Orson Welles talks about Cornelia Lunt

[@lighthouse44]

So much to admire and love about this Orson Welles interview. He is a fascinating man and a genius. But the one thing that stands out is that Dick Cavett was probably best choice of a host to preside over this interview. He is the master of understated intellect, asks pertinent and meaningful questions, is never overbearing or obnoxious, never talks over his guest, and has an ease and grace about him which sets an atmosphere of comfortable give and take. And Cavett also has the good sense of knowing that the show is all about the guest, not himself. Orson Welles is clearly enjoying the interview very much and that is due in large part to Dick Cavett's interviewing style. A very well done by both gentlemen.

[@JosephHF]

+lighthouse44 I always liked him and wish he could have enjoyed more success in television. Both of his Frank Zappa interviews were great.

[@MacJaxonManOfAction]

I find myself not caring whether he's lying or not. Orson is all about conversation, and he was a master of it. He could be sitting here talking about how he once had dinner with Robespierre and the Easter Bunny, I would still listen.

[@BlackMarketLeadership]

What a great story about General Marshall. He really was the epitome of a Strategic Leader. We use his example in our Executive Command leadership workshops.

[@Woesteinvuir]

I've just been watching Orson Welles interview videos for about an hour now. I should be studying, but his voice, insight, humour, personality, charm and sheer presence keep drawing me back in. I can't get enough.

[@roddyboethius1722]

Rightly so. He was a tremendous artist of our times

[@kevinblack5533]

I went to VMI, George Marshall's alma mater. I had no clue to his personal impact. What a great testimony to a great general, and a great man.

[@edodlbarra]

Orson Welles was a mysteriously gentle and charming artist, with a personal story full of powerful details and which he reveals here as coming out endless from a magic hat. What a man !

[@RobetPaulG]

Orson Welles is the most interesting dude ever. Unbelievable.

[@sageturmelle]

+RobPaul Yeah. Hard to believe someone like him never lived forever. And to think, he died before the 1986 Transformers movie was released in theaters.

[@myjeevie]

+Sage Turmelle I love your post! Were you born in the '80's?

[@sageturmelle]

I was born in the 90's. Even though i was born in the 90's, i just know Orson Welles was in the 1986 Transformers movie.

[@myjeevie]

Thank you Sage. I thought you were young, but didn't know how young! I know him from many, many things but am much older than you and don't even know "Transformers." LOL.

[@Tmanaz480]

He had a unique quality that made me feel like I actually knew him. Like an uncle or something. There's no other celebrity's that could do that for me.

[@roddyboethius1722]

What a speaker. Orson was a great artist of words

[@califgirl101]

Incredible! I could listen to Mr. Welles all day or night long! Truly remarkable! I used to have some of Mr. Welles' good movies like , Citizen Kane, The Lady From Shanghai and Touch Of Evil! Now, Touch Of Evil is one of my own personal Welles favorites along with Citizen Kane! Ask me you guys cause I'm a huuuuuuuuge movie buff!

[@nicknoga7322]

I think he is the "actual" Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World. When asked about his first impressions of Hitler, he remarks "no personality." Only Orson could get away with that.

[@dildonius]

Nick Noga I believe he is actually based on Earnest Hemmingway, interestingly a close friend of Orson Welles.

[@DeeEllEff]

And as time passed after WWII, the portrayal of Nazis in art (and especially on TV) became more and more as a party of “cranks” and buffoons, more to be pitied than feared.

[@mocho477]

Behold these two great personalities. One, Dick Cavett. a man of culture, genuinelly interested in all the things that make this world go round and willing to share that curiosity with us all. And Orson Welles, not only the ideal spectator but also the lucky participant in the mais events that make the History of his century. Great hosts motivate great guests. Welles was a God sent for a talk show host. Dick Cavett is a blessing for all of us, the recipients of a great show.

[@Zopf-international]

This should be pinned in every school as English literature and language, and the beauty of therein. What an absolute wonderful seven minutes for any child.

[@jennifersman]

Me too, he was such a great storyteller. Almost like the favorite Uncle or Grandfather you always looked forward to seeing every Xmas.

[@mariottino]

Thanks to the person that was gracious enough to upload this great piece of work. Welles, Welles, thanks for your presence in life. Leonardo DiCaprio must eat copiously from now on, he needs to portray Mr. Welles

[@simoneastwood3779]

What a voice, what a wordsmith, what a reconteur and what a charming man!

[@LenHummelChannel]

Orson was a great "spinner of tall tales," and always fascinating and entertaining. WHAT A LIFE !

[@NxDoyle]

I absolutely _love it_ when I look up a name, in this instance Cornelia Lunt (fun to spoonerize, but that's another story) and Google throws a newspaper article at you that you don't have to pay to see. Googling Cornelia Lunt gives you a _front page_ obituary from the Chicago Daily Tribune (as the Tribune was known) from 1934. She is described as the 'first lady of Evanston'.

[@robcousins231]

Dick Cavett was brilliant. Didn't have a giant ego that required he dominate the interviews by cracking jokes and trying to make the show all about himself. He was wise enough to know to let his fascinating guests just talk. Michael Parkison was the same. You'd like to wish the likes of Fallon, Myers, Norton and all the others would take heed, but you know they would never do that.

[@guileniam]

God damn, "oh yeah I ran away from home, met Hitler who wasnt that cool, was Good friends with Roosevelt and Churchill, married Rita Hayworth and oh yeah I made Citizen Kane" this guy has had some interesting life. i mean its like watching a real Forrest gump except intelligent

[@geoffdearth8575]

He really did have an extraordinary life especially at a young age.

[@fredrikandersson1141]

He is lying.

[@UFOBobTV]

Fredrik Andersson What evidence is there to support this statement?

[@ElSmusso]

Fredrik Andersson Swedish troll

[@alhawaritalbi6371]

Great man! rare species.

[@ishmyl99]

+Minou Talbi-Boualem You said it. Few greater, and none rarer.

[@Olsen65]

Always entertaining. Always educational. Never boring. Boy would I have loved to meet him in a remote Hotel in the Swiss Alps in front of a fireplace with a good cigar and decent Single Malt.

[@buffchique]

Thanks for posting.

[@drizer4real]

He could talk about the manufacturing process of milkcartons and still make it interesting. Gravitas and a life of extraordinary experiences and observing humanity and its members and eloquently being able to make gripping conversation about it. No we do not have much of those people walking around anymore nowadays

[@steveconn]

Great raconteur; great Marshall story.

[@Zatki]

I love people like Welles who talk at their natural pace in interviews. They dont go for that media concision nonsense.

[@SaxonC]

Fascinating man

[@Onlymusical]

So wonderful. Read his book, "This Is Orson Welles," a book-length interview of Welles by Peter Bogdanovich. Recordings from it are also available for playing online if you look.

[@BanditOfBandwidth]

Hehe I agree. His personality and voice seems to cause the opposite of how most talks would go: He makes me more interested in his stories the more he speaks. If only we could speak to him for atleast one more day now.

[@dalebaker6256]

Fantastic actor and an amazing director! And he also looks a lot like riker (johathan Frankes) out of star trek tng! Lol.

[@luxgapProductions]

People can say many different things about the life of Kane, I mean Welles. The phenomenal similarity between fiction and reality makes both the master and his masterpiece that much purer and everlasting.

[@LenHummelChannel]

Orson always gave it his best, ... even when he was making things up ... or embellishing things to the point of preposterous-ness. he was ever the performer and master of his art-form. ya gotta love him.

[@youssefbelhaous7533]

The greatest human being who also was a great man - wow

[@rickarra9396]

His vocabulary is so impressive

[@hoodbooger2806]

rosebuddddddddddd! I am laying here thinking ...wow Orson Welles led a charmed life.

[@blacquesjacques7239]

Welles was one of the 1st celebritie to be horse collared by an adoring public as a sage and wise guru . He both was and was not . The best example he ever shared of how best to navigate through was through his unfailing humility .

[@duncanmeyer2670]

Feels like Im watching Niles and Frasier Crane.on Frasier.

[@jeffbrak]

Cavett was the last humble late night personality. Nowadays you have miserable sociopaths dying to force their malleable audiences to clap at every "joke" thrust upon them.

[@Tmanaz480]

Jeff ... To be fair, Jimmy, Dave, Conan, are more variety shows than talk shows. Cavett was a pure talk show.

[@ElSmusso]

Dr. Finklestein Cavett is a treasure, he had the best talks with all the stars. And a master of improvising.

[@SteveTheFazeman]

@@Tmanaz480, Charlie Rose was probably the worst talk show host. Constantly talking over his guests or trying to complete their train of thought.

[@SteveTheFazeman]

The current crop of crap night variety hosts couldn't touch Johnny Carson, Tom Snyder or David Letterman to save their lives. Jay Leno was a down-to-earth host of note. But, I like him much better on Jay Leno's Garage.

[@TheVagolfer]

The fact that so many of Orson's tales are questionable make it all the more fascinating. He was a director, actor, magician, narrator and talk show guest, all of these, by nature, lend themselves to the guise of entertainment. Remember "F" is for "Fake ?"

[@vicmclaglen1631]

an old fashioned institution which isn't with us any more

[@blacquesjacques7239]

I agree about doubting philosophy

[@MultiAlanR]

How can I watch some flavour of the month celebrity on Graham Norton after this?

[@jeffstone2136]

Well, you don't _have_ to watch anything at all. To be fair to modern celebrities, Orson Welles was a truly unique human being, of a type that come along only a very few times in many generations.

[@NxDoyle]

If that's uneducated, sign me up.

[@scotnick59]

Orson had a surprisingly likeable personality

[@Lamia7609]

He's so handsome

[@NovaJake360]

It's interesting Even after gaining so much weight, he stayed relatively attractive.

[@imy5279]

Incredibly handsome and sexy!!

[@NxDoyle]

Leni Riefenstahl will always be a divisive figure (having never written her name before, I'm somewhat surprised my phone auto-predicted her surname as soon as I'd typed her forename). There is always going to be a whiff of the Nazi around anyone involved with that regime, obviously regarding legacy as opposed to life, since we're nearly at a point where they're all gone. I remember when Riefenstahl died, at 101, thinking that no matter what she had done in the vast amount of time between her Nazi propaganda films & her death, she would never be remembered for anything other than her signal films about Hitler and the Nazis. She did all the dancing that Nazis did after WW2. Oh no, not me, I was never political, I just happened to be there doing nothing while Hitler outlawed Judaism.

[@HS22181]

If you are interested in imperfect bodies in art you might enjoy the photography of Diane Arbus. She shot freaks. I have a favorite quote of hers: Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats." I appreciate the work of both Leni Riefenstahl and Diane Arbus.

[@Johnconno]

'She's living in England, or somewhere like that. With the Mitford family.'

[@tubularbill]

Any Dude that would have Rita Hayward as his wife makes him a legend...just that alone is HOF material....

[@rho7754]

I wouldn't mention the comment being 4 years old, except that it's also been that long since anyone heard anything about either of the people you mentioned.

[@MrHEC381991]

I love how he just brushes passed the "oh yeah my great great grandfather worked with Lincoln btw" lol which is, unfortunately, flase

[@ericf5027]

+MrHEC381991 It's fun to make stuff up sometimes.

[@ishmyl99]

+Eric F Ain't that the truth! ;)

[@sclogse1]

I wonder what it would be like to have this Orson and the 26 year old Orson together in a conversation....

[@davidberger2069]

Mr. Doug Collins and my family maintained a friendship, even when Collins attacked Gary Lauk the BC Minister in print. Mr. Collins had sadly adopted (or had always held but kept secret) some beliefs in my family that were untenable. That being said, my dad had invited Collins, Mr. Lauk, Judge Nancy Morrisson and her boyfriend-the actor Bruno Gerussi. I was the bartender. Gerussi assured me he would control Gary and Doug from fighting. The 2nd biggest drinker was the Brit Collins and #1 was the Grecko-Canuck. Thankfully, the evening deteriorated into Collins and Gerussi commiserating about the lack of performance by the Greek and English national football teams.

[@rho7754]

Missed that one by about 34 months didn't you

[@PlayNiceFolks]

I'm never making a joke about him again

[@ixat00]

No, he died two hours after doing the Merv Griffin show in 1985.

[@StephNuggs]

Just dropped my jaw hearing his Hitler story. Had to google and see if that's really true and apparently he's an infamous liar. What a shame, hope it's not true though.

[@watermelon520b]

+GedaCrew I know your comment is a year old, but I notice with very powerful, complex, charismatic people like Welles, you tend to find a lot of nasty comments to try and degrade the person's public image, especially after their death. Orson Welles was a very intimidating presence, naturally he had a lot of jealous enemies.

[@StephNuggs]

+Physdelicdreaming ok thanks for that professor. Waited a year for that answer, but gosh dang it was worth the wait

[@ishmyl99]

+GedaCrew Whatever the case, he was one heckuva storyteller. The god of raconteurs broke the mold with him. As to facts, the thing with Welles is to recognize the magnificence of his spirit, the largesse of his humanity, and the bold, intrepid beauty of his artistry. The man risked greatly in his reach. Which, sadly, many people cannot see, or themselves even have the driving conviction and vision to actually do. Then or now. But HE did. And, facts or not, he did so to shed light on true greatness, not to enshrine himself. May Welles's soul never sleep, but thrive well and onward. And bless Dick Cavett for a truly priceless interview! It takes a real mensch to tango with Welles, and with such cultured yet unpretentious and endearing, winning fun. The fun for us being their fun together.

[@ishmyl99]

+GedaCrew Also, at the end of the full interview, Welles has the delicious humor to send up the whole fun of telling tall tales. (Tales that, in the telling, serve a larger point.) His 'reference' to "And Something Else" is pure mischief. It teases, ropes, and seduces the audience into his rolling game. (As he did with the "War of the Worlds" radio production.) That is, he tests the audience's capacity of gullibility. This especially when it comes to blind, unquestioning acceptance, at all times, of what famous persons or institutional 'authorities' say or claim. Perhaps Welles was also testing the knowledge of the more tiresome of navel-gazing cinephiles -- by implicitly enticing them to look up the alleged film for themselves. In other words, Welles's character and quicksilver mind wants us to be sharper, to think independently, more precisely, more broadly, if not more mischievously (for a good cause). ;) To his credit, Cavett caught on fairly quickly to Welles's playful ruse there. Without meaning to, Cavett stumped Welles with the question (one of those innocent questions our brains freeze up on in the moment). So, one might say, Welles entirely good-naturedly got him back. Just marvelous!

[@myjeevie]

+GedaCrew You made me laugh on this Sunday evening....great reply!

[@daxxonjabiru428]

He should have kept up the hiking.

[@drummer78]

Didn't he say he was a "student" when he supposedly met him. 15 years old could be about right.

[@internezzo]

the Lunts were a couple of . . .

[@TryTheBLT]

@ntvnyr30 Are you referring to the new crop, or to both them and those older stars still living? There are a few good ones still alive with grace and dignity. Morgan Freeman comes to mind. But of the new crop of celebrities most of them are famous for being famous. We live in the time that Andy Warhol predicted where everyone is famous for 15 minutes. I think the pendulum will swing back though. True talent will arise again.

[@SadieBeast]

Dick is so cute. And Orson is so handsome.

[@whereintrovertsmeet6088]

anyone know the year?

[@davidberger2069]

They had an old British Friend named Doug Collins, he wrote a book P.O.W., about his prisoner-of-war-camp experiences. After his death, some said, the book was exaggerated. If you can prove you did more fighting for Canada the Billy Bishop or Doug Collins-be my guest and piss all over their memories. Good luck with that. Love David P.S. These heroes killed people-that was their job for Canada.

[@absolutedringus5201]

David Berger Who the hell are you talking to (your waddling odyssey of a comment isn't in response to anybody) and how does Billy Bishop come into this? Yes, the man was a hero. A hero for being a survivor and a human being who maintained his dignity and sanity while being proficient at his job during a time of total war.

[@n0tyham]

Welles was a true talent. The problem with TV and movies today is that they produce so much of it, they just trot anyone that looks good in front of the cameras. There are a few truly talented actors around, but most of them are uneducated and boorish.

[@brucekuehn4031]

Orson Welles was no relation of Gideon Welles, Sec of the Navy to Lincoln - absolute hokum!

[@thewomandirector]

3:09 He tugged his ear when asked about what he wanted to study anthropology. LIAR LIAR LIAR! ;) Maybe his ear just itched.

[@SeverusFelix]

Folks are arguing about whether he's lying, but I don't care. I get the impression that, when he lied, he'd do it not to gain advantage but for the joy of lying. I admire a good liar, and Orson Welles was a great liar.

[@ravishingravi]

@garethac81 Absolutely !

[@julianablino]

Any contemporary party of nuts people haven't been taking seriously? Watch out for the tea-baggers!

[@rho7754]

Don't you suppose "near Innsbruck" puts you plenty well in range of Munich to consider that to be within Hitler-sitting territory in the early Nazi years?

[@johnrobie9694]

Accounts with great detail meeting Hitler, then proceeds to say that there was nothing to remember. If there was really nothing to remember, then you wouldn't have remembered it, now would you?

[@Jasper7182009]

… Welles reflected that there was nothing to remember about the man Hitler. That’s the point of the story. That in a one to one or in a small group where he is not speaking, Hitler just did not make an impression upon Mr. Welles. There was nothing to remember about the man. But, as Mr. Welles stated, put him in front of a crowd of 5000 and they’re all saying the salute, that’s a different story about Hitler. That was the point in the remembrance.

[@Findulidas]

I always get the impression that he isnt completely honest and using his amazing performance skills when hes being interveiwed. I guess being amazing at pretending, which is infact lying in a way, can do that.

[@TryTheBLT]

@WhatsReallyGoingOn84 It seems you are doing more than merely outlining forgotten history. Am I right on that? It seems you may be giving him a little bit of praise? It's like the old saying that everybody hated Mussolini but at least he could the trains running on time. I don't think there is much about Hitler worth redeeming, although to condemn him blindly as simply the personification of evil is also wrong. He was, after all, a human being. The Catholic Church made him what he was.

[@sageturmelle]

If he never met Stalin, does this mean he never met Rasputin either?

[@megadebtor]

Rasputin and stalin are separated buy a generation, so no, he would never have met rasputin..

[@NGS712]

Do you really think Welles bumped into Hitler or is that just another one of his stories? ;)

[@SpaceCattttt]

Imagine if it said "C. Lunt" on Cornelia's door and the L fell off. That would look bad.

[@Zargex]

What a luck! There is a french frie stuck on my beard

[@stanmarcusgtv]

The tragedy of Welles was that he peaked w/ his first film in his 20's and spent the rest of his life trying to recapture that. Kudos to Charlton Heston for bringing him out of mothballs to do Touch of Evil, Welles had only been signed as a character actor but Heston insisted he direct. Welles was a great storyteller. Don't believe the Hitler story but we can see why he was in talk show demand - he embellished. Whatever became of Paul Masson wine?

[@TryTheBLT]

@WhatsReallyGoingOn84 As a Jew I can't praise him. But in your research you likely read that the Roman Catholic Church played a very large role in what he became. The book Mein Kampf was actually written by a Jesuit priest, the National Socialists were sponsored by the Church and after the war started they played both ends against the middle. In the book "Hitler Speaks" which is a compilation of things he'd said a lot of praise goes to Rome, the Jesuits, etc... including why he hated Jews.

[@Drac39]

Merv Griffin show

[@Whirrrlpoool]

He keeps scratching. Makes one wonder when was the last time he bathed.

[@eezysqueezy]

@Ulysses61 You say all this like you were there at the time watching Hitler's every move. There's always the chance you are wrong...

[@tectonicD]

Is he actually sober here? Maybe just buzzed.

[@Noid111]

I love Orson but come on. He was sat next to Hitler when he was about 15?? He had such an interesting life, no need for bullshit.

[@WhatsReallyGoingOn84]

@TheTubePortal It's unfortunate that our historical narrative is so negative. I look forward to the time when we can all be ourselves and enjoy each other, Israel for Jews, Germany for Germans, and multi-cultural places for mixing. Then there will be peace. Plenty of Jews fought for and collaborated with National Socialist Germany. They were in agreement that each race deserves their own space in which to develop, and I agree with that. History isn't so black and white. Peace to you, sir:)

[@LouiseOrrock]

Is that the Marshall of the Marshall Plan? Is Cavett unsure also?

[@XX-gy7ue]

Orson Wells could really almost bring bullshit to an art form ! only this time he failed , maybe an off night ?

[@OfoeNelson]

Look at the size of that lapel

[@MattBaker789]

Orson Welles is an unreliable narrator. Entertaining, yes. But, unreliable. One is constantly unsure where the truth resides.

[@LenHummelChannel]

Orson was a notorious "embellisher of truth" and an entertaining spinner of tales, at times. he kept inventing himself. he knew that much of Life is A STAGE. ... and FAKE.

[@viviandarkbloom100]

He's a Bullshitter. Plain and simple. But a brilliant one.

[@danimalplanet18]

Orson Welles was born 1915 and came to Europe in March 1931 and left in March 1932. At that time, the German Nazi Workers' Party was already the 2nd political force in Germany with 6.4 mln votes and 107 (of 568) seats in German parliament, not quite a 'tiny little party'. If it happened towards the end of his stay, Hitler was in a serious bid for the German Presidency at that time. Either his memory is failing him, or Orson Welles is not completely telling the truth here.

[@danaltman]

I'm pretty sure that Orson Welles died two hours after this interview.