What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?

October 1, 2006
With Welles, all roads lead to Citizen Kane, and it's there that many of his troubles began, McBride (Orson Welles; Steven Spielberg: A Biography, etc.) asserts in his lengthy examination of the famed filmmaker's career. Labeled a communist by the vengeful publisher William Hearst, Welles found himself blacklisted in the industry. He left for Europe, later writing in Esquire that he "chose freedom." He produced only two movies during the eight years he spent abroad, but McBride asserts that his expatriate period resulted in tremendous growth as an independent filmmaker. Much of the book revolves around the saga of Welles's unfinished Hollywood satire, The Other Side of the Wind, which the author worked on. Instead of fully exploiting the insider angle, McBride instead comes across as a name-dropper, constantly reminding the reader of his relationship with his subject. McBride's passion for film (Welles's films, specifically) and his closeness with the director provide enough insider material to satisfy Welles fans and film buffs, though readers with a casual interest may want to look elsewhere.

October 2, 2006
With Welles, all roads lead to Citizen Kane, and it's there that many of his troubles began, McBride (Orson Welles; Steven Spielberg: A Biography, etc.) asserts in his lengthy examination of the famed filmmaker's career. Labeled a communist by the vengeful publisher William Hearst, Welles found himself blacklisted in the industry. He left for Europe, later writing in Esquire that he "chose freedom." He produced only two movies during the eight years he spent abroad, but McBride asserts that his expatriate period resulted in tremendous growth as an independent filmmaker. Much of the book revolves around the saga of Welles's unfinished Hollywood satire, The Other Side of the Wind, which the author worked on. Instead of fully exploiting the insider angle, McBride instead comes across as a name-dropper, constantly reminding the reader of his relationship with his subject. McBride's passion for film (Welles's films, specifically) and his closeness with the director provide enough insider material to satisfy Welles fans and film buffs, though readers with a casual interest may want to look elsewhere.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2006
Conventional wisdom about Orson Welles holds that he squandered the promise of " Citizen Kane" (1941) in two decades' worth of releases that ranged from masterpieces to misfires. In the 15 years before his death in 1985, he did little but appear in hack movies and lucrative commercials. "I started at the top and have been going downhill ever since," he said. Yet McBride shows those years to have been a period of great productivity, during which Welles worked nonstop on a number of projects, few of which reached completion. The author of two previous books on Welles, McBride got to know the filmmaker he idolized when Welles recruited the young critic to play a role in the most famous of the unfinished works, " The Other Side of the Wind." McBride argues that Welles should be viewed not as a failed Hollywood exile but as a progenitor of the independent filmmaking that flourished in the 1970s. Welles fans--essentially, all serious cinephiles--will find McBride's heartfelt defense of the director indispensable, though heartbreaking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)