Orson Welles - The Paris Interview (1960)

[@area51pictures]

Even among Welles interviews, his mind is on fire here. Hardly a wasted word and so much wisdom.

[@fosbury68]

9:14 “But I’ve been always more interested in experiment than an accomplishment”. What a revealing confession. Explains his entire career.

[@saidtheactress]

Mr. Welles was so eminently listenable.

[@MrBenzcdi]

He was a raconteur par excellence

[@reybarreto7979]

Welles was one of those people whose way of talking mesmerizes you regardless of what he’s talking about. He mentioned in this interview about having had extensive training as a magician. A magician’s craft entails captivating an audience. Welles commands your attention through the magic of the English language, through his mastery of words, and through his evocative and deep baritone voice. I marvel how eloquently he expressed his wit and wisdom, his scintillating words flowing out of him effortlessly, as effortless as the smoke flowing out of his cigar.

[@TiagoNuremberg]

What an amazing guy. Wish he still were around. ❤

[@Ryan-on5on]

Imagine what a 109-year-old Welles would have to remark on cinema today. The man was a peerless visionary and a renegade innovator, unafraid of breaking the rules or rankling feathers to see his concept through. How would such a faultlessly temperamental and idiosyncratic artist fare in an industry that, in the main, prizes product marketability and predictability over unique artistic expression? Not too well, I'm afraid!

[@8TENASTER8IDS]

.....without question this 1960 Paris interview within his Suite at Le Meurice Hotel, is Orson Welles greatest, most revealing interview ever conducted.....

[@beeskneesplees]

Thanks guys! This is a wonderful interview and document.

[@blankcity1747]

Always wanted to see a conversation between Welles and Sterling Hayden. Such amazing characters.

[@MokkaMatti]

Oh, that definitely would have been quite interesting.

[@MrBenzcdi]

“Acting is convincing the audience of something that isn’t true”.

[@markandresen1]

My favourite Welles TV interview, even amongst all the great ones he gave; mainly for the answers he gave.

[@DavidJG242]

Orson was my teacher in film and the use of words for expression.

[@PaulKoidis]

This is better than Mel Gibson on Joe Rogan.

[@randalclarke5487]

Yeh, that was WEIRD...Gibson just seems like a strange person who's not comfortable in his own skin

[@DeeJay003]

​@@randalclarke5487 Gibson has seen and is aware of truths that have isolated him from the majority of humanity. It is not an easy cross to bear.

[@GeoffV-k1h]

When you see the vacuous interviewing of stars these days and compare this man's articulate discussion here, you cannot but be dismayed how far we seem to have fallen in terms of what we expect from dialogue. Obviously the same is true of public life in general, especially politics.

[@stewartjones5624]

if we can be as humble and funny as orson, we've done ok

[@jshaers96]

Humble? He's acting.

[@stewartjones5624]

@@jshaers96 Yes Dahling, we're always acting

[@jeffreylawrence6928]

Actor,writer,director, one of the first to do all three…

[@garyfrancis6193]

@@stewartjones5624An English guy called Bill Shakespeare said that.

[@orwellianson]

@@jshaers96you’re a real bore.

[@RingJando]

Cheers!

[@angloaust1575]

Awesome orson larger than life!

[@michaelcullen5308]

Bernard Braden was the interviewer.

[@oldtimer7635]

A fool!

[@markandresen1]

He was good, which is why Welles gave interesting answers.

[@TheHappyBachelor]

@@markandresen1 I agree. i watched Orson's interview with Michael Parkinson in 1974 on the BBC and it drove me mad. Orson was wonderful as he always is, but you could tell that Michael Parkinson was nervous as hell and didn't quite know where to go with the questions. Someone in the comments said that Orson had request Michael throw out his questions and they just have a conversation; in my opinion Mr. Parkinson wasn't quite up to the task, and all that escapes that interview is Orson's natural talent as a conversationalist. In this interview, Mr. Braden does a much better job. I'm very glad this is posted, as I didn't know it existed until about a week ago.

[@VictoriaN72]

Very interesting man

[@Katnip452]

Welles was a bright, talented guy- shame he made so few films.

[@striderQED]

He's scary. He made the best film ever made. The Trial

[@oldtimer7635]

27:30 That interviewer has amazingly narrow understanding of voice/expression, and he himself is supposed to be an actor?!

[@singlespies]

Olivier and Gielgud don’t have great voices? He’s a very poor judge.

[@honeybozo]

Curious to know what the real 38:38 is…. When Irwin lets loose one feels it.

[@DanJorgenson-zc5xi]

Look at current Hollywood stars and their pathetic, predictable opinions. Compare to Orson's crystal clear analysis and straight forward talk. The film world is going backwards...

[@martymcgowan5958]

He looks so much like Jackie Gleason here....similar expressions and all.

[@lisatempleton987]

The interviewer resembles Sean Penn.

[@stewartjones5624]

most traditions are just a succession of bad habits this guy

[@coolhand67]

When you listen to the likes of Welles and Kennedy representing the body politic and artistic you have to wonder, how did we evolve to become so dumb?

[@magmasunburst9331]

Rock and Roll

[@Covidclown]

Ok

[@dancochrane5577]

The biggest lie here, is that Welles alone wrote “Citizen Kane”. Two names are on the screen credit. Watch David Fincher’s recent, “Mank” to see the truth. I wondered if the interviewer had even seen the film. Goofy.

[@M.H.I.A.F.T.]

@danochrane5577 Mank is itself based on a lie, that Welles had nothing to do with it. Mank is a Welles character-assassination. The two of them both worked on separate drafts and Welles combined them into the finished item.

[@SatansSimgma]

OK Dan

[@Kevon420]

Fincher’s Mank not only has inaccuracies, but also is only about the writing of the first draft. There were multiple drafts of the screenplay before shooting to which there is documentation of and letters between Welles, Mank, and the producer about the developments and collaboration of the script.

[@KClouisville]

@@Kevon420 Yeah, the writing "Mank" is based on was by Fincher's father, who was taking the Anti-Welles position that Pauline Kael had championed at the time...which turned out to be full of a ton of bullshit.

[@sparky6086]

Didn't Welles end up rewriting "Citizen Kane" to such an extent, that the other writer's contribution is is gone, remaining only as a technicality?

[@dorfmanjones]

At 40 minutes in he's asked about teamwork' in Citizen Kane. Welles never mentions Herman Mankiewitz. Shameful.

[@termsofusepolice]

Welles is talking about his participation as the director of Kane. HM played zero role in the film's direction. Unlike cinematographer Gregg Toland - a cinematographer being a director's right-hand man, for all intents and purposes. And Welles has always, in every interview, credited and praised Toland's role.