Movies with Orson Welles

The Third Man

Genres: Thriller, Mystery

Starring: Bernard Lee, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ernst Deutsch

Directors: Carol Reed

Country: UK

Year: 1949

Available Quality: DivX, DVD, Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def

An American pulp writer arrives in post-WWII Vienna only to find that the friend who waited for him is killed under mysterious circumstances. The ensuing mystery entangles him in his friend's involvement in the black market, with the multinational police, and with his Czech girlfriend.

 

The Stranger

Genres: Thriller, Drama, Mystery

Starring: Orson Welles, Konstantin Shayne, Philip Merivale, Edward G. Robinson, Martha Wentworth, Richard Long, Loretta Young

Directors: Orson Welles

Country: USA

Year: 1946

Available Quality: DivX, Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def

Wilson of the War Crimes Commission is seeking Franz Kindler, mastermind of the Holocaust, who has effectively erased his identity. Wilson releases Kindler's former comrade Meinike and follows him to Harper, Connecticut, where he is killed before he can identify Kindler. Now Wilson's only clue is Kindler's fascination with antique clocks; but though Kindler seems secure in his new identity, he feels his past closing in.

 

Citizen Kane

Genres: Mystery, Drama

Starring: George Coulouris, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Stewart, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Orson Welles

Directors: Orson Welles

Country: USA

Year: 1941

Available Quality: DivX, Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def, Hi Def

A group of reporters who are trying to decipher the last word ever spoke by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the "top of the world."

 

A Safe Place

Genres: Drama

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Orson Welles, Tuesday Weld, Phil Proctor, Roger Garrett, Gwen Welles, Dov Lawrence

Directors: Henry Jaglom

Country: USA

Year: 1971

Available Quality: iPod, Hi Def, Hi Def

A young woman named Noah lives alone in New York. She is a disturbed flower child, who retreats into her past, yearning for lost innocence. She recalls her childhood, searching for a "safe place." As a child she met a magician in Central Park who presented her with magical objects: a levitating silver ball, a star ring, and a Noah's ark. She is romantically involved with two totally different men. Fred is practical but dull. Mitch is dynamic and sexy, her ideal fantasy partner. Neither man is able to totally fulfill her needs.

 

Casino Royale (1967)

Genres: Action, Comedy, Adventure

Starring: Ursula Andress, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Peter Sellers, Deborah Kerr, William Holden, Kurt Kasznar, David Niven

Directors: Ken Hughes, Val Guest

Country: USA, UK

Year: 1967

Available Quality: Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def, Hi Def

After the death of M, Sir James Bond is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH. In order to trick SMERSH and Le Chiffre, Bond thinks up the ultimate plan. That every agent will be named James Bond. One of the Bonds, whose real name is Evelyn Tremble is sent to take on Le Chiffre in a game of baccarat, but all the Bonds get more than they can handle, especially when the ultimate villain turns out to be Bonds nephew, Jimmy Bond.

 

The Man Who Saw Tomorrow

Genres: Drama, Biography

Starring: Bob Ruggiero, Philip L. Clarke, Orson Welles, Ray Laska, Brass Adams, Roy Edmonds, Ray Chubb

Directors: Robert Guenette

Country: USA

Year: 1981

Hosted by Orson Welles, this documentary utilizes a grab bag of dramatized scenes, stock footage, TV news clips and interviews to ask: Did 16th century French astrologer and physician Nostradamus actually predict such events as the fall of King Louis XVI, the rise of Napoleon, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? And are there prophecies that have yet to come true?

 

Prince of Foxes

Genres: Adventure, Drama, History

Starring: Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Tyrone Power, Felix Aylmer, Katina Paxinou, Wanda Hendrix, Marina Berti

Directors: Henry King

Country: USA

Year: 1949

In 1500, Duke Cesare Borgia hopes to marry his sister (widowed by poison) to the heir apparent of Ferrara, which impedes his conquest of central Italy. On this delicate mission he sends Andrea Orsini, his sister's lover and nearly as unscrupulous as himself. En route, Orsini meets Camilla Verano, wife of the count of Citta' del Monte (Borgia's next intended conquest); and sentiment threatens to turn him against his deadly master, whom no one betrays twice...

 

Three Cases of Murder

Genres: Crime, Horror, Drama

Starring: Alan Badel, Orson Welles, Eddie Byrne, Elizabeth Sellars, Andre Morell, John Gregson, Helen Cherry

Directors: David Eady, George More O'Ferrall

Country: UK

Year: 1955

Three stories of murder and the supernatural. In the first, a museum worker is introduced to a world behind the pictures he sees every day. Second, when two lifelong friends fall in love with the same woman and she is killed, they are obvious suspects. Is their friendship strong enough for them to alibi each other? Third, when a young politician is terribly hurt by the arrogant Secretary for Foreign Affairs Lord Mountdrago, he uses Mountdrago's dreams to get revenge.

 

The Trial

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Fantasy

Starring: Arnoldo Foà, Anthony Perkins, Romy Schneider, Michael Lonsdale, Orson Welles, Akim Tamiroff, Jeanne Moreau

Directors: Orson Welles

Country: Italy, Yugoslavia, West Germany, France

Year: 1962

Josef K wakes up in the morning and finds the police in his room. They tell him that he is on trial but nobody tells him what he is accused of. In order to find out about the reason of this accusation and to protest his innocence, he tries to look behind the facade of the judicial system. But since this remains fruitless, there seems to be no chance for him to escape from this Kafkaesque nightmare.

 

Directed by John Ford

Genres: Documentary, Biography

Starring: Orson Welles

Directors: Peter Bogdanovich

Country: USA

Year: 1971

A documentary on the life and films of director John Ford.

 

Mr. Arkadin

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Drama

Starring: Mischa Auer, Orson Welles, Jack Watling, Robert Arden, Terence Longdon, Patricia Medina, Grégoire Aslan

Directors: Orson Welles

Country: Spain, France, Switzerland

Year: 1955

Guy Van Stratten, American smuggler, leaves an Italian prison term with one asset, a dying man's words about wealthy, mysterious Gregory Arkadin. Guy finds it most pleasant to investigate Arkadin though his lovely daughter Raina, her father's idol. To get rid of Guy, Arkadin claims amnesia about his own life prior to 1927, sending Guy off to investigate Arkadin's unknown past. Guy's quest spans many countries and eccentric characters who contribute clues. But the real purpose of Guy's mission proves deadly; can Guy himself survive it?

 

Get to Know Your Rabbit

Genres: Comedy

Starring: M. Emmet Walsh, Hope Summers, Orson Welles, Allen Garfield, Timothy Carey, John Astin, Samantha Jones

Directors: Brian De Palma

Country: USA

Year: 1972

A young businessman goes to a magic expert to learn hardness and skill with his cynical and greedy collaborators. He becomes a very good tap dancer, but will he be able to get free of his old boss?

 

The Battle of Neretva

Genres: Drama, War

Starring: Yul Brynner, Anthony Dawson, Franco Nero, Orson Welles, Oleg Vidov, Curd Jürgens, Howard Ross

Directors: Veljko Bulajic

Country: USA, Italy, Yugoslavia, West Germany

Year: 1969

In January 1943 German army, afraid of Allied invasion of Balkans, launched great offensive against Yugoslav Partisans in Western Bosnia. The only way out for Partisan forces and thousands of refugees was the bridge on the river Neretva.

 

The Lady from Shanghai

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Starring: Ted de Corsia, Rita Hayworth, Erskine Sanford, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Gus Schilling, Harry Shannon

Directors: Unknown

Country: USA

Year: 1947

Michael O'Hara, against his better judgement, hires on as a crew member of Arthur Bannister's yacht, sailing to San Francisco. They pick up Grisby, Bannister's law partner, en route. Bannister has a wife, Rosalie, who seems to like Michael much better than she likes her husband. After they dock in Sausalito, Michael goes along with Grisby's weird plan to fake his (Grisby's) murder so he can disappear untailed. He wants the $5000 Grisby has offered, so he can run off with Rosalie. But Grisby turns up actually murdered, and Michael gets blamed for it. Somebody set him up, but it is not clear who or how. Bannister (the actual murderer?) defends ...

 

A Man for All Seasons

Genres: Drama, Biography

Starring: John Hurt, Susannah York, Colin Blakely, Leo McKern, Nigel Davenport, Jack Gwillim, Robert Shaw

Directors: Fred Zinnemann

Country: UK

Year: 1966

The story takes place in 16th century England. But men like Sir Thomas More, who love life yet have the moral fiber to lay down their lives for their principles, are found in every century. Concentrating on the last seven years of English chancellor's life, the struggle between More and his King, Henry VIII, hinges on Henry's determination to break with Rome so he can divorce his current wife and wed again, and good Catholic More's inability to go along with such heresy. More resigns as chancellor, hoping to be able to live out his life as a private citizen. But Henry will settle for nothing less than that the much respected More give public ...

 

Compulsion

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Drama

Starring: Dean Stockwell, E.G. Marshall, Bradford Dillman, Martin Milner, Robert Burton, Richard Anderson, Wilton Graff

Directors: Richard Fleischer

Country: USA

Year: 1959

Based very closely on the Loeb-Leopold murder case, the second half of the movie is primarily taken from defense attorney Clarence Darrow's actual courtroom presentation. In 1924 Chicago Jonathan Wilk (Darrow) is asked to defend two wealthy young men who have murdered a boy.

 

The Magnificent Ambersons

Genres: Drama

Starring: Anne Baxter, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Dolores Costello, Tim Holt, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford

Directors: Orson Welles

Country: USA

Year: 1942

The young, handsome, but somewhat wild Eugene Morgan wants to marry Isabel Amberson, daughter of a rich upper-class family, but she instead marries dull and steady Wilbur Minafer. Their only child, George, grows up a spoiled brat. Years later, Eugene comes back, now a mature widower and a successful automobile maker. After Wilbur dies, Eugene again asks Isabel to marry him, and she is receptive. But George resents the attentions paid to his mother, and he and his whacko aunt Fanny manage to sabotage the romance. A series of disasters befall the Ambersons and George, and he gets his come-uppance in the end.

 

Journey Into Fear

Genres: Drama, War, Film-Noir

Starring: Joseph Cotten, Edgar Barrier, Agnes Moorehead, Richard Bennett, Orson Welles, Ruth Warrick, Everett Sloane

Directors: Norman Foster

Country: USA

Year: 1943

L'ingegnere Graham e sua moglie stanno viaggiando attraverso la Turchia. Una notte subiscono un apparente attentato. Il colonnello Haki, capo della polizia segreta turca, consiglia ai due di lasciare immediatamente il paese. Sulla nave su cui sta viaggiando Graham incontra strani e misteriosi personaggi. Sfuggito a vari attentati alla sua vita, sfugge agli agenti nazisti e raggiunge la moglie. Banat, un agente nazista, vorrebbe uccidere l'ingegnere, ma Haki lo salva, lanciando il nazista gi