the independent-minded Welles resisted at first. ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air,'' which had been a sustaining show (without sponsorship) was picked up by Campbell Soup and renamed '' The Campbell Playhouse.'' ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' made its last broadcast on December 4, 1938, and ''The Campbell Playhouse'' began five days later.

Welles began commuting from California to New York for the two Sunday broadcasts of ''The Campbell Playhouse'' after signing a film contract with RKO Pictures in August 1939. In November 1939, production of the show moved from New York to Los Angeles.

After 20 shows, Campbell began to exercise more creative control and had complete control over story selection. As his contract with Campbell came to an end, Welles chose not to sign on for another season. After the broadcast of March 31, 1940, Welles and Campbell parted amicably.

Hollywood (1939–1948)

Citizen Kane poster, 1941 (Style B, unrestored).jpg, '' Citizen Kane'' (1941)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942 film poster).jpg, '' The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1942)
Journey into Fear (1942 poster).jpg, '' Journey into Fear'' (1943)
The Stranger (1946 film poster).jpg, '' The Stranger'' (1946)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947 poster).jpg, ''The Lady from Shanghai'' (1947)
Macbeth (1948 film poster).jpg, '' Macbeth'' (1948)

RKO Radio Pictures president George Schaefer eventually offered Welles what generally is considered the greatest contract offered to a filmmaker, much less to one who was untried. Engaging him to write, produce, direct and perform in two motion pictures, the contract subordinated the studio's financial interests to Welles's creative control, and broke all precedent by granting Welles the right of final cut. After signing a summary agreement with RKO on July 22, Welles signed a full-length 63-page contract August 21, 1939. The agreement was bitterly resented by the Hollywood studios and persistently mocked in the trade press.

''Citizen Kane''

RKO rejected Welles's first two movie proposals, but agreed on the third offer—'' Citizen Kane''. Welles co-wrote, produced and directed the film, and he performed the lead role.McMahon, Thomas, "Orson Welles", ''Authors & Artists for Young Adults: Vol. 40''. Michigan: Gale Research, 2001 Welles conceived the project with screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, who was writing radio plays for ''The Campbell Playhouse''. Mankiewicz based the original outline of the film script on the life of William Randolph Hearst, whom he knew socially and came to hate after being exiled from Hearst's circle.

After agreeing on the storyline and character, Welles supplied Mankiewicz with 300 pages of notes and put him under contract to write the first draft screenplay under the supervision of John Houseman. Welles wrote his own draft, then drastically condensed and rearranged both versions and added scenes of his own. The industry accused Welles of underplaying Mankiewicz's contribution to the script, but Welles countered the attacks by saying, "At the end, naturally, I was the one making the picture, after all—who had to make the decisions. I used what I wanted of Mank's and, rightly or wrongly, kept what I liked of my own."

Welles's project attracted some of Hollywood's best technicians, including cinematographer Gregg Toland. For the cast, Welles primarily used actors from his Mercury Theatre. Filming ''Citizen Kane'' took ten weeks.

Hearst's newspapers barred all reference to ''Citizen Kane'' and exerted enormous pressure on the Hollywood film community to force RKO to shelve the film. RKO chief George Schaefer received a cash offer from MGM's Louis B. Mayer and other major studio executives if he would destroy the negative and existing prints of the film.

While waiting for ''Citizen Kane'' to be released, Welles produced and directed the original Broadway production of '' Native Son'', a drama written by Paul Green and Richard Wright based on Wright's novel. Starring Canada Lee, the show ran March 24 – June 28, 1941, at the St. James Theatre. The Mercury Production was the last time Welles and Houseman worked together.

''Citizen Kane'' was given a limited release and the film received overwhelming critical praise. It was voted the best picture of 1941 by the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. The film garnered nine Academy Award nominations but won only for Best Original Screenplay, shared by Mankiewicz and Welles. ''Variety'' reported that block voting by screen extras deprived ''Citizen Kane'' of Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor (Welles), and similar prejudices were likely to have been responsible for the film receiving no technical awards.

The delay in the film's release and uneven distribution contributed to mediocre results at the box office. After it ran its course theatrically, ''Citizen Kane'' was retired to the vault in 1942. In postwar France, however, the film's reputation grew after it was seen for the first time in 1946. In the United States, it began to be re-evaluated after it began to appear on television in 1956. That year it was also re-released theatrically, and film critic Andrew Sarris described it as "the great American film" and "the work that influenced the cinema more profoundly than any American film since '' The Birth of a Nation''." ''Citizen Kane'' is now widely hailed as one of the greatest films ever made.

''The Magnificent Ambersons''

Welles's second film for RKO was '' The Magnificent Ambersons'', adapted by Welles from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Booth Tarkington. Toland was not available, so Stanley Cortez was named cinematographer. The meticulous Cortez worked slowly and the film lagged behind schedule and over budget. Prior to production, Welles's contract was renegotiated, revoking his right to control the final cut. ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' was in production October 28, 1941 – January 22, 1942.

Throughout the shooting of the film Welles was also producing a weekly half-hour radio series, '' The Orson Welles Show''. Many of the ''Ambersons'' cast participated in the CBS Radio series, which ran from September 15, 1941, to February 2, 1942. Dunning, John, ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998 hardcover; revised edition of ''Tune In Yesterday'' (1976)

''Journey into Fear''

At RKO's request, Welles worked on an adaptation of Eric Ambler's spy thriller '' Journey into Fear'', co-written with Joseph Cotten. In addition to acting in the film, Welles was the producer. Direction was credited to Norman Foster. Welles later said that they were in such a rush that the director of each scene was determined by whoever was closest to the camera.

''Journey into Fear'' was in production January 6 – March 12, 1942.

War work

Goodwill ambassador

In late November 1941, Welles was appointed as a goodwill ambassador to Latin America by Nelson Rockefeller, U.S. Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs and a principal stockholder in RKO Radio Pictures.Benamou, Catherine L., ''It's All True: Orson Welles's Pan-American Odyssey''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007 The mission of the OCIAA was cultural diplomacy, promoting hemispheric solidarity and countering the growing influence of the Axis powers in Latin America. John Hay Whitney, head of the agency's Motion Picture Division, was asked by the Brazilian government to produce a documentary of the annual Rio Carnival celebration taking place in early February 1942. In a telegram on December 20, 1941, Whitney wrote Welles, "Personally believe you would make great contribution to hemisphere solidarity with this project."

The OCIAA sponsored cultural tours to Latin America and appointed goodwill ambassadors including George Balanchine and the American Ballet, Bing Crosby, Aaron Copland, Walt Disney, John Ford and Rita Hayworth. Welles was thoroughly briefed in Washington, D.C., immediately before his departure for Brazil, and film scholar Catherine L. Benamou, a specialist in Latin American affairs, finds it "not unlikely" that he was among the goodwill ambassadors who were asked to gather intelligence for the U.S. government in addition to their cultural duties. She concludes that Welles's acceptance of Whitney's request was "a logical and patently patriotic choice".

In addition to working on his ill-fated film project '' It's All True'', Welles was responsible for radio programs, lectures, interviews and informal talks as part of his OCIAA-sponsored cultural mission, which was regarded as a success.Wilson, Richard, "It's Not ''Quite'' All True". ''Sight & Sound'', Volume 39 Number 4, Autumn 1970. He spoke on topics ranging from Shakespeare to visual art at gatherings of Brazil's elite, and his two intercontinental radio broadcasts in April 1942 were particularly intended to tell U.S. audiences that President Vargas was a partner with the Allies. Welles's ambassadorial mission was extended to permit his travel to other nations including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. Welles worked for more than half a year with no compensation.

Welles's own expectations for the film were modest. "''It's All True'' was not going to make any cinematic history, nor was it intended to," he later said. "It was intended to be a perfectly honorable execution of my job as a goodwill ambassador, bringing entertainment to the Northern Hemisphere that showed them something about the Southern one."

''It's All True''

In July 1941, Welles conceived '' It's All True'' as an omnibus film mixing documentary and docufiction in a project that emphasized the dignity of labor and celebrated the cultural and ethnic diversity of North America. It was to have been his third film for RKO, following '' Citizen Kane'' (1941) and '' The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1942).Benamou, Catherine, "It's All True". Barnard, Tim, and Peter Rist (eds.), ''South American Cinema: A Critical Filmography, 1915–1994''. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1996; Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998 Duke Ellington was put under contract to score a segment with the working title, "The Story of Jazz", drawn from Louis Armstrong's 1936 autobiography, ''Swing That Music''. Teachout, Terry, ''Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington''. New York: Gotham Books, 2013 Armstrong was cast to play himself in the brief dramatization of the history of jazz performance, from its roots to its place in American culture in the 1940s. "The Story of Jazz" was to go into production in December 1941.

Mercury Productions purchased the stories for two other segments—"My Friend Bonito" and "The Captain's Chair"—from documentary filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty. Adapted by Norman Foster and John Fante, "My Friend Bonito" was the only segment of the original ''It's All True'' to go into production. Filming took place in Mexico September–December 1941, with Norman Foster directing under Welles's supervision.

In December 1941, the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs asked Welles to make a film in Brazil that would showcase the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. With filming of "My Friend Bonito" about two-thirds complete, Welles decided he could shift the geography of ''It's All True'' and incorporate Flaherty's story into an omnibus film about Latin America—supporting the Roosevelt administration's Good Neighbor policy, which Welles strongly advocated. In this revised concept, "The Story of Jazz" was replaced by the story of samba, a musical form with a comparable history and one that came to fascinate Welles. He also decided to do a ripped-from-the-headlines episode about the epic voyage of four poor Brazilian fishermen, the jangadeiros, who had become national heroes. Welles later said this was the most valuable story.

Required to film the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro in early February 1942, Welles rushed to edit ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' and finish his acting scenes in ''Journey into Fear''. He ended his lucrative CBS radio show February 2, flew to Washington, D.C., for a briefing, and then lashed together a rough cut of ''Ambersons'' in Miami with editor Robert Wise. Welles recorded the film's narration the night before he left for South America: "I went to the projection room at about four in the morning, did the whole thing, and then got on the plane and off to Rio—and the end of civilization as we know it."

Welles left for Brazil on February 4 and began filming in Rio on February 8, 1942. At the time it did not seem that Welles's other film projects would be disrupted, but as film historian Catherine L. Benamou wrote, "the ambassadorial appointment would be the first in a series of turning points leading—in 'zigs' and 'zags,' rather than in a straight line—to Welles's loss of complete directorial control over both ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' and ''It's All True'', the cancellation of his contract at RKO Radio Studio, the expulsion of his company Mercury Productions from the RKO lot, and, ultimately, the total suspension of ''It's All True''.

In 1942 RKO Pictures underwent major changes under new management. Nelson Rockefeller, the primary backer of the Brazil project, left its board of directors, and Welles's principal sponsor at RKO, studio president George Schaefer, resigned. RKO took control of ''Ambersons'' and edited the film into what the studio considered a commercial format. Welles's attempts to protect his version ultimately failed. In South America, Welles requested resources to finish ''It's All True''. Given a limited amount of black-and-white film stock and a silent camera, he was able to finish shooting the episode about the jangadeiros, but RKO refused to support further production on the film.

"So I was fired from RKO," Welles later recalled. "And they made a great publicity point of the fact that I had gone to South America without a script and thrown all this money away. I never recovered from that attack." Later in 1942, when RKO Pictures began promoting its new corporate motto, "Showmanship In Place of Genius: A New Deal at RKO", Welles understood it as a reference to him.

Radio (1942–1943)

Welles returned to the United States August 22, 1942, after more than six months in South America. A week after his return he produced and emceed the first two hours of a seven-hour coast-to-coast War Bond drive broadcast titled ''I Pledge America''. Airing August 29, 1942, on the Blue Network, the program was presented in cooperation with the United States Department of the Treasury, Western Union (which wired bond subscriptions free of charge) and the American Women's Voluntary Services. Featuring 21 dance bands and a score of stage and screen and radio stars, the broadcast raised more than $10 million—more than $146 million today—for the war effort.

On October 12, 1942, ''Cavalcade of America'' presented Welles's radio play, ''Admiral of the Ocean Sea'', an entertaining and factual look at the legend of Christopher Columbus.

"It belongs to a period when hemispheric unity was a crucial matter and many programs were being devoted to the common heritage of the Americas," wrote broadcasting historian Erik Barnouw. "Many such programs were being translated into Spanish and Portuguese and broadcast to Latin America, to counteract many years of successful Axis propaganda to that area. The Axis, trying to stir Latin America against Anglo-America, had constantly emphasized the differences between the two. It became the job of American radio to emphasize their common experience and essential unity." Barnouw, Erik (ed.), ''Radio Drama in Action: 25 Plays of a Changing World''. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1945. Written by Orson Welles in collaboration with Robert Meltzer and Norris Houghton, the radio play ''Columbus Day'' appears on pp. 4–13.

''Admiral of the Ocean Sea'', also known as ''Columbus Day'', begins with the words, "Hello Americans"—the title Welles would choose for his own series five weeks later.

'' Hello Americans'', a CBS Radio series broadcast November 15, 1942 – January 31, 1943, was produced, directed and hosted by Welles under the auspices of the Office of the Coordinator for Inter-American Affairs. The 30-minute weekly program promoted inter-American understanding and friendship, drawing upon the research amassed for the ill-fated film, ''It's All True''. The series was produced concurrently with Welles's other CBS series, ''Ceiling Unlimited'' (November 9, 1942 – February 1, 1943), sponsored by the Lockheed- Vega Corporation. The program was conceived to glorify the aviation industry and dramatize its role in World War II. Welles's shows were regarded as significant contributions to the war effort.

Throughout the war Welles worked on patriotic radio programs including '' Command Performance'', ''G.I. Journal'', '' Mail Call'', ''Nazi Eyes on Canada'', ''Stage Door Canteen'' and ''Treasury Star Parade''.

''The Mercury Wonder Show''

In early 1943, the two concurrent radio series (''Ceiling Unlimited'', '' Hello Americans'') that Orson Welles created for CBS to support the war effort had ended. Filming also had wrapped on the 1943 film adaptation of '' Jane Eyre'' and that fee, in addition to the income from his regular guest-star roles in radio, made it possible for Welles to fulfill a lifelong dream. He approached the War Assistance League of Southern California and proposed a show that evolved into a big-top spectacle, part circus and part magic show. He offered his services as magician and director,Charvet, David, "Orson Welles and The Mercury Wonder Show". '' Magic, An Independent Magazine for Magicians'', Volume 2 Number 12, August 1993 and invested some $40,000 of his own money in an extravaganza he co-produced with his friend Joseph Cotten: '' The Mercury Wonder Show for Service Men''. Members of the U.S. armed forces were admitted free of charge, while the general public had to pay. The show entertained more than 1,000 service members each night, and proceeds went to the War Assistance League, a charity for military service personnel.

The development of the show coincided with the resolution of Welles's oft-changing draft status in May 1943, when he was finally declared 4-F—unfit for military service—for a variety of medical reasons. "I felt guilty about the war," Welles told biographer Barbara Leaming. "I was guilt-ridden about my civilian status."Leaming, Barbara, ''If This Was Happiness: A Biography of Rita Hayworth''. New York: Viking, 1989 He had been publicly hounded about his patriotism since '' Citizen Kane'', when the Hearst press began persistent inquiries about why Welles had not been drafted.

''The Mercury Wonder Show'' ran August 3 – September 9, 1943, in an 80-by-120-foot tent located at 900 Cahuenga Boulevard, in the heart of Hollywood.Wheldon, Wynn Pierce, "Orson Welles the Magician". '' Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine'', Volume 63 Number 2, February 15, 2000

At intermission on September 7, 1943, KMPC radio interviewed audience and cast members of ''The Mercury Wonder Show''—including Welles and Rita Hayworth, who were married earlier that day. Welles remarked that ''The Mercury Wonder Show'' had been performed for approximately 48,000 members of the U.S. armed forces.

Radio (1944–1945)

The idea of doing a radio variety show occurred to Welles after his success as substitute host of four consecutive episodes (March 14 – April 4, 1943) of ''The Jack Benny Program'', radio's most popular show, when Benny contracted pneumonia on a performance tour of military bases. A half-hour variety show broadcast January 26 – July 19, 1944, on the Columbia Pacific Network, ''The Orson Welles Almanac'' presented sketch comedy, magic, mindreading, music and readings from classic works. Many of the shows originated on U.S. military camps, where Welles and his repertory company and guests entertained the troops with a reduced version of ''The Mercury Wonder Show''. The performances of the all-star jazz group Welles brought together for the show were so popular that the band became a regular feature and was an important force in reviving interest in traditional New Orleans jazz. Bigard, Barney, and Martyn, Barry (ed.), ''With Louis and the Duke: The Autobiography of a Jazz Clarinetist''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Welles was placed on the U.S. Treasury payroll on May 15, 1944, as an expert consultant for the duration of the war, with a retainer of $1 a year. On the recommendation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau asked Welles to lead the Fifth War Loan Drive, which opened June 12 with a one-hour radio show on all four networks, broadcast from Texarkana, Texas. Including a statement by the President, the program defined the causes of the war and encouraged Americans to buy $16 billion in bonds to finance the Normandy landings and the most violent phase of World War II. Welles produced additional war loan drive broadcasts on June 14 from the Hollywood Bowl, and June 16 from Soldier Field, Chicago. Americans purchased $20.6 billion in War Bonds during the Fifth War Loan Drive, which ended on July 8, 1944.

Welles campaigned ardently for Roosevelt in 1944. A long-time supporter and campaign speaker for FDR, he occasionally sent the president ideas and phrases that were sometimes incorporated into what Welles characterized as "less important speeches". One of these ideas was the joke in what came to be called the Fala speech, Roosevelt's nationally broadcast September 23 address to the International Teamsters Union which opened the 1944 presidential campaign.

Welles campaigned for the Roosevelt–Truman ticket almost full-time in the fall of 1944, traveling to nearly every state to the detriment of his own health and at his own expense. In addition to his radio addresses he filled in for Roosevelt, opposite Republican presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey, at ''The New York Herald Tribune Forum'' broadcast October 18 on the Blue Network. Welles accompanied FDR to his last campaign rally, speaking at an event November 4 at Boston's Fenway Park before 40,000 people, and took part in a historic election-eve campaign broadcast November 6 on all four radio networks.

On November 21, 1944, Welles began his association with '' This Is My Best'', a CBS radio series he would briefly produce, direct, write and host (March 13 – April 24, 1945). He wrote a political column called ''Orson Welles' Almanac'' (later titled ''Orson Welles Today'') for ''The New York Post'' January–November 1945, and advocated the continuation of FDR's New Deal policies and his international vision, particularly the establishment of the United Nations and the cause of world peace.

On April 12, 1945, the day Franklin D. Roosevelt died, the Blue-ABC network marshalled its entire executive staff and national leaders to pay homage to the late president. "Among the outstanding programs which attracted wide attention was a special tribute delivered by Orson Welles", reported ''Broadcasting'' magazine. Welles spoke at 10:10 p.m Eastern War Time, from Hollywood, and stressed the importance of continuing FDR's work: "He has no need for homage and we who loved him have no time for tears ... Our fighting sons and brothers cannot pause tonight to mark the death of him whose name will be given to the age we live in."

Welles presented another special broadcast on the death of Roosevelt the following evening: "We must move on beyond mere death to that free world which was the hope and labor of his life."

He dedicated the April 17 episode of '' This Is My Best'' to Roosevelt and the future of America on the eve of the United Nations Conference on International Organization. Welles was an advisor and correspondent for the Blue-ABC radio network's coverage of the San Francisco conference that formed the UN, taking place April 24 – June 23, 1945. He presented a half-hour dramatic program written by Ben Hecht on the opening day of the conference, and on Sunday afternoons (April 29 – June 10) he led a weekly discussion from the San Francisco Civic Auditorium.Display advertisement, "What America's Youngest News Network Is Doing About the Greatest News Story of Our Time". American Broadcasting Company, Inc., The Blue Network. ''Broadcasting'', April 30, 1945, pp. 22–23

''The Stranger''

In the fall of 1945 Welles began work on '' The Stranger'' (1946), a film noir drama about a war crimes investigator who tracks a high-ranking Nazi fugitive to an idyllic New England town. Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young and Welles star.

Producer Sam Spiegel initially planned to hire director John Huston, who had rewritten the screenplay by Anthony Veiller. When Huston entered the military, Welles was given the chance to direct and prove himself able to make a film on schedule and under budget—something he was so eager to do that he accepted a disadvantageous contract. One of its concessions was that he would defer to the studio in any creative dispute.

''The Stranger'' was Welles's first job as a film director in four years. He was told that if the film was successful he could sign a four-picture deal with International Pictures, making films of his own choosing. Welles was given some degree of creative control, and he endeavored to personalize the film and develop a nightmarish tone. He worked on the general rewrite of the script and wrote scenes at the beginning of the picture that were shot but subsequently cut by the producers. He filmed in long takes that largely thwarted the control given to editor Ernest J. Nims under the terms of the contract.

''The Stranger'' was the first commercial film to use documentary footage from the Nazi concentration camps. Welles had seen the footage in early May 1945 in San Francisco, as a correspondent and discussion moderator at the UN Conference on International Organization. He wrote of the Holocaust footage in his syndicated ''New York Post'' column May 7, 1945.

Completed a day ahead of schedule and under budget, ''The Stranger'' was the only film made by Welles to have been a ''bona fide'' box office success upon its release. Its cost was $1.034 million; 15 months after its release it had grossed $3.216 million. Within weeks of the completion of the film, International Pictures backed out of its promised four-picture deal with Welles. No reason was given, but the impression was left that ''The Stranger'' would not make money.

''Around the World''

In the summer of 1946, Welles moved to New York to direct the Broadway musical '' Around the World'', a stage adaptation of the Jules Verne novel '' Around the World in Eighty Days'' with a book by Welles and music by Cole Porter. Producer Mike Todd, who would later produce the successful 1956 film adaptation, pulled out from the lavish and expensive production, leaving Welles to support the finances. When Welles ran out of money he convinced Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn to send enough money to continue the show, and in exchange Welles promised to write, produce, direct and star in a film for Cohn for no further fee. The stage show soon failed due to poor box-office, with Welles unable to claim the losses on his taxes.

Radio (1946)

In 1946, Welles began two new radio series—''The Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air'' for CBS, and '' Orson Welles Commentaries'' for ABC. While ''Mercury Summer Theatre'' featured half-hour adaptations of some classic Mercury radio shows from the 1930s, the first episode was a condensation of his ''Around the World'' stage play, and is the only record of Cole Porter's music for the project. Several original Mercury actors returned for the series, as well as Bernard Herrmann. Welles invested his earnings into his failing stage play. ''Commentaries'' was a political vehicle for him, continuing the themes from his ''New York Post'' column. Again, Welles lacked a clear focus, until the NAACP brought to his attention the case of Isaac Woodard. Welles brought significant attention to Woodard's cause.

The last broadcast of ''Orson Welles Commentaries'' on October 6, 1946, marked the end of Welles's own radio shows.

''The Lady from Shanghai''

The film that Welles was obliged to make in exchange for Harry Cohn's help in financing the stage production '' Around the World'' was ''The Lady from Shanghai'', filmed in 1947 for Columbia Pictures. Intended as a modest thriller, the budget skyrocketed after Cohn suggested that Welles's then-estranged second wife Rita Hayworth co-star.

Cohn disliked Welles's rough cut, particularly the confusing plot and lack of close-ups, and was not in sympathy with Welles's Brechtian use of irony and black comedy, especially in a farcical courtroom scene. Cohn ordered extensive editing and re-shoots. After heavy editing by the studio, approximately one hour of Welles's first cut was removed, including much of a climactic confrontation scene in an amusement park funhouse. While expressing displeasure at the cuts, Welles was appalled particularly with the musical score. The film was considered a disaster in America at the time of release, though the closing shootout in a hall of mirrors (the use of mirrors being a recurrent motif of Welles's) has since become a touchstone of film noir. Not long after release, Welles and Hayworth finalized their divorce.

Although ''The Lady from Shanghai'' was acclaimed in Europe, it was not embraced in the U.S. until decades later, where it is now often regarded as a classic of film noir. A similar difference in reception on opposite sides of the Atlantic, followed by greater American acceptance, befell the Welles-inspired Chaplin film ''Monsieur Verdoux'', originally to be directed by Welles starring Chaplin, then directed by Chaplin with the idea credited to Welles.

''Macbeth''

Prior to 1948, Welles convinced Republic Pictures to let him direct a low-budget version of '' Macbeth'', which featured highly stylized sets and costumes, and a cast of actors lip-syncing to a pre-recorded soundtrack, one of many innovative cost-cutting techniques Welles deployed in an attempt to make an epic film from B-movie resources. The script, adapted by Welles, is a violent reworking of Shakespeare's original, freely cutting and pasting lines into new contexts via a collage technique and recasting ''Macbeth'' as a clash of pagan and proto-Christian ideologies. Some voodoo trappings of the famous Welles/Houseman Negro Theatre stage adaptation are visible, especially in the film's characterization of the Weird Sisters, who create an effigy of Macbeth as a charm to enchant him. Of all Welles's post-''Kane'' Hollywood productions, ''Macbeth'' is stylistically closest to ''Citizen Kane'' in its long takes and deep focus photography.

Republic initially trumpeted the film as an important work but decided it did not care for the Scottish accents and held up general release for almost a year after early negative press reaction, including ''Life''s comment that Welles's film "doth foully slaughter Shakespeare." Welles left for Europe, while co-producer and lifelong supporter Richard Wilson reworked the soundtrack. Welles returned and cut 20 minutes from the film at Republic's request and recorded narration to cover some gaps. The film was decried as a disaster. ''Macbeth'' had influential fans in Europe, especially the French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau, who hailed the film's "crude, irreverent power" and careful shot design, and described the characters as haunting "the corridors of some dreamlike subway, an abandoned coal mine, and ruined cellars oozing with water."

Europe (1948–1956)

In Italy he starred as Cagliostro in the 1948 film ''Black Magic''. His co-star, Akim Tamiroff, impressed Welles so much that Tamiroff would appear in four of Welles's productions during the 1950s and 1960s.

The following year, Welles starred as Harry Lime in Carol Reed's ''The Third Man'', alongside Joseph Cotten, his friend and co-star from '' Citizen Kane'', with a script by Graham Greene and a memorable score by Anton Karas.

A few years later, British radio producer Harry Alan Towers would resurrect the Lime character in the radio series ''The Adventures of Harry Lime''.

Welles appeared as Cesare Borgia in the 1949 Italian film ''Prince of Foxes'', with Tyrone Power and Mercury Theatre alumnus Everett Sloane, and as the Mongol warrior Bayan in the 1950 film version of the novel ''The Black Rose'' (again with Tyrone Power).

''Othello''

During this time, Welles was channeling his money from acting jobs into a self-financed film version of Shakespeare's play '' Othello''. From 1949 to 1951, Welles worked on '' Othello'', filming on location in Italy and Morocco. The film featured Welles's friends, Micheál Mac Liammóir as Iago and Hilton Edwards as Desdemona's father Brabantio. Suzanne Cloutier starred as Desdemona and Campbell Playhouse alumnus Robert Coote appeared as Iago's associate Roderigo.

Filming was suspended several times as Welles ran out of funds and left for acting jobs, accounted in detail in MacLiammóir's published memoir ''Put Money in Thy Purse''. The American release prints had a technically flawed soundtrack, suffering from a dropout of sound at every quiet moment. Welles's daughter, Beatrice Welles-Smith, restored ''Othello'' in 1992 for a wide re-release. The restoration included reconstructing Angelo Francesco Lavagnino's original musical score, which was originally inaudible, and adding ambient stereo sound effects, which were not in the original film. The restoration went on to a successful theatrical run in America.

In 1952, Welles continued finding work in England after the success of the ''Harry Lime'' radio show. Harry Alan Towers offered Welles another series, ''The Black Museum'', which ran for 52 weeks with Welles as host and narrator. Director Herbert Wilcox offered Welles the part of the murdered victim in '' Trent's Last Case'', based on the novel by E. C. Bentley. In 1953, the BBC
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