- Chimes at Midnight
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Chimes at Midnight
Theatrical release posterDirected by Orson Welles Produced by Ángel Escolano
Emiliano Piedra
Harry SaltzmanWritten by William Shakespeare
Orson WellesStarring Orson Welles
Jeanne Moreau
Margaret Rutherford
Keith Baxter
John Gielgud
Marina Vlady
Fernando Rey
Beatrice Welles
Ingrid PittCinematography Edmond Richard Distributed by Continental Film Distributors Release date(s) Spain: 22 December 1965 Running time 117 min. Language English Chimes at Midnight, also known as Falstaff and Campanadas a medianoche (Spanish title), is a 1965 film directed by and starring Orson Welles. Focused on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff, the film stars Welles himself as Falstaff, Keith Baxter plays Prince Hal (who will later become Henry V), and John Gielgud plays Henry IV. Jeanne Moreau appears as Doll Tearsheet and Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly.
Contents
Plot
The script contains text from five Shakespeare plays: primarily Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, but also Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. It was based on Welles's play Five Kings, an adaptation of four Shakespeare plays which he produced in 1939 and again in 1960. The film's narration, spoken by Ralph Richardson, is taken from the chronicler Raphael Holinshed.
Near the end of the film, Welles slightly alters a scene from Henry V, Act 2, Scene 2 in which Henry V pardons an imprisoned street rabble-rouser just before his expedition to invade France. In Welles' version it is stated that this man is Falstaff, and the incident he is pardoning is Falstaff's disturbance of Henry's coronation. Although both the pardoned prisoner and Falstaff are said to drink wine, Shakespeare's original has no implication the pardoned prisoner is Falstaff. In both Welles' film and in Henry V, this scene is followed by the death of Falstaff.
Cast
- Orson Welles ... Falstaff
- Jeanne Moreau ... Doll Tearsheet
- Margaret Rutherford ... Mistress Quickly
- John Gielgud ... Henry IV
- Marina Vlady ... Kate Percy
- Walter Chiari ... Mr. Silence
- Michael Aldridge ... Pistol
- Julio Peña
- Tony Beckley ... Ned Poins
- Andrés Mejuto
- Keith Pyott
- Jeremy Rowe ... Prince John
- Alan Webb ... Shallow
- Fernando Rey ... Worcester
- Keith Baxter ... Prince Hal
- Norman Rodway ... Henry 'Hotspur' Percy
- Jose Nieto ... Northumberland
- Andrew Faulds ... Westmoreland
- Charles Farrell
- Fernando Hilbeck
- Patrick Bedford ... Bardolph
- Beatrice Welles ... Falstaff's Page
- Ralph Richardson ... Narrator (voice)
Reception
The film was nominated (in 1968) for a BAFTA film award for Welles as Best Foreign Actor. At the 1966 Cannes Film Festival Welles was nominated for the Golden Palm Award and won the 20th Anniversary Prize and the Technical Grand Prize.[1] In Spain it won (in 1966) the Citizens Writers Circle Award for Best Film.
Welles held this film in high regard and considered it along with The Trial (1962) as his best work. As he remarked in 1982, "If I wanted to get into heaven on the basis of one movie, that's the one I'd offer up."[2] Many critics, including Peter Bogdanovich and Jonathan Rosenbaum, also consider it Welles's finest work. The scene depicting the Battle of Shrewsbury has been particularly admired, serving as an inspiration for movies like Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan.
The film is officially available on region 2 DVD from Spain. Due to complications concerning the film's ownership and the estate of Orson Welles, Chimes at Midnight has only been released twice in the United States, both exclusively on VHS and long out of print. Mr Bongo screened a restored version in the UK at Picturehouse Cinemas on August 1, 2011.[3]
Books
Chimes at Midnight. Rutgers UP, 1989. ISBN 0-8135-1339-1 (complete screenplay included).
References
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Chimes at Midnight". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2819/year/1966.html. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ^ Interview with Orson Welles, BBC Arena, 1982.
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/orson-welles-rarely-seen-masterpiece-is-restored-and-rereleased-2313302.html
External links
- Chimes at Midnight at the Internet Movie Database
- Chimes at Midnight at AllRovi
- Chimes at Midnight at Rotten Tomatoes
- Roger Ebert "Great Movies" review
- Senses of Cinema review
- Cinescene review
- Google Video
Works directed by Orson Welles Filmography · Awards and nominations 1940s Citizen Kane (1941) · The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) · The Stranger (1946) · The Lady from Shanghai (1947) · Macbeth (1948)1950s 1960s 1970s Shorts The Hearts of Age (1934) · Too Much Johnson (lost film) (1938) · The Miracle of St. Anne (lost film) (1950) · The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh (1984)Unfinished It's All True (1942) · Don Quixote (1956~69) · Vienna (1968) · The Merchant of Venice (1969) · The Deep (1967~70) · One Man Band, aka London (1968~71) · Moby Dick (1971) · The Other Side of the Wind (1969~76) · Filming 'The Trial' (1981) · The Dreamers (1980~2) · Orson Welles' Magic Show (1976~85)Television Orson Welles' Sketch Book (1955) · Around the World with Orson Welles (1955) · Orson Welles and People (lost) (1956) · The Fountain of Youth (1958) · Portrait of Gina (1958) · In the Land of Don Quixote (1964) · The Orson Welles Show (1979)Theatre Voodoo Macbeth (1936) · Horse Eats Hat (1936) · The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1937) · The Cradle Will Rock (musical) (1937~8) · Caesar (1937~8) · Heartbreak House (1938) · The Shoemaker's Holiday (1938) · Too Much Johnson (1938) · Danton's Death (1938) · Five Kings (Part One) (1939) · Native Son (1941) · The Mercury Wonder Show (1943) · Around the World (musical) (1946) · The Blessed and the Damned (1950) · Othello (1951) · The Lady in the Ice (ballet) (1953) · Moby Dick Rehearsed (1955) · King Lear (1956) · Five Kings (1960) · Rhinoceros (1960)Radio The Shadow (1937~8) · Les Misérables (1937) · The Mercury Theatre on the Air (including The War of the Worlds) (1937~8) · The Campbell Playhouse (1938~40) · Orson Welles Show (1941~2) · Hello Americans (1942~3) · Ceiling Unlimited (1942~3) · Orson Welles Almanac (1944) · This Is My Best (1945) · Orson Welles Theatre (1945) · Orson Welles Commentaries (1945) · The Mercury Summer Theatre (1946) · The Adventures of Harry Lime (1951~2)Categories:- English-language films
- 1960s drama films
- 1965 films
- Films directed by Orson Welles
- Films shot in Barcelona
- Films shot in Madrid
- Shakespeare on film
- Titles derived from the works of William Shakespeare
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