When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president during the midst of the Great Depression, one of his most ambitious programs to combat the widespread poverty and unemployment of the day was the Works Progress Administration. This program was designed to upgrade and reinforce the national infrastructure, with a primary focus on construction projects involving roads, government buildings and bridges.
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This week, “The Online Movie Show” podcast takes a new look at Orson Welles’ “The Lady From Shanghai” through a film noir lens. Writer Jeffrey Cintolo is the episode’s guest.
BOOTLEG FILES 757: “Caesars Guide to Gaming with Orson Welles” (1978 video starring the one-time Mr. Kane).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Never intended for home entertainment release.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
Orson Welles is the cinematic gift that never stops giving. Just when you think you’ve seen every film and television appearance credited to him, another long-lost piece of ephemera manages to emerge and fill out his already considerable canon. This past week, a pair of Facebook friends shared a half-hour video that Welles did on behalf of the Caesars Palace resort in Las Vegas in 1978 – I never knew this existed and was excited to check it out.
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BOOTLEG FILES 714: “Moby Dick” (Orson Welles’ unfinished 1971 project).
LAST SEEN: Three brief clips are on YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Sometimes, the only way to enjoy Welles’ work is via bootleg video.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.
Orson Welles had a lifelong fascination with Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” and pursued adaptations of this epic novel interpretation throughout his career. He produced radio versions of the tale in 1938 and 1946, taking on the role of Captain Ahab. John Huston wanted Welles to play Ahab in his 1956 film version, but Warner Bros. insisted on a star with a bigger box office draw, so Gregory Peck was recruited to play Ahab while Welles had a showy supporting part as Father Mapple.
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He singlehandedly took on Pharaoh’s army, the Roman legions, the Moors, the Pope, King Herod, Laurence Olivier in blackface and, of course, those damn dirty apes. Whether he was a Mexican cop, Mark Antony or Long John Silver, Charlton Heston was always ready to rumble and no crisis – zombies, earthquakes or a Karen Black-piloted airplane – would scare him away. On this episode of “The Online Movie Show,” Facebook’s funniest man Anthony “Kingfish” Vitamia pays tribute to Charlton Heston, as well as some of his zany co-stars! Grab a bowl of soylent green and enjoy the show!
BOOTLEG FILES 672: “Who’s Out There?” (1975 documentary short hosted by Orson Welles).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On a public domain label.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: Produced for the federal government, hence the absence of a copyright.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: One public domain label carries it, but a full-throttle digital restoration is unlikely.
During the 1970s, a great deal of attention was being paid to outer space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) kept people focused on the sky with its various lunar missions and probes into the deepest corners of the galaxy. But many people insisted that space traffic was a two-way endeavor, and sightings of UFOs along with various claims of personal encounters with intergalactic visitors became headline news throughout the decade.
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Orson Welles’ “The Other Side of the Wind” was, for many years, the second most infamous unfinished film of all time. (A certain Jerry Lewis film earned the top spot within incomplete cinema.) As everyone knows by now, the film was posthumously stitched together 42 years after principal photography was finished and is now being made available via Netflix. To be blunt, it would have been better if Welles’ unedited work was left in oblivion.
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