Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast runs a month-long series of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.
Today’s theme: Ingrid Pitt
Yes, we know Ingrid Pitt as the queen of the vampires, but she’s also in movies like Doctor Zhivago and The Wicker Man in uncredited roles; she’s better known for films like Sound of Horror, The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, and The House That Dripped Blood.
As for Orson Welles, the mastermind behind this, his dedication to storytelling was evident from a young age. His passion for this story dates back to his student days at the Todd Seminary for Boys in Woodstock, Illinois. Despite facing budget constraints, he attempted to stage a three-and-a-half-hour remix of several of Shakespeare’s historical plays, The Winter‘s Tale, in which he played Richard III. This early struggle only fueled his determination to bring his visions to life.
In 1939, he planned Five Kings, a Mercury Theater play that would have 46 scenes and run for more than five hours. Instead of attending rehearsals or finishing the play, which combined Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and Henry V, Welles and co-star Burgess Meredith got drunk. It played in a few cities but cost the Mercury Theater its contract with the Theater Guild.
By 1960, the play had evolved into Chimes At Midnight, a film directed by Hilton Edwards but truly a product of Welles’ artistic vision. He saw it as a rehearsal for a movie, a canvas on which he could experiment and bring his ideas to life. His focus was not on traditional aspects of filmmaking like learning lines or attending rehearsals, but on creating a unique cinematic experience.
Four years later, Welles worked with Spanish film producer Emiliano Piedra to produce the film, which he promised would be made at the same time as Treasure Island.
Welles had no intention of making that movie and did nothing about it.
He had $800,000 to make this movie, a cast of stars, and a schedule that didn’t allow all those actors to be in the same scene.
Welles remarked that this was his favorite movie, saying, “If I wanted to get into heaven on the basis of one movie, that’s the one I would offer up. I think it’s because, to me, it’s the least flawed; let me put it that way. It is the most successful for what I tried to do. I succeeded more completely in my view with that than with anything else.”
Sir John Falstaff (Welles) and Justice Shallow (Alan Webb) start the film walking in the snow, reflecting on the past and discussing how King Henry IV murdered Richard II and imprisoned the true ruler, Edmund Mortimer. As for Prince Hal (Keith Baxter), another potential ruler, he spends all of his time drinking and sleeping around, as Falstaff teaches him to live life to the fullest.
As Hal becomes King Henry V, he distances himself from Falstaff, who dies of a broken heart as the boy he led in crimes and schemes goes on to reject those lessons and become a noble king.
Why did I pick this?
Jess Franco worked as an assistant director on the film and was heavily involved in the Battle of Shrewsbury sequence. He fought with Welles, so he isn’t in the credits. He told Horror Garage, “The production of Chimes at Midnight was a total mess, not because the film was too expensive, but because Orson lied about the budget and the film was ten times more expensive. You can imagine…what a disaster.”
Plus, it’s gorgeous.
Is Welles Falstaff? Both men were always looking for money, outright lied to people and yet always were able to drink and eat.
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