Keith Baxter on Chimes at Midnight | BFI

Orson Welles cast Welsh actor Keith Baxter to play the role of Prince Hal in his stage production of Chimes at Midnight. In 1966 he returned to the role in Welles’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays, centred on the character Sir John Falstaff and his father-son-relationship with Prince Hal. Here Baxter talks about his collaboration with the director to Head of Film Programme at BFI Southbank, Geoff Andrew.
Subscribe: bit.ly/subscribetotheBFI.
Watch more on the BFI Player: player.bfi.org.uk/
Follow us on Twitter: / bfi
Like us on Facebook: / britishfilminstitute
Follow us on Google+: plus.google.com/+britishfilmi...

[@not2tees]

Chimes does have a sadness to it, but it's one of the finest overtones of sadness ever experience-able through the big screen.

[@claudeyaz]

Yeh the moment where falstaff looks so sad and abandoned...Wells also manages to look so proud of the new king/son figure.

[@robinblankenship9234]

Chimes at Midnight is a wonderful piece of art.

[@user-oy8ip7ow7q]

Good interview and film. RIP Kieth. I am glad to have known you.

[@MahmoudIsmail1988.]

Great art.. Great people.. Great times..

[@johndalton3180]

Keith Baxter as hot as a young man, and he's quite a distinguished looking older gentlemen. Keanu Reeves plays his part in My Own Private Idaho.

[@charleswinokoor6023]

I miss the days when a host interviewing a well dressed gentleman would also wear a jacket and tie.

[@SirJazzMonk]

Why?

[@andrewgibbon-williams7974]

Miss Molly. We are clearly on the same wave-length. Which just goes to show that there ain't so much cultural separation between Wisconsin and Wales/England. To declare my hand, I've always thought O. Welles over-rated. OK. That was one great movie. But... apart from that....? As an American you will not be able to pick up on the pseudo-English accent of K. Baxter. I can. We Brits. can tell the class, economic background, pretension etc. of a compatriot as soon as he/she opens his/her mouth. This does not pertain in the US. Thank God. Have just been to see a movie called 'Wild life', set in Montana. I taught some kids from Billings and they assured me the the English spoken in their state was THE standard American-English. Is this true? I'm forever repeating this but stand to be corrected. Good film, by the way.

[@dildonius]

Orson Welles had scores of fantastic films, many of which are some of the best ever made. As well as tons of fantastic acting credits both in films he directed and films he did not.

[@vulteiuscatellus4105]

lol

[@SepulchreBrit]

Wtf. Oddest comment

[@jacobadams5924]

"Ya Jackass"--Quinlan; Touch of Evil

[@summermen]

Orson Welles was most definitely NOT overrated. Although W.R.Hearst moved mountains to sabotage his career, Mr. Welles produced stunning stage productions (and performed brilliantly in some of them and others), directed several cinematic masterpieces--Kane, Ambersons, Chimes, Evil) made some unique and fascinating films, --Trial, Lady from Shanghai, Fake!, Othello. He gave wonderful performances in studio films to finance his own (Can you imagine a better Rochester?) and of course, sacred the hell out of all America with his War of the Worlds on radio. He spoke often to improve the overall status of the arts in American culture, and contributed a dynamic, independent style to American stage, radio, film and television that was and is broadly imitated.His contribution to Shakespearean production alone, from Fascist Julius Caesar and Voodoo MacBeth onstage to Peter Brook's first Lear, and the films. Without these, we would have had only Olivier's fine but stagy adaptations to screen at that time. And this is a very short list of his accomplishments.

[@dantebenedetti2889]

wonderful film; the actors were great. fascinating interview. but Keith Baxter is wrong about falstaff; he was not a "good man": he was a thief, a liar, a cheat, a coward, a glutton, a faithless friend. he could be great company, fun to be with. but, he was not a good man. Harry, wearing the crown as Henry V, knew that - which is to say that shakespeare knew that.

[@andrewgibbon-williams7974]

Failed actors provide a very sad spectacle.Bless them!

[@dm-gq5uj]

Is he failed, or just not known to an international audience? It's possible to have a decent career as an actor without becoming a huge star. I know nothing of his personality, but he was good in "Chimes in Midnight."

[@andrewgibbon-williams7974]

I am sure he was - I mean a good actor. But it helps if you are picked up by O. Welles. Many of we, the Welsh, are natural actors (pace:R. Burton), . But personally I can't stand 'closet queens' from lowly backgrounds, like my own. Actors or no! Even now I can recall his Mum smoking her cheroot on a Church Choir outing to Bath. Early 1960s. Naturally our Keith didn't want to be reminded of this. SO snobbish! Let's wish him well!

[@dm-gq5uj]

A common story and not just in show business. A person from a humble background rises up, starts associating with "sophisticates," grows ashamed of his family and the folks back home. I admire those who don't forget or try to hide their roots. Heck, I have the same birthplace as Welles - Kenosha, Wisconsin. While he came from a well-to-do family, it's largely a blue-collar (working class) town. His family moved to Chicago when he was still small, but I always thought it funny that a actor known for being so worldly and cultured was born in a very non-fancy factory town. I agree about Welsh actors - many good ones, including Burton and Hopkins.

[@AGIB1234]

Kenosha sounds fascinating. Must visit. You may not know that there is a cultural myth in S. Wales that everyone has an ancestor who migrated to the US way back when and became a multi-millionaire They are always called 'Hopkins'. That said, the Welsh input to the US should not be underestimated! Both A. Lincoln and Jefferson Davis had Welsh blood in their veins. I understand that there are still towns in Pennsylvania where Welsh is spoken. 'I'd like to check on this! Lots of them went over to work in the coal mines, only to find themselves exchanging European poverty for American!

[@andrewgibbon-williams7974]

What a silly comment! Apart from anything else, you are not a native English-speaker. Were you, you would understand the difference between 'nothing' and 'anything'. @@AlexisWaldhagen-Nordstrom

[@andrewwilliams9941]

Oh well! One shining moment for a good-looking Welsh actor. The most pompous, arrogant, condescending person I've ever encountered socially (West Sussex). Ashamed of his humble origins. Shame on him!

[@karlkarlos3545]

care to elaborate?

[@domainofthesun4400]

he turned you down?

[@SepulchreBrit]

Liable someone why don’t you. Coward

[@jacobadams5924]

Drew Williams just fails to see The Bigger Picture...

[@t.a.7970]

3 years mate. You owe us. What did he do?