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Orson Welles #1
Orson Welles, Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu
Orson Welles, Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu (Orson Welles Biographies) [Paperback] Callow, Simon
640 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
February 9, 2019
It is almost beyond belief today to learn that CITIZEN KANE was roundly booed and jeered whenever was mentioned as a contender at the Academy Awards. It did win Best Screenplay, and the cheers following the announcement of Herman J. Mankiewicz drowned out the mention of Orson Welles’ name that followed. Of course, this is undoubtedly more of a reflection of the hostility toward Orson Welles rather than against his famous motion picture.
Almost equally beyond belief is that the writer of ORSON WELLES: THE ROAD TO XANADU, Simon Callow, produced a book that in the paperback version I read ran to almost 580-pages ... and it only covered Welles’ life up to age 26 and the release of CITIZEN KANE. Indeed, as I write this, there are three published volumes, and the fourth (and final) one is on its way. My assumption is that the last one will take us up to the posthumous release of Welles’ final film, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND.
Simon Callow took 6-years to write this first volume, and the amount of pertinent detail is stunning. Usually, when I am reading a biography, the sections devoted to the lives of the subject’s parents and the subject’s early life are incredibly dull for me. This is less the fault of writing and more of my impatience in “wanting to get to the good parts.” That was not the case with Callow’s book, though. This “early knowledge” was engagingly presented and important to understanding Orson Welles.
The resources and contributors listed by the writer are impressive. In addition, Simon Callow is uniquely qualified to curate this information. As I’d mentioned, his writing is engaging. However, his extensive work as both an Actor and Director allows him to interpret some of Welles’ choices (and his sometimes “unprofessional” behavior) from the perspective of someone who knows what needs to happen. Consequently, his analysis of Welles’ acting abilities and ungiving attitude to his performers as Director has a ring of authenticity.
I have read elsewhere of Welles’ condemnation of John Houseman, the man who helped him realize the Mercury Theatre and who suggested Welles as the Director of the imaginative Shakespeare production that became known as the “Voodoo Macbeth.” Frankly, the conniving of which Welles accused Houseman never made sense to me from what I had read of Houseman. Callow brought the background front and center that made Welles’ opinion understandable ... despite being incredibly unjust.
For students of theater, this volume provides wonderful details about Welles’ most famous productions. Film enthusiasts will find an in-depth plunge into CITIZEN KANE. And although not a lot is said about “The Shadow,” the radio dramas are also discussed including “The Mercury Theatre of the Air” productions and the infamous “The War of the Worlds” presentation.
Was this all too much? Well, I’ll admit that when I was in completely “unknown territory” for extended periods of time, I did have to bolster myself for the next reading session. However, when I returned to reading, I was immediately caught up in the narrative again. Of course, finding out the story behind the works with which I was familiar was a joy from beginning to end.
I do plan to continue to the next volume, although not right away. I need to “cleanse my mental palate” of Orson Welles before engaging further. But, I will return, to both the next volume and to his movies.
Almost equally beyond belief is that the writer of ORSON WELLES: THE ROAD TO XANADU, Simon Callow, produced a book that in the paperback version I read ran to almost 580-pages ... and it only covered Welles’ life up to age 26 and the release of CITIZEN KANE. Indeed, as I write this, there are three published volumes, and the fourth (and final) one is on its way. My assumption is that the last one will take us up to the posthumous release of Welles’ final film, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND.
Simon Callow took 6-years to write this first volume, and the amount of pertinent detail is stunning. Usually, when I am reading a biography, the sections devoted to the lives of the subject’s parents and the subject’s early life are incredibly dull for me. This is less the fault of writing and more of my impatience in “wanting to get to the good parts.” That was not the case with Callow’s book, though. This “early knowledge” was engagingly presented and important to understanding Orson Welles.
The resources and contributors listed by the writer are impressive. In addition, Simon Callow is uniquely qualified to curate this information. As I’d mentioned, his writing is engaging. However, his extensive work as both an Actor and Director allows him to interpret some of Welles’ choices (and his sometimes “unprofessional” behavior) from the perspective of someone who knows what needs to happen. Consequently, his analysis of Welles’ acting abilities and ungiving attitude to his performers as Director has a ring of authenticity.
I have read elsewhere of Welles’ condemnation of John Houseman, the man who helped him realize the Mercury Theatre and who suggested Welles as the Director of the imaginative Shakespeare production that became known as the “Voodoo Macbeth.” Frankly, the conniving of which Welles accused Houseman never made sense to me from what I had read of Houseman. Callow brought the background front and center that made Welles’ opinion understandable ... despite being incredibly unjust.
For students of theater, this volume provides wonderful details about Welles’ most famous productions. Film enthusiasts will find an in-depth plunge into CITIZEN KANE. And although not a lot is said about “The Shadow,” the radio dramas are also discussed including “The Mercury Theatre of the Air” productions and the infamous “The War of the Worlds” presentation.
Was this all too much? Well, I’ll admit that when I was in completely “unknown territory” for extended periods of time, I did have to bolster myself for the next reading session. However, when I returned to reading, I was immediately caught up in the narrative again. Of course, finding out the story behind the works with which I was familiar was a joy from beginning to end.
I do plan to continue to the next volume, although not right away. I need to “cleanse my mental palate” of Orson Welles before engaging further. But, I will return, to both the next volume and to his movies.
February 4, 2025
I think there should be a clause in my testament that keeps someone who hates me (even if they begrudgingly accept my genius) from writing such a comprehensive biography. I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying that this book would be considerably shorter if you cut out how many times the author mentions how Orson Welles becomes a fat slob in his later years, when it adds absolutely nothing to the story of his life. I think there are fair criticisms made in the book about how self-centered he was, how lucky he was, how everyone indulged him, etc. But all the bullshit psychologizing makes it a hard read at times when I just wanna know what happens next. I think the value of this deep seated hatred the author has for his protagonist is, at the very least, valuable when taking a good critical look at the many tall tales Orson Welles evidently spun throughout his life, and how wild his self-mythologizing got. That said, you can do that without referring to how many steaks he ate, or at least stopping once you drove the point the he was indulgent and had no restraint. After page 400 of the same shit I think we get it!!! That said, this is still an incredible story, and thoroughly thoroughly researched. It is always such a privilege to be able to peer behind the curtain of a man who revolutionized every industry he touched (to the author's chagrin) and burned so so bright at such an early age. In a way it makes me feel weird cause in a year I'll be the age he was by the end of the book, and I have not done anything as impressive as even his biggest flops. But hey, we can't all be Orson Welles, he made damn sure of that.
June 30, 2018
This is a great book about a problematic soul. Makes me want to see Citizen Kane again.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
October 28, 2016
At last I have finished this hugely detailed biography of Orson Welles up to when he is twenty six. Simon Callow has done so much research, leaving no stone unturned. And it is all here, for me just too much information. There was much I found interesting and a lot I didn't. His life at Todd School for Boys showed just what a precocious talent he was, as was his time at The Gate Theatre in Dublin.
Then the Negro Unit of The Federal Theatre Project where his all black Macbeth was a triumph in 1936. Welles directing was only 21. His first real attempt at commercial theatre at the Mercury was a successful Caesar. The trials and tribulations of casting, rehearsals and staging would make a fine movie. Then the "accident" that was "War of the Worlds".
I was very interested to read about his screenplay of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" that was never made into a film, especially that Charlie Marlow's search up river for the elusive Mr Kurtz (the trader turned God) was the basis for the movie "Apocalypse Now". Callow explains on Page 465 "As far as Conrad is concerned, the initial pull of the story on Welles is clear to see. It had great personal resonance for him; many of it's themes continued to fascinate him for the rest of his life. His work on the story, moreover, fed in various subtle and subliminal ways into his first complete film ("Citizen Kane"). The central figure of Kurtz is an epitome of the ambiguity of greatness, or more precisely, greatness gone wrong."
Then the writer's summing up in the last two pages is equally stunning. I would love to see someone be allowed to do an edited version.
Then the Negro Unit of The Federal Theatre Project where his all black Macbeth was a triumph in 1936. Welles directing was only 21. His first real attempt at commercial theatre at the Mercury was a successful Caesar. The trials and tribulations of casting, rehearsals and staging would make a fine movie. Then the "accident" that was "War of the Worlds".
I was very interested to read about his screenplay of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" that was never made into a film, especially that Charlie Marlow's search up river for the elusive Mr Kurtz (the trader turned God) was the basis for the movie "Apocalypse Now". Callow explains on Page 465 "As far as Conrad is concerned, the initial pull of the story on Welles is clear to see. It had great personal resonance for him; many of it's themes continued to fascinate him for the rest of his life. His work on the story, moreover, fed in various subtle and subliminal ways into his first complete film ("Citizen Kane"). The central figure of Kurtz is an epitome of the ambiguity of greatness, or more precisely, greatness gone wrong."
Then the writer's summing up in the last two pages is equally stunning. I would love to see someone be allowed to do an edited version.
December 22, 2014
I am a voracious reader of biographies, the most recent being the fantastic BOGART, by Ann Sperber. That one really made you feel that you were a fly on the wall, with visceral language and enough emotion to allow the reader to relate. This one, however, does not. Callow has a stilted, very colloquially British way of writing, which to say the least is off putting and not at all fluid. He also gets lost in the weeds frequently, telling us about people and situation in which we are just not interested. We are here to read about Welles, not all of the tertiary figures surrounding his life.
Interestingly as well, the author denigrates previous biographers of Welles frequently throughout the book, bad form to say the least. Even worse, his bias against his subject, who was by most measures not a very authentic or nice human being, is palpable and creeps into the narrative constantly, really breaking up the flow.
Not my favorite bio, to say the least, and probably one of the worst overall that I have read. The only reason it gets three stars instead of two is that it is quite exhaustive in scope, very detailed, and clearly required a lot of research. For Welles wonks this is great, for those who enjoy a flowing and fluid framework that elicits emotional responses in the reader . . . not so much. Clinical.
Interestingly as well, the author denigrates previous biographers of Welles frequently throughout the book, bad form to say the least. Even worse, his bias against his subject, who was by most measures not a very authentic or nice human being, is palpable and creeps into the narrative constantly, really breaking up the flow.
Not my favorite bio, to say the least, and probably one of the worst overall that I have read. The only reason it gets three stars instead of two is that it is quite exhaustive in scope, very detailed, and clearly required a lot of research. For Welles wonks this is great, for those who enjoy a flowing and fluid framework that elicits emotional responses in the reader . . . not so much. Clinical.
July 11, 2010
I've been reading this book slowly over the past six months or so, which seems appropriate to a book that covers a long, diverse period in a fascinating career. The chapters about Orson's child-and-young-adulthood are enthralling, and do a lot to explain the man and artist he eventually became. The latter part of the book has the most to say about his career in theater (which was the part I knew least about) but also covers his work in radio, and has an involved, interesting account of his life in Hollywood. The focus is in craft and collaboration, less so than his personal life (though it's hard to separate these at times), and there's also a thorough discussion of the critical/media reception of all Welles's efforts. A really thorough, fact-filled book that's also immensely readable and entertaining.
December 28, 2008
Well-researched, entertaining, and critically written. The most objective of the Welles biographies. Callow has a compelling voice, equally compassionate and unsparing in its examination of a remarkably gifted, flawed, and conflated subject.
September 27, 2014
"For Pauline Kael, Citizen Kane is a magic show; for the present writer it is about size and the doomed quest for significance. The little boy versus the big man. getting more and feeling less; getting bigger and seeming smaller; projecting the image bigger and bigger, so the centre seems further and further from the surface. It is curious that it did not occur to Welles to make Kane grow fat." - Simon Cowell.
"YOU CAN'T BE LOVED - FOR THERE IS NO-TRUE-LOVE!" - Jack White ("The Union Forever)
As a fellow Goodreads friend said about another biography recently, Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu is exhaustive but not exhausting. Apparently this took Cowell six years to research and boy does it show, oh boy it does. It also has the benefit, like another exhaustive biography of a Great Filmmaker that I admire a lot, Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness & Light, to take into account all of the available previous biographies.
What this does is what I like in telling the story of an artist and his/her accomplishments: give me the full story, give me as many sides as possible, and you can still have a general-main point about the man (in this case that Welles was sort of coronated, almost from the womb, to be a GENIUS, and had to always keep that up as his operatic/magician self did through much of his life) and still let us decide about the world at large.
"You know... if I wasn't born rich, I would've been a great man."
"You don't think you are?"
"I think I did alright under the circumstances." - paraphrased quotes from Citizen Kane
This is just incredible research but also really fascinating - and fascinated by subject - writing from Cowell, who is also an actor and yet not absent some sense of humor (that dry British sarcastic wit which you'll either roll your eyes at or enjoy, for me I enjoyed) and takes 578 pages to go over just 26 years of a person's life and work.
If I had any major complaint - though it's not enough to take it away from being one of my new favorite biographies - is that Cowell gets so much detail here and is profiling SO much in so much time that the book feels long. It certainly took me a while to read, though that's not Cowell's fault but mine.
Here's what you should know: you're not even going to get to Welles' main work in the theater until about 200 pages in, which is when Welles meets John Houseman (and Houseman basically fell in love with this Big Young Man), and there's a lot of detail especially to this section, about Welles' roots, his parents, his brother (who had the opposite problem of Welles of being completely unremarkable, but to the point where Orson didn't even really know, or acknowledge, he had a brother at all), and how his parents were always in his head even if he didn't realize it.
I have to wonder in reading this book if Welles would have had a completely different life if his folks, or just one of them, were alive to see his big successes. Though Cowell makes sure to take note of the full spectrum of the early years too - what was myth, was any of it real even, did he just wander the hills of Ireland and become a theatrical prodigy so quickly (maybe so, a little, in parts), it's the parent issue that is a strong psychological back-bone throughout the work.
So that, you know, when Welles is already like 22 and being a booze-guzzling, food-binging, benzadrine popping work(and sex)aholic, we know where some of it comes from. And yet even here Cowell is good enough to not make it totally sure; some of it may be the Mother's Big Approval in the background. But some of it may just be good ol' confidence-cum-arrogance with such an artist who aims high so early - his productions of Macbeth, Horse Eats Hat, Doctor Faustus and Julius Caesar could have been enough to make his life and work monumental alone - that there can only be the moon and stars to fall down from.
"Shakespeare said everything. Brain to belly; every mood and minute of a man's season. His language is starlight and fireflies and the sun and the moon." - Welles on Shakespeare. Perhaps Welles also wanted to try to say everything, in his way...
I got about as full a sense as I can reason to get of what Welles was like at such a bright and hopeful and turbulent and mad time of his life, the myths and the truths about his talents, from building sets to collaborating on a book about Shakespeare at an early age. And Cowell's style is intelligent and even-handed. It's also about Welles in the world of his collaborators - the information about Houseman is most striking, this being the closest to a marriage that falls apart for a myriad of reasons, but also the weird but still loving relationship with the surrogate father "Dadda Bernstein" and Roger Hill from his prep school (oh, and how there would always be a part of him that had that prep-boy thing about him).
Maybe not quite so much about his love life - Virginia Welles gets a little time but maybe not enough, no matter, there is some hints at being bi-sexual, or just, well, 'Available' I guess to make it interesting. Welles could be generous, horrible, forceful, passionate, tired, a million different things with those around him. Some could take it for longer than others.
What comes away with this book, which, I should add, culminates with and has the DEFINITIVE account of the making of Citizen Kane on the writing, shooting, controversy, ALL sides of the critical reception which is illuminating and more complex than the pat "Greatest Film EVA" thing (did you know Welles' radio drama of a little known pleasant drama kinda helped Hearst's whole drama against Kane evaporate?), is so much happening in so short a time.
Welles was like all four of the Beatles in one package, and like the Beatles did so much so quickly and got so rushed about that it maybe ruined him (though resentful Hollywood doesn't help much) - but unlike the Beatles, he wasn't insanely successful, at least in the terms that keep the accountants happy. Indeed it could be argued that if Kane had been a major smash success of a box-office blockbuster, he wouldn't of been screwed about on Ambersons and who knows from there on? So much here to consider, so many richly drawn characters and histories (Mankiewicz is one such character, kind of tragic, kind of an asshole), and it really draws deep down into this author's knowledge and thirst for inquiry into drama itself, what should be there or is there or isn't for an artist such as Welles.
.... AND THERE'S A VOLUME 2?!
"Anyway, Kane is a hero, and a scoundrel. I should know. I play the part myself." - Orson Welles from the Citizen Kane trailer
"YOU CAN'T BE LOVED - FOR THERE IS NO-TRUE-LOVE!" - Jack White ("The Union Forever)
As a fellow Goodreads friend said about another biography recently, Orson Welles: The Road to Xanadu is exhaustive but not exhausting. Apparently this took Cowell six years to research and boy does it show, oh boy it does. It also has the benefit, like another exhaustive biography of a Great Filmmaker that I admire a lot, Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness & Light, to take into account all of the available previous biographies.
What this does is what I like in telling the story of an artist and his/her accomplishments: give me the full story, give me as many sides as possible, and you can still have a general-main point about the man (in this case that Welles was sort of coronated, almost from the womb, to be a GENIUS, and had to always keep that up as his operatic/magician self did through much of his life) and still let us decide about the world at large.
"You know... if I wasn't born rich, I would've been a great man."
"You don't think you are?"
"I think I did alright under the circumstances." - paraphrased quotes from Citizen Kane
This is just incredible research but also really fascinating - and fascinated by subject - writing from Cowell, who is also an actor and yet not absent some sense of humor (that dry British sarcastic wit which you'll either roll your eyes at or enjoy, for me I enjoyed) and takes 578 pages to go over just 26 years of a person's life and work.
If I had any major complaint - though it's not enough to take it away from being one of my new favorite biographies - is that Cowell gets so much detail here and is profiling SO much in so much time that the book feels long. It certainly took me a while to read, though that's not Cowell's fault but mine.
Here's what you should know: you're not even going to get to Welles' main work in the theater until about 200 pages in, which is when Welles meets John Houseman (and Houseman basically fell in love with this Big Young Man), and there's a lot of detail especially to this section, about Welles' roots, his parents, his brother (who had the opposite problem of Welles of being completely unremarkable, but to the point where Orson didn't even really know, or acknowledge, he had a brother at all), and how his parents were always in his head even if he didn't realize it.
I have to wonder in reading this book if Welles would have had a completely different life if his folks, or just one of them, were alive to see his big successes. Though Cowell makes sure to take note of the full spectrum of the early years too - what was myth, was any of it real even, did he just wander the hills of Ireland and become a theatrical prodigy so quickly (maybe so, a little, in parts), it's the parent issue that is a strong psychological back-bone throughout the work.
So that, you know, when Welles is already like 22 and being a booze-guzzling, food-binging, benzadrine popping work(and sex)aholic, we know where some of it comes from. And yet even here Cowell is good enough to not make it totally sure; some of it may be the Mother's Big Approval in the background. But some of it may just be good ol' confidence-cum-arrogance with such an artist who aims high so early - his productions of Macbeth, Horse Eats Hat, Doctor Faustus and Julius Caesar could have been enough to make his life and work monumental alone - that there can only be the moon and stars to fall down from.
"Shakespeare said everything. Brain to belly; every mood and minute of a man's season. His language is starlight and fireflies and the sun and the moon." - Welles on Shakespeare. Perhaps Welles also wanted to try to say everything, in his way...
I got about as full a sense as I can reason to get of what Welles was like at such a bright and hopeful and turbulent and mad time of his life, the myths and the truths about his talents, from building sets to collaborating on a book about Shakespeare at an early age. And Cowell's style is intelligent and even-handed. It's also about Welles in the world of his collaborators - the information about Houseman is most striking, this being the closest to a marriage that falls apart for a myriad of reasons, but also the weird but still loving relationship with the surrogate father "Dadda Bernstein" and Roger Hill from his prep school (oh, and how there would always be a part of him that had that prep-boy thing about him).
Maybe not quite so much about his love life - Virginia Welles gets a little time but maybe not enough, no matter, there is some hints at being bi-sexual, or just, well, 'Available' I guess to make it interesting. Welles could be generous, horrible, forceful, passionate, tired, a million different things with those around him. Some could take it for longer than others.
What comes away with this book, which, I should add, culminates with and has the DEFINITIVE account of the making of Citizen Kane on the writing, shooting, controversy, ALL sides of the critical reception which is illuminating and more complex than the pat "Greatest Film EVA" thing (did you know Welles' radio drama of a little known pleasant drama kinda helped Hearst's whole drama against Kane evaporate?), is so much happening in so short a time.
Welles was like all four of the Beatles in one package, and like the Beatles did so much so quickly and got so rushed about that it maybe ruined him (though resentful Hollywood doesn't help much) - but unlike the Beatles, he wasn't insanely successful, at least in the terms that keep the accountants happy. Indeed it could be argued that if Kane had been a major smash success of a box-office blockbuster, he wouldn't of been screwed about on Ambersons and who knows from there on? So much here to consider, so many richly drawn characters and histories (Mankiewicz is one such character, kind of tragic, kind of an asshole), and it really draws deep down into this author's knowledge and thirst for inquiry into drama itself, what should be there or is there or isn't for an artist such as Welles.
.... AND THERE'S A VOLUME 2?!
"Anyway, Kane is a hero, and a scoundrel. I should know. I play the part myself." - Orson Welles from the Citizen Kane trailer
January 24, 2023
This is 578 pages detailing the first 25 years (plus a few months) Welles' life as the Prodigy, the White Hope, and the Quadruple Threat (the aptly-named titles of the book's three parts). This volume takes us from the Prodigy's early days of astonishing precocity in Kenosha and at the Todd School (where he directed and took the title role in "Richard III") to his early twenties as White Hope of American theater (an all-Black production of "Macbeth", a timely production of "Julius Caesar" in fascist uniforms) with his transition to radio ("War of the Worlds"), and, at 24, the Quadruple Treat's move to Hollywood (with no experience in the film industry, he gets $150,000 per picture, makes "Citizen Kane" - a critical darling but a financial flop that becomes "one of the greatest of all time".
This fascinating tale is undercut by Callow's over-quoting secondary sources. As most of his primary sources were long gone when this book was published, Callow conducted almost no interviews. As a result, he leans heavily on earlier Welles biographies, newspapers and magazines. His research in the latter is extensive. As a result, we have an extensive account of the critical reception that Welles and his projects received beginning with the Todd Troupers through "Citizen Kane". In fact, of the eighteen pages in the last chapter, "Release [of 'Citizen Kane'}", fourteen are spent summarizing "Kane's" reviews.
This fascinating tale is undercut by Callow's over-quoting secondary sources. As most of his primary sources were long gone when this book was published, Callow conducted almost no interviews. As a result, he leans heavily on earlier Welles biographies, newspapers and magazines. His research in the latter is extensive. As a result, we have an extensive account of the critical reception that Welles and his projects received beginning with the Todd Troupers through "Citizen Kane". In fact, of the eighteen pages in the last chapter, "Release [of 'Citizen Kane'}", fourteen are spent summarizing "Kane's" reviews.
April 8, 2016
This masterful, award-winning first volume is what fans have been waiting for: a serious and candid treatment of the supreme artistry and genius of Orson Welles. Covering his precocious childhood through his early (his early 20s!) ground breaking theatrical and radio dramatic productions and ending with the production of Citizen Kane, this volume at least is essential reading for those interested in great drama and film. Covers his "fascist" modern Julius Caesar, the African voodoo Macbeth produced in Harlem with all black actors, the War of the Worlds broadcast, and the battles over making Citizen Kane. Callow writes with a deep understanding of what makes Welles tick, and is unlikely to ever be surpassed. Superb.
March 22, 2015
A thorough disappointment. Callow defines his role in the preface as fully outlining the times and events Welles lived through, in order to give a better understanding of his subject. That he does but does a 6 page discussion on the Federal Theatre Project help us understand Welles any better? Sadly not. The book is constantly sidetracked and lacks any major insight into its subject.
I'd also add that while he constantly chides Welles for his overcooked style, Callow comes across as the much worse ham, with the biography written in the flowery, theatrical style that constantly draws attention to itself.
I'd also add that while he constantly chides Welles for his overcooked style, Callow comes across as the much worse ham, with the biography written in the flowery, theatrical style that constantly draws attention to itself.
January 14, 2016
Simon Callow, the British actor and writer, does an amazing job of culling through interviews, tapes, books, other written sources to develop as complete a picture of Welles as one can about a man who loved to remain a mystery in many ways.
There were certain times that I didn't agree with Callow in his assement of Welles' work or his personality, but he writes in such a way that you have the space to read what he says and still form your own opinion (or maintain it.)
A must for any Welles fan - I can't wait to start the second (and last) volume.
There were certain times that I didn't agree with Callow in his assement of Welles' work or his personality, but he writes in such a way that you have the space to read what he says and still form your own opinion (or maintain it.)
A must for any Welles fan - I can't wait to start the second (and last) volume.
November 26, 2014
A thoroughly over-indulgent presentation (Callow’s prose style is insane) of the first twenty six years of Orson Welles life and career (everything preceding The Magnificent Ambersons). While Welles was a genius, he was equally a charlatan and it is hugely refreshing to be provided with an honest and highly critical examination of the man for the change. I look forward to reading the second volume!
April 27, 2013
I was disappointed to start this and realize it's just volume one. The author is an actor, so he has a lot of discussion about the craft, which is good if you're "in the business" but since I'm not I got kind of bored. Otherwise not a bad bio.
December 24, 2023
An extremely thorough and painstakingly researched book that I'd have enjoyed more had it been more of a biography of Welles and less about Simon Callow's views about the theatre, history, individual films and, from time to time, Welles.
September 24, 2020
4.75
Orson Welles was the unanimous wunderkind of the first half of the 20th century. By the time he turned 26 he accomplished what most of us (if we’re lucky) may only marshal in an entire lifetime. The wheels of his super brain were ever turning, churning out something fresh and inventive in the world of theatre including all its facets: acting, directing, and writing. Although, even early on his clear choice was directing. This should not be a surprise to those who come to this book as an adoring fan of his films, the likes of which will never be replicated. They still showcase (60-80 years later) the sort of unabashed flair and zealous attitude that brought his steamrolling train to Tinseltown in the first place. Of course, this is what led me to Simon Callow’s series of books, which have been heaped with praise for their comprehensive research, covering every aspect of Welles’ life no matter how egregious the moment. The first volume begins with Welles’ birth and ends with the release of “Citizen Kane” when he was 26. Ever intrigued by the strange dichotomy that surrounded Orson’s life on and off set, I took the plunge.
Welles was a precocious child who took to his mother’s attention, learning much about plays and acting. But by the age of 9 his mother passed and he became his own parent. He was largely ignored by his biological father, who could hardly take care of himself anyway. Though, following her death— in his father’s eyes— Orson became the everlasting symbol of his deceased mother. This was true for her other partner, who took her husband’s place before she died. With two fathers vying for his time Orson circumnavigated their attempts at fatherhood with wit and charm, always thwarting their efforts and staying just out of reach. These two traits burgeoned in adulthood for better or worse. Upon learning this one can understand his career trajectory, pouring all his time and effort into his work but also burning any bridges connecting him to the studio system.
However brilliant he was, Orson was equally lucky. With almost no funds and no way out of Dublin, where he visited following his graduation from school, he managed to find an acting role in a theatre. And this is despite overacting the audition. They needed someone for the role and there was no other option. Through some form of magic (and some white lies) he got his wish. And this catapulted him into the limelight even though acting was not even at the top of the heap of his talents. Enter directing.
He flourished as a playwright and director working alongside John Houseman. Scripts he wrote as a teenager such as “Marching Song” and “Bright Lucifer” were brought to life by his own direction. He even put his own modernized spin on classics such as Shakespeare’s plays. Though, critics would disparage his ideas for adaptation since they were not true to the classics. And this was only the start of his critiquing, seemingly vilified for the shadow of his genius. However true any side may be, Callow does not linger on who is right or wrong, only on the truth as it happened. He presents every viewpoint along with his own humble opinion based on the facts we have. You could surmise Callow even believing that Orson could be too smart for his own good. Shooting himself in the foot simply because he “knew better” than others. He was unwilling to budge, which ostracized him from others such as John Houseman. And that relationship dissolved with little fanfare like a plunked antacid in a glass of water.
Ultimately, we remember Welles’ for his filmmaking, which this book details as Orson arrives in Hollywood to make his first film, “Citizen Kane”. Though, the irony is that he (arguably) never made a better film than “Kane”. Packed with wild brilliance and camera perspective never before seen on the silver screen (thanks, in part, to Gregg Toland), it is hard to argue against this but it is also easy to understand why. The chaos and controversy that surrounded “Kane” spilled into the ensuing years. It was like a black tarnish he could not wipe from his soul and Orson was stymied by Hollywood for the remainder of his career. But as harshly as he was treated, he also played a part in his downfall. The seeds for this were sown early on in his life and blossomed during his theatre directing. And in Callow’s work we discover this first piece to the Orson Welles puzzle, one that may not even fit the picture we assembled in our heads. But it certainly fills any void left by his mountainous talent. Now I need those other pieces.
Orson Welles was the unanimous wunderkind of the first half of the 20th century. By the time he turned 26 he accomplished what most of us (if we’re lucky) may only marshal in an entire lifetime. The wheels of his super brain were ever turning, churning out something fresh and inventive in the world of theatre including all its facets: acting, directing, and writing. Although, even early on his clear choice was directing. This should not be a surprise to those who come to this book as an adoring fan of his films, the likes of which will never be replicated. They still showcase (60-80 years later) the sort of unabashed flair and zealous attitude that brought his steamrolling train to Tinseltown in the first place. Of course, this is what led me to Simon Callow’s series of books, which have been heaped with praise for their comprehensive research, covering every aspect of Welles’ life no matter how egregious the moment. The first volume begins with Welles’ birth and ends with the release of “Citizen Kane” when he was 26. Ever intrigued by the strange dichotomy that surrounded Orson’s life on and off set, I took the plunge.
Welles was a precocious child who took to his mother’s attention, learning much about plays and acting. But by the age of 9 his mother passed and he became his own parent. He was largely ignored by his biological father, who could hardly take care of himself anyway. Though, following her death— in his father’s eyes— Orson became the everlasting symbol of his deceased mother. This was true for her other partner, who took her husband’s place before she died. With two fathers vying for his time Orson circumnavigated their attempts at fatherhood with wit and charm, always thwarting their efforts and staying just out of reach. These two traits burgeoned in adulthood for better or worse. Upon learning this one can understand his career trajectory, pouring all his time and effort into his work but also burning any bridges connecting him to the studio system.
However brilliant he was, Orson was equally lucky. With almost no funds and no way out of Dublin, where he visited following his graduation from school, he managed to find an acting role in a theatre. And this is despite overacting the audition. They needed someone for the role and there was no other option. Through some form of magic (and some white lies) he got his wish. And this catapulted him into the limelight even though acting was not even at the top of the heap of his talents. Enter directing.
He flourished as a playwright and director working alongside John Houseman. Scripts he wrote as a teenager such as “Marching Song” and “Bright Lucifer” were brought to life by his own direction. He even put his own modernized spin on classics such as Shakespeare’s plays. Though, critics would disparage his ideas for adaptation since they were not true to the classics. And this was only the start of his critiquing, seemingly vilified for the shadow of his genius. However true any side may be, Callow does not linger on who is right or wrong, only on the truth as it happened. He presents every viewpoint along with his own humble opinion based on the facts we have. You could surmise Callow even believing that Orson could be too smart for his own good. Shooting himself in the foot simply because he “knew better” than others. He was unwilling to budge, which ostracized him from others such as John Houseman. And that relationship dissolved with little fanfare like a plunked antacid in a glass of water.
Ultimately, we remember Welles’ for his filmmaking, which this book details as Orson arrives in Hollywood to make his first film, “Citizen Kane”. Though, the irony is that he (arguably) never made a better film than “Kane”. Packed with wild brilliance and camera perspective never before seen on the silver screen (thanks, in part, to Gregg Toland), it is hard to argue against this but it is also easy to understand why. The chaos and controversy that surrounded “Kane” spilled into the ensuing years. It was like a black tarnish he could not wipe from his soul and Orson was stymied by Hollywood for the remainder of his career. But as harshly as he was treated, he also played a part in his downfall. The seeds for this were sown early on in his life and blossomed during his theatre directing. And in Callow’s work we discover this first piece to the Orson Welles puzzle, one that may not even fit the picture we assembled in our heads. But it certainly fills any void left by his mountainous talent. Now I need those other pieces.
December 31, 2020
Perhaps the most impressive thing about this is that it isn't hagiography; given the depth of effort (and mountains of research) that Callow put in here, I'm genuinely amazed that he demonstrates such incredible perspective and has crafted such an even-handed history. The project requires a deep and abiding love and respect for Welles, obviously, but Callow attempts to reconcile the man's personal and professional contradictions, unafraid to highlight Welles' insecurities and failures in addition to chronicling his meteoric rise and trying to find some truth in the legends.
This is top-to-bottom excellent. Callow threads the needle perfectly between trying to unpack the mythology (since Welles lives on more as myth than as man) while also preserving some of the magic, occasionally finding himself just as awe-struck as we are. In particular, I appreciate the depth this book explores in the complex ebb and flow of the Welles-Houseman relationship, which certainly seems to be the most important in the young man's professional life. It's amazing that this dedicates nearly as much time to essential milestones like Marching Song and Cradle Will Rock as it does to Citizen Kane (and of course, demonstrating the parallels between the often fraught productions and releases of the projects Welles was most passionate about).
If I have any real critique at all, it's that this ends up being more exhaustive on the finer points of specific theatrical productions than is strictly necessary. Even so, I feel that this history is absolutely worth chronicling; the level of detail included here is unbelievable. I laud Callow's attempts to capture the spirit of these projects, their material conditions, and their relevance to the lives and careers of those involved... but ultimately, it's theatre. It's inherently ephemeral, and it's lost to time. I'll read Callow describe the lighting design and literary inspiration and performance nuance and production context of individual 1930s Broadway productions all day... but there's still something missing. Especially in contrast to other work documented here (specifically, the highlights of Welles' radio work and Citizen Kane), I can't experience the FTP Macbeth or Mercury Caesar for myself (not to mention the many, MANY other productions described in this book, from Dublin to Broadway).
That's nitpicking, though - again, I'm thankful for Callow having done such exhaustive research and not just having documented it, but crafting an engaging and informative narrative out of it, to boot. And I hazard a guess that later volumes in this series will tie the inherent inaccessibility of Welles' early theatrical to the many unfinished or unrealized film projects that occupied the rest of his career. Perhaps not; it seems apt to me, regardless, that so much of Welles' life's work can never be experienced by any of us at all anymore.
This is tremendous stuff - my TL;DR would just be that Callow is a wonderful writer and the history here is second to none. Frankly, I could read this forever (and I can't wait to dig into the ensuing volumes; I hope that Callow manages to finish the final book before too long). What a treat.
This is top-to-bottom excellent. Callow threads the needle perfectly between trying to unpack the mythology (since Welles lives on more as myth than as man) while also preserving some of the magic, occasionally finding himself just as awe-struck as we are. In particular, I appreciate the depth this book explores in the complex ebb and flow of the Welles-Houseman relationship, which certainly seems to be the most important in the young man's professional life. It's amazing that this dedicates nearly as much time to essential milestones like Marching Song and Cradle Will Rock as it does to Citizen Kane (and of course, demonstrating the parallels between the often fraught productions and releases of the projects Welles was most passionate about).
If I have any real critique at all, it's that this ends up being more exhaustive on the finer points of specific theatrical productions than is strictly necessary. Even so, I feel that this history is absolutely worth chronicling; the level of detail included here is unbelievable. I laud Callow's attempts to capture the spirit of these projects, their material conditions, and their relevance to the lives and careers of those involved... but ultimately, it's theatre. It's inherently ephemeral, and it's lost to time. I'll read Callow describe the lighting design and literary inspiration and performance nuance and production context of individual 1930s Broadway productions all day... but there's still something missing. Especially in contrast to other work documented here (specifically, the highlights of Welles' radio work and Citizen Kane), I can't experience the FTP Macbeth or Mercury Caesar for myself (not to mention the many, MANY other productions described in this book, from Dublin to Broadway).
That's nitpicking, though - again, I'm thankful for Callow having done such exhaustive research and not just having documented it, but crafting an engaging and informative narrative out of it, to boot. And I hazard a guess that later volumes in this series will tie the inherent inaccessibility of Welles' early theatrical to the many unfinished or unrealized film projects that occupied the rest of his career. Perhaps not; it seems apt to me, regardless, that so much of Welles' life's work can never be experienced by any of us at all anymore.
This is tremendous stuff - my TL;DR would just be that Callow is a wonderful writer and the history here is second to none. Frankly, I could read this forever (and I can't wait to dig into the ensuing volumes; I hope that Callow manages to finish the final book before too long). What a treat.
July 22, 2024
Orson was the man who made me fall in love with cinema.
Much like Truffaut, one of my earliest cinematic experiences was watching citizen kane, a film I watched merely because I decided I wanted to give this whole filmmaker thing a try. And in that moment, at around 16 years old or so, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
Welles work became the foundation of my education, and I spent many an hour studying his craftwork in particular, something that I aspired to as a younger filmmaker and flat out copied in many of my own works. His life was the life I wanted most, that of the prodigy.
So gun ho was I in this philosophy, that at 25, much like Welles, I made my first feature, released before I turned 26, not only in an ambitious need to make films, but to emmulate the man that I admired most.
But as you can tell if you are one of the few people reading this, Sir Mel Haze did not turn out the way Citizen Kane did. It did not premiere in theaters. It was nominated for no awards. In fact, less than 1,000 people have even seen the picture, though I made it my mission to be availible just about anywhere you watched movies.
That failure, that film which did not skyrocket me to the edifice of Hollywood, was, at the time, my greatest failure. I was miserable. I had put every single penny I had, along with my entire life's work, into that piece, and worse than being hated, it was unknown. This, too, was Welles greatest fear. Not that of being loved or hated, but completely forgotten. That's exactly how I felt at that moment.
And then, I grew, I moved on, I tried some other stuff, and then those became the biggest failures in my life. My failed attempt at an MFA, my inability to sell a screenplay, the constant rejection letters from Agents, the movie theater that was open for just one weekend. Failure after failure after failure.
After a while, I had nothing better but to assume this would be the rest of my life. A failed artist who never made much of anything of himself, the very opposite of the man I admired most. But then I got to the final pages of the book.
Orson, despite his great fame and successes, he was the most known man under the president in the United States, spent the rest of his career, that after 26, trying to live up to a false image he himself created. Because his childhood and young adulthood was nothing but one success after another, he never faced true adversity as a teenager or young adult. This would eventually lead to a drunken, glutunous, miserable life, always trying to be the thing he never was.
Now I, currently, have no idea what the rest of my life holds for me, though I imagine when I look back upon this in the future I will know much more, but I must delude myself into the belief that these failures are the things that will lead to a life as a filmmaker. How any of that will go about I have bo idea, and if I'm being completely honest, feels more hopeless than ever.
But the work keeps going. And I keep going. And I suppose thats gotta count for something.
Much like Truffaut, one of my earliest cinematic experiences was watching citizen kane, a film I watched merely because I decided I wanted to give this whole filmmaker thing a try. And in that moment, at around 16 years old or so, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
Welles work became the foundation of my education, and I spent many an hour studying his craftwork in particular, something that I aspired to as a younger filmmaker and flat out copied in many of my own works. His life was the life I wanted most, that of the prodigy.
So gun ho was I in this philosophy, that at 25, much like Welles, I made my first feature, released before I turned 26, not only in an ambitious need to make films, but to emmulate the man that I admired most.
But as you can tell if you are one of the few people reading this, Sir Mel Haze did not turn out the way Citizen Kane did. It did not premiere in theaters. It was nominated for no awards. In fact, less than 1,000 people have even seen the picture, though I made it my mission to be availible just about anywhere you watched movies.
That failure, that film which did not skyrocket me to the edifice of Hollywood, was, at the time, my greatest failure. I was miserable. I had put every single penny I had, along with my entire life's work, into that piece, and worse than being hated, it was unknown. This, too, was Welles greatest fear. Not that of being loved or hated, but completely forgotten. That's exactly how I felt at that moment.
And then, I grew, I moved on, I tried some other stuff, and then those became the biggest failures in my life. My failed attempt at an MFA, my inability to sell a screenplay, the constant rejection letters from Agents, the movie theater that was open for just one weekend. Failure after failure after failure.
After a while, I had nothing better but to assume this would be the rest of my life. A failed artist who never made much of anything of himself, the very opposite of the man I admired most. But then I got to the final pages of the book.
Orson, despite his great fame and successes, he was the most known man under the president in the United States, spent the rest of his career, that after 26, trying to live up to a false image he himself created. Because his childhood and young adulthood was nothing but one success after another, he never faced true adversity as a teenager or young adult. This would eventually lead to a drunken, glutunous, miserable life, always trying to be the thing he never was.
Now I, currently, have no idea what the rest of my life holds for me, though I imagine when I look back upon this in the future I will know much more, but I must delude myself into the belief that these failures are the things that will lead to a life as a filmmaker. How any of that will go about I have bo idea, and if I'm being completely honest, feels more hopeless than ever.
But the work keeps going. And I keep going. And I suppose thats gotta count for something.
October 29, 2024
A tour-de-force volume describing one of the most famous yet enigmatic directors, this preliminary volume describes the childhood, adolescence and young adulthood of Orson Welles and his influential film Citizen Kane, which he made at the age of 25.
In this work, Callow, who is an actor, and whose analysis of stagecraft and the history of theatre, is second to none, marshals an astounding amount of research, evidence, and analysis to analyze the environment which shaped Welles.
Welles, who always lived in the shadow of an alcoholic father and an overbearing mother, who he constantly aimed to please, and to whom nothing was ever good enough, always had a flare for the theatrical. Losing his parents as a child, he befriended numerous mentors and father figures throughout his life who motivated him in his artistic pursuits.
In Callow’s telling, for Welles, the enfant terrible, spectacle, magic, and execution was all. In this account, despite Welles being a talented actor and director, he never really delved down deep into either himself or his material to get at its essence. It seems that whatever Welles accomplished, he accomplished on the will and force of his oversized personality and voice alone.
At the end of this volume, (the first of a projected four volume set; Callow has published the first three), Welles has conquered the fields of theatre, radio, and film. He is the consummate actor-director, one who wanted to truly leave his mark on the stage and cinema. Unfortunately for him, and for us, he would never really have complete artistic or financial freedom to accomplish that during the remaining 45 years of his life.
For me, Welles is the ultimate dreamer, perhaps one who flew too close to the sun. He was always consumed with various projects throughout his life. As someone who has seen all of his completed films, many of them are explorations of powerful yet flawed schemers and dreamers. How much of that is autobiographical? In many ways, Welles revolutionized filmmaking and narrative techniques. I am still waiting for a completed assembled and realized version of his Don Quixote. For lovers of biography,, film, and art, Simon Callow’s idiosyncratic and ambivalent view will prove a tough act to follow.
In this work, Callow, who is an actor, and whose analysis of stagecraft and the history of theatre, is second to none, marshals an astounding amount of research, evidence, and analysis to analyze the environment which shaped Welles.
Welles, who always lived in the shadow of an alcoholic father and an overbearing mother, who he constantly aimed to please, and to whom nothing was ever good enough, always had a flare for the theatrical. Losing his parents as a child, he befriended numerous mentors and father figures throughout his life who motivated him in his artistic pursuits.
In Callow’s telling, for Welles, the enfant terrible, spectacle, magic, and execution was all. In this account, despite Welles being a talented actor and director, he never really delved down deep into either himself or his material to get at its essence. It seems that whatever Welles accomplished, he accomplished on the will and force of his oversized personality and voice alone.
At the end of this volume, (the first of a projected four volume set; Callow has published the first three), Welles has conquered the fields of theatre, radio, and film. He is the consummate actor-director, one who wanted to truly leave his mark on the stage and cinema. Unfortunately for him, and for us, he would never really have complete artistic or financial freedom to accomplish that during the remaining 45 years of his life.
For me, Welles is the ultimate dreamer, perhaps one who flew too close to the sun. He was always consumed with various projects throughout his life. As someone who has seen all of his completed films, many of them are explorations of powerful yet flawed schemers and dreamers. How much of that is autobiographical? In many ways, Welles revolutionized filmmaking and narrative techniques. I am still waiting for a completed assembled and realized version of his Don Quixote. For lovers of biography,, film, and art, Simon Callow’s idiosyncratic and ambivalent view will prove a tough act to follow.
March 24, 2023
"I bet you never did the Kenosha Kid".---Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"ORSON WELLES, THEATRICAL AND CINEMATIC GENIUS DIES"--- LOS ANGELES TIMES, Obituary
Orson Welles was the original Kenosha Kid. Orson accomplished more in the first 26 years of his life than most men and women do in 2600 lifetimes. Born into a Wisconsin showbiz family, Orson dearly loved his mother while he grew ever more distant from his father; a family portrait later re-created in CITIZEN KANE. Simon Callow, who you may remember as the British actor playing the librettist who composes "The Magic Flute" for Mozart in AMADEUS, here undertakes the task of following the tracks of another young genius. Orson the kid traveling through Europe; Orson mastering the art of magic; Orson, along with John Housman, producing an all-Black production of McBETH in Harlem (Orson was a life-long integrationist, especially in his bed); Orson founding, avec Housman, the Mercury Theater of Players; Orson scaring all of America with his "War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938, and with all that cred behind him, talking RKO Pictures into not only making his first film at the age of 26 but having complete control and final cut. Odd fact: Orson wanted Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS to be the subject of his film debut. Is this where Coppola got the idea for APOCALYPSE NOW? (Interestingly, this applies posthumously. CITIZEN KANE may not be amended without permission of the O. Welles estate, though that hasn't stopped Ted Turner, who owns the rights, from trying.) Callow also demolishes the myth that Hermann Mankwietz wrote KANE alone. Only Welles could and did write Kane's dialogue. This first volume of the Callow trilogy on Welles is a must for those who wish to uncover the mysterious and ultimately self-destructive nature of genius.
"ORSON WELLES, THEATRICAL AND CINEMATIC GENIUS DIES"--- LOS ANGELES TIMES, Obituary
Orson Welles was the original Kenosha Kid. Orson accomplished more in the first 26 years of his life than most men and women do in 2600 lifetimes. Born into a Wisconsin showbiz family, Orson dearly loved his mother while he grew ever more distant from his father; a family portrait later re-created in CITIZEN KANE. Simon Callow, who you may remember as the British actor playing the librettist who composes "The Magic Flute" for Mozart in AMADEUS, here undertakes the task of following the tracks of another young genius. Orson the kid traveling through Europe; Orson mastering the art of magic; Orson, along with John Housman, producing an all-Black production of McBETH in Harlem (Orson was a life-long integrationist, especially in his bed); Orson founding, avec Housman, the Mercury Theater of Players; Orson scaring all of America with his "War of the Worlds" broadcast of 1938, and with all that cred behind him, talking RKO Pictures into not only making his first film at the age of 26 but having complete control and final cut. Odd fact: Orson wanted Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS to be the subject of his film debut. Is this where Coppola got the idea for APOCALYPSE NOW? (Interestingly, this applies posthumously. CITIZEN KANE may not be amended without permission of the O. Welles estate, though that hasn't stopped Ted Turner, who owns the rights, from trying.) Callow also demolishes the myth that Hermann Mankwietz wrote KANE alone. Only Welles could and did write Kane's dialogue. This first volume of the Callow trilogy on Welles is a must for those who wish to uncover the mysterious and ultimately self-destructive nature of genius.
December 1, 2025
This is an extraordinary must-read biography of Orson Welles -- not just for its immense detail, but also for the adept way that Callow serves as both critic and gentle enthusiast for a man who revolutionized three mediums (theatre, film, and radio drama). The first volume takes us just a bit past CITIZEN KANE and stops at his triumphant return to theatre with NATIVE SON, but, on the way there, we learn that Welles's ignorance was a uniquely powerful tool for his epic and ambitious staging on all fronts -- particularly with legendary cinematographer Gregg Toland as collaborator. Welles's two essential qualities were (1) plowing through any new medium with ignorant decisiveness and (2) never wavering on his standards. (Of course, the poor actors who had to slog with him on point (2) are mentioned by Callow. On the other hand, the work we are left with is jaw-dropping.) Callow gently argues that everything Welles pursued was by way of his giant yet flexible personality putting his stamp on everything, ABSORBING everything (even Shakespeare) to suit his own ends. Callow tries to make a case that Welles wasn't much of a writer, but I would disagree with this. If Callow means to imply that Welles was a formidable credit hog, absorbing other people's contributions, I'm not going to argue with him too much. On the other hand, Welles had both THE WAR OF THE WORLDS and KANE under his belt by the age of twenty-five -- two revolutionary works of art that are extraordinary by any measure, particularly for someone so young. And while I may be giving Callow shit for his approach, I do think that, in Welles's case, this IS the right approach. I believe the boy wonder from Kenosha was a genius, but is a genius defined by his indefatigable ambition? Maybe, maybe not. But Callow has definitely set a sublime standard for Welles scholarshi9p here.
March 26, 2021
One of the best works of biography I have ever read. Callow is an engaging writer - authoritative, yet conversational, and even-handed with both praise and criticism where due, prone to speculation and extrapolation, yet never at the expense of the facts at hand, nor to any discernible agenda.
His treatment of the first 25 years of Welles' life is fair, engaging, and both convincingly and entertainingly unpicks the threads of the Orson Welles myth to locate, somewhere, the likely truth.
It's hard to write of Welles without falling into the cliché of comparison to Citizen Kane, of finding his "Rosebud", the one central facet that to know would explain everything else. Despite the occasional foray into Freudian analysis of Welles' relationship with his parents and subsequent father figures, Callow largely stays clear of this path, and instead presents Welles as a complex, contradictory, often destructive, personality, impossible to separate from the hype, showmanship and ballyhoo he made part of his being.
Callow is never more enjoyable a read, and never more in his element, then when discussing the theatre - whether its history, its techniques, or the practical detail of a theatrical production - and here that provides tremendous colour and insight into Welles' stage career. These passages, littered as they are with throwaway references to theory, to directors and actors of ages past, and to the intended purposes of any number of tricks of the trade, would make this book essential reading even if the subject matter weren't already one of the most public, yet perhaps least knowable, entertainment figures of the 20th century.
His treatment of the first 25 years of Welles' life is fair, engaging, and both convincingly and entertainingly unpicks the threads of the Orson Welles myth to locate, somewhere, the likely truth.
It's hard to write of Welles without falling into the cliché of comparison to Citizen Kane, of finding his "Rosebud", the one central facet that to know would explain everything else. Despite the occasional foray into Freudian analysis of Welles' relationship with his parents and subsequent father figures, Callow largely stays clear of this path, and instead presents Welles as a complex, contradictory, often destructive, personality, impossible to separate from the hype, showmanship and ballyhoo he made part of his being.
Callow is never more enjoyable a read, and never more in his element, then when discussing the theatre - whether its history, its techniques, or the practical detail of a theatrical production - and here that provides tremendous colour and insight into Welles' stage career. These passages, littered as they are with throwaway references to theory, to directors and actors of ages past, and to the intended purposes of any number of tricks of the trade, would make this book essential reading even if the subject matter weren't already one of the most public, yet perhaps least knowable, entertainment figures of the 20th century.
December 12, 2020
I know there are two more volumes of this work by Simon Callow, but I didn't want this one to end.
When Callow finally gets to Kane (more than 450 pages in), I had to slow down and take each chapter in, one at a time (where I'd sometimes consume three or four in a sitting earlier in the book). As someone who's currently finishing a film that I self-funded (and of which I have complete creative control - much as Welles did), I found his struggles with RKO, Hearst, and public perception wildly heartening.
Many who love film (and steaks and booze and accidentally setting Peter Bogdanovich's house on fire) feel a certain kinship with Welles as a personality, but the way these passages related - as much as they could, second-and-third-hand - his lived experience of self-doubt, despair, and frustration at the intransigence of others just really spoke to me. I'm sure any filmmaker can relate, but man, I'm fucking *in it* right now and this hit me extremely hard.
Cannot wait to dive into the subsequent volumes of this history. Callow has a gift for bringing Welles and his environment to life that's honestly staggering to behold. The way he effectively triangulates the likely reality of it all through his rigorous compilation and cross-referencing of sources throughout feels super-human in a way I'm sure Welles himself would have thoroughly pilloried as insufficient.
When Callow finally gets to Kane (more than 450 pages in), I had to slow down and take each chapter in, one at a time (where I'd sometimes consume three or four in a sitting earlier in the book). As someone who's currently finishing a film that I self-funded (and of which I have complete creative control - much as Welles did), I found his struggles with RKO, Hearst, and public perception wildly heartening.
Many who love film (and steaks and booze and accidentally setting Peter Bogdanovich's house on fire) feel a certain kinship with Welles as a personality, but the way these passages related - as much as they could, second-and-third-hand - his lived experience of self-doubt, despair, and frustration at the intransigence of others just really spoke to me. I'm sure any filmmaker can relate, but man, I'm fucking *in it* right now and this hit me extremely hard.
Cannot wait to dive into the subsequent volumes of this history. Callow has a gift for bringing Welles and his environment to life that's honestly staggering to behold. The way he effectively triangulates the likely reality of it all through his rigorous compilation and cross-referencing of sources throughout feels super-human in a way I'm sure Welles himself would have thoroughly pilloried as insufficient.
March 14, 2018
This is definitely the warts and all version of Welles. I didn't really make much of everyone touting about an actual actor FINALLY writing a biography about the Grand Old Man, but I have to say, I underestimated Simon Callow's penetrating psychocreative analysis: Maybe I judged the man a little too harshly for Ace Ventura 2, because lemme tell ya, this motherfucker knows his shit. I sometimes got the impression that Callow experienced a bit TOO much glee in MythBusting Welles, but hell, he's so rigorous and thorough in his research, analysis, and insight--to the extent that he makes Peter Bogdanovich look like Neville Chamberlain--that you can't really fault him. Plus, every time Callow proclaims "Touche!" and contributes another blow to the slow bleeding of the protean Welles legend, it makes his reasonable concessions to the man's genius seem staggering and deserved. I knew going into this 3 (soon to be 4) volume biography of my greatest artistic hero of all time was apt to be riddled with contention, but it's illuminating in a way that is special, private, and well, none of yo goddamn business.
June 22, 2024
My love of movies is blending into other mediums. Now I listen to film scores more than cool new bands, and read books about my favorite directors. This is an incredible biography, jam-packed not only with objective facts about Welles’ early life but also tons of subjective, brilliant, hilarious insights from Simon Callow based on his own acting experience and wisdom. I read most of this at the same time I was reading Malcolm Harris’ "Palo Alto," and I was delighted by the authorial voice in both books: Extremely knowledgeable but also interesting storytellers, where by the end they both felt like I had made amazing new friends.
Only disappointment with this one was the end, where I felt like Callow was poo-pooing "Citizen Kane" a little too much when it feels like the genius of "Citizen Kane" is the whole reason to write a book like this in the first place
Only disappointment with this one was the end, where I felt like Callow was poo-pooing "Citizen Kane" a little too much when it feels like the genius of "Citizen Kane" is the whole reason to write a book like this in the first place
June 30, 2022
An incredible energy runs through Welles’ life, a refusal to ever do anything that was lent innovative, original. The book is great in making a distinction between Welles the showman and the artist. Is he simply always looking for more fireworks? And always that attitude that said yes! to everything - traveling far distant foreign lands alone while still a teenager? Yes! The book really picks up with his work on radio and Hollywood. Callow is interesting on the question of credit: Welles may have not written things, but his contributions were indispensable - he understood where to cut, condense, turn it in to material for a Welles’ production - and that was got the material turned in to reality.
July 26, 2018
Thorough and illuminating, this book sheds light on the first twenty-six years in the life of the titanic man in question. Callow, who is not a writer by trade or even an American, puts forth a work written in a conversational laid-back style that seeks to and succeeds in making clear, through copious detail, what was for many years cloaked in mystery and self made myth. After devouring this, I will definitely seek out Callow's further volumes on this subject.
December 8, 2019
Through a combination of reading EVERYTHING published on Welles and careful archival work, Simon Callow has written what is by far the best Welles biography. Not only is his research prodigious, his judgement is excellent. He illuminatingly covers what has been covered before and enriches it with new material and new insights. I did not know that Welles needed a multi-volume biography. Callow proves that Welles's life is worth the work to both write it and read it.
July 18, 2022
Simon Callow's skill as a biographer is, based on this volume alone, incredible. Callow has a very distinctive voice as a writer, characterized by a lot of high-falutin' French phrases and high level references and allusions, which gives him a great authority to write about the similarly distinct Welles. The amount of research he did is no less than astounding, and manages to craft a very fulsome portrait of this inimitable man.
November 25, 2018
Great in-depth look at Welles' life up to the release of Citizen Kane. It focuses HEAVILY on his stage productions and relationship with John Houseman. It also has some good stories about his radio work with a small percentage of the book actually covering the production and publicity surrounding Kane's release. Overall, a thorough telling of his early life, including as a young child.
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