Orson Welles' Seven Best Movies -- and Why He's Great

I remember getting off work and sitting at the bar and Touch of evil was on tv on mute. I had never seen it and man it sucked me in. It had so many captivating shots.

The Trial... blew my mind the first time I saw it. I think Welles once said that he considered it his best film.

Best movie version of "The Trial" is Orson Welles version and also most true to the book. I think Kafka would have approved. The ending is different but Welles explains why he changed it as "when Kafka wrote it, Holocaust had not happened". It makes a lot of sense. Also even he did not direct it in the fascinating film noir, "The Third Man" Orson Welles had great influence.

I 100% agree with you on The Magnificent Ambersons. Some call it a masterpiece and certainly it would have been one of Mr. Welles's masterpieces, but we will forever be denied the honor and pleasure of seeing it due to the fact that some shortsighted thieves from the production company stole, butchered and destroyed Olson's film. I won't even watch the film. If I had a vast fortune, I would give nearly all of it to see The Magnificent Ambersons that the man, the genius, Orson Welles created.

The Magnificent Ambersons is easily my favorite. I completely understand and agree with your points. I want the original version as much as anyone; I own Robert Carringer's book of the cutting continuity and the full Bernard Herrmann soundtrack is my favorite Herrmann score after Vertigo, its best piece (Second Letter Scene) not even in the final film. Nevertheless, even in its bastardized, butchered form, I find it more hypnotic and engaging than any other film on this list, even Kane. There is something magical about the premise and the characters that shines through. Welles himself said the film is more or less still his picture up until Major Amberson dies, and even then there is still Welles shot footage all over the place, just jumbled and rearranged and intercut with non Welles footage. While I would never say what happened was good, I also think there is something tragically funny about a film that is all about the loss of a golden age just out of reach being a film whose perfected form is just out of reach too. You can juuuuust enough get an idea what Welles wanted to do, but despite seeing the lobby photos, reading the script and cutting continuity, listening to the soundtrack and Welles talk about the film, we will never REALLY know what it is like. There is a painful, bittersweet nostalgia to a past that'll never come back in both the story of Ambersons and the story of making it. Is the final film a better put together film than Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, Chimes at Midnight? No. But RKO imposed flaws and all, it's the one I would turn on if I want to watch a Welles film.

That picture of all the office workers together in one open room should be the page image for "Kafkaesque" on Wikipedia.

Orson Welles, so few comments. the world is in trouble.

I love all of the Welles films I've seen because he put you inside the picture in very imaginative ways. I saw bits and pieces of his version of Kafka's novel The Trial on TV years ago, and it was and remains the only film -- I saw a completely restored version on a special channel on youtube.com/ a year ago? -that really seemed to be a dream because in our dreams something's always happening and we can never figure out what, or where we are. I'm not talking fake dream sequences ala Ingmar Bergman's color coded ones in his Cries and Whispers. And - my dreams are always produced in "living" color in obsessively used locations, and make no sense. His two black and white Shakespeare films -- Macbeth and Othello --are better than any of the other Shakespeare films I've seen because they put you inside the characters in the story. Everything seems real, and frequently frightening, as in a dream, and even his Citizen Kane plays like that.

Welles was film's best actor. We forget that, because is directing was so stupendous. He played Kane from ages 19-65 without a hitch...when he was 25.....Directing one's self in any medium is extremely difficult, yet Orson did it time and time again, with wonderful results....

Welles himself considered “Chimes At Midnight” his best work. I agree. But I really enjoyed his “Macbeth” and “Othello,” as well.

1955 Moby Dick, Orson plays Father Mapples. I didn't know who this Father Mapples was played by? I was taken back how good the church scene was. Orson stole the show... I am a fan now.

Welles is great, thanks for your analysis. For me, the number 1 Welles movie is "Touch of Evil"

Yay F for Fake! 😄😄 F for Fake and The Stranger are my two favorites! I also really liked The Other Side of the Wind. I look forward to watching The Trial, Touch of Evil, and searching for Mr Arkadin the Criterion edit! Thank you for uploading your great insightful videos. I sure hope they make a 4K restoration of The Trial! It's so interesting that it's hard to find the right cuts or versions of some of his movies

As an actor, I really liked Welles in The Third Man, Kane, and Touch of Evil.

Thank you Dr. Josh. As a huge fan of Orson Welles' work since childhood this is one of my favourite video that you made. So Here's My Ranking on Welles' films with a rating that i gave them. 1. Citizen Kane (1941) 9.7/10 (Pure Cinematic Landmark) 2. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) 9.4/10 3. Chimes at Midnight (1965) 9.2/10 4. F for Fake (1973) 9.1/10 5. Touch of Evil (1958) 9.0/10 6. The Lady of Shanghai (1947) 8.8/10 7. The Trial (1962) 8.7/10 8. Macbeth (1948) 8.5/10 9. Mr. Ardkin (1955) 8.4/10 10. The Other Side of the Wind (2018) 8.4/10 11. The Strangers (1946) 8.2/10 12. The Immortal Story (1968) 7.8/10 13. Othello (1951) 7.1/10 14. Journey Into Fear (1943) 6.8/10

The two perfect movies 1a> Touch of Evil (reconstructed criterion edit) 1b> Chimes at Midnight. 3) Trial 4) Arkadin 5) citizen kane... I view Welles as an an editor who could cut together the perfect scene, but he was indecisive on how he wanted the overall story to be cut/edited. And some movies he is constantly rearranging, and by indecision, is going over budget, and then virtually inviting the studio to come in and whack their own edit...

I watched Charlie Chapins - The Circus last night. Was suprised to see a mirror sequence in that and wondered if it was a big influence for Welle's scene in the Lady from Shanghai!

This is a superb analysis.

After Citizen Kane, on television and in film, you began to see ceilings on sets. Before that, not so much.

The Trial and The Magnificent Ambersons are my two favorite Orson Welles films, and when Criterion released Studio + Canal's long awaited 4K UHD release of The Trial, I was cheering. It was so exciting to see the film with a clean picture, and clear audio. In regards to The Magnificent Ambersons, I used to think that the film would be better in its original version, but in after listening to the new commentary for the lovely Criterion release of the film, I honestly couldn't say it would be better. However, I definitely agree that Orson's original, more somber ending was more appropriate for the film, and I definitely could have done without Roy Webb's music to the re-shot scenes, especially the ending (though I do love a lot of Roy Webb's scores for films when he was the primary composer, and find him to be very underappreciated). The two other films that I love from Welles are F for Fake and Mr. Arkadin.