American director Orson Welles created his own unique innovative cinema language. In his paintings, one can find many interesting finds that destroy the cinema traditions characteristic of the time. A special place in the director’s legacy is occupied by the film “Citizen Kane” (1941), which tops many lists of the best films for the entire existence of cinema as art.
The beginning of a career and the radio show "War of the Worlds"
George Orson Welles was born in May 1915 in the town of Kenosha, near Chicago. Already in 1931, the young man began working in the theater - first as an actor, then as a director. And in 1934, Wells married for the first time - to the wealthy socialite lady Virginia Nicholson. This marriage lasted about six years.
Orson Welles received his first serious fame as the director of radio shows for the CBS channel. He first staged Dracula based on the famous novel by Bram Stoker, and then War of the Worlds based on the eponymous work by Herbert Wells. The director decided to present a fantastic story as a report from the scene, and this move led to unexpected consequences. About a million people believed in the reality of what was said on the radio. There was a mass panic, people abandoned their homes and tried to move away from the place where the Martian ships supposedly appeared …
Creativity of the director in the forties and fifties
At some point, a talented guy was noticed in Hollywood. And already in 1941, Wells directed his first feature film, Citizen Kane. Surprisingly, it is a fact: a twenty-five-year-old young man was able to remove the masterpiece, which is now studied in all film schools. The film "Citizen Kane" shows the fate of the provincial from a small town that managed to become an influential media magnate. The film was distinguished by the original construction of the plot, non-standard sound effects, new methods of lighting and shooting. Most professional critics liked the picture.
In 1942, Wells made the second film, The Amberson Splendor. The producers cut, without putting the director on fame, from it several important scenes and added a happy ending, but this did not save the film from a box office failure.
The following year 1943 brought Orson Welles important changes in his personal life - he married Rita Hayworth, the actress and the first Hollywood beauty of those years. In 1944, Rita gave birth to Orson's daughter Rebecca. But in the end, the star family still broke up - the divorce was formalized in 1947.
And in 1947, Wells directed the noir thriller Lady of Shanghai. Here he showed himself to be also a brilliant actor, playing the unemployed sailor Michael O'Hara. Orson Welles was able to turn an ordinary crime story into a genuine drama using his signature metaphorical movie language. Alas, the mass audience did not appreciate this film.
The same fate befell the Wells film adaptation of the classic 1948 Shakespearean play Macbeth. The producers were very unhappy, Wells career came to a standstill. Therefore, he left Hollywood and moved to Europe. It is worth noting that Orson Welles really appreciated Shakespeare's work. After “Macbeth” he filmed the play “Othello” (1952). In both cases, Wells proposed his own interpretation of Shakespearean subjects.
In 1955, Orson Welles made the movie Mr. Arcadin. But he did not have time to finish the work on the installation on time, as a result of which several different versions of the film appeared at once. One of the main roles in “Mr. Arcadine” was played by Spanish actress and aristocrat Paula Mori, who eventually became Wells' third wife. They have been married for about thirty years.
In 1957, Orson Welles returned to Hollywood and directed the brilliant noir film Seal of Evil. But this work did not satisfy American producers, they re-edited the film in their own way and even re-shot several scenes. Wells was disappointed and again left for Europe.
