On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 1:18:54 PM UTC-7, cri...@windstream.net wrote:

Seeing 'Citizen Kane' recently for the third and
very widely spaced time, going back to the 1970's,
I finally connected with it and really enjoyed it for
the first time, and went through the DVD four more
times, two of them to listen to the Ebert and
Bogdanovich commentaries.

That led me to start seeing the other Welles-directed
movies, first 'The Lady from Shanghai' (1948) and next
'Touch of Evil' (1958). The two set to follow are 'The
Stranger' (1946) and 'The Trial' (1962).

'The Lady from Shanghai' was fairly interesting, and
the 'funhouse' scene near the end was fascinating for
Welles' razzle-dazzle effects, but I could never buy
into the plot. The Welles character's naive stupidity in
going along with the absurd setup scheme was just
too unbelievable, especially since he had shown
wisdom beyond his years in things that he had previously
said and done. The courtroom sequence was
entertaining, but also unbelievable in that such silliness
would never be allowed in any court case, for example
the prosecuting attorney taking the stand.

'Touch of Evil', supposedly restored in 1998 according to
Welles' wishes, the original release having been
butchered by the studio, was interesting to watch because
of Welles directorial flair, but again had such an
unbelievable plot that it was impossible to get caught up
in the story. The Janet Leigh subplot in the motel in the
middle of nowhere was unbearably stupid, and casting
Charlton Heston as a Mexican was laughable. It may
have been just me, but I found the Welles character
himself to be almost too disgusting to watch. I hope they
overdid it with the makeup and that wasn't really the way
he was in 1958. Also, what a waste of Marlene Dietrich
and Mercedes McCambridge, who obviously were there
only for the prestige of being in a Welles movie, having
almost nothing to do.

I'm looking forward to 'The Stranger' and 'The Trial' though.
Any other Welles-directed recommendations?

https://www.slashfilm.com/612068/orson-welles-directed-films-ranked-worst-to-best/

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