As I said before, I will leave no opinions about Hitchcock as this thread could turn into something of a war.
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JohnWelles — 16 years ago(January 03, 2010 03:04 AM)
I found the static camera in
Kagemusha
to be unnecasery. Surely we have moved on from the silent sge? Then again, it's still a good film, TheIntellectualEveryman, and I'ld put it in my Top Fifty.
Just from looking at Kubrick's filmography, you can see he never returned to a subject, so a remake would have been highly unlikely. Still, it makes for good speculation.I dont believe in such happy coincidencesesp. when you have someone like Welles right there. I saw Bank Holiday, Night Train to Munich, The Fallen Idol, the Brando Mutiny on the Bounty, The Agony and the Ecstasy, and Oliver! from Reed. All are mediocre or worse. Welles made The Third Man, not Reed. <<
I quite liked
Night Train to Munich
. I saw it as a sort of squel to Hitchcock's
The Lady Vanishes
. I have also seen
The Way Ahead
, and is better that most British wars films made in the fifties. But you are right, none of them come up to the standard of
The Third Man
. The thing is, I simply don't think Welles was on the set lone enougth to "ghost direct" an entire movie. Maybe he contributed a few ideas and shots, but on the whole, I still think Greene, who was with Reed a lot of the time, helped him come up with some of the best ideas, and don't foreget, Guy Hamilton, who would go on to direct the very best Bond movie,
Goldfinger
, directed second unit, might have come up with a few "ideas". -
JohnWelles — 16 years ago(January 03, 2010 11:30 AM)
Well, as good as Goldfinger is, its not great, and it lacks the stylistic elements of The Third Man, whereas Citizen Kane, The Lady From Shanghai, Touch of Evil, etc. do contain the stylistic elements. <<
Yes, I agree that
Goldfinger
wasn't as good as
The Third Man
. I just used that to demostrate the Welles was not the only creative force invovled. Greene worked on a lot of screenplays, so who knows hom much he contributed? -
ContinentalOp — 16 years ago(January 24, 2010 03:59 AM)
He may not be the greatest director ever but he is better than Alfred ''One Trick Pony'' Hitchcock. And you see more people blatehring on about how great a director Hitchcock is more than Welles, yet I doubt you'll make a similar post of Alfred ''everyone is forced to think him great'' Hitchcock's board.
"Namu-myoho-renge-kyo" -
JohnWelles — 16 years ago(January 30, 2010 02:58 AM)
He may not be the greatest director ever but he is better than Alfred ''One Trick Pony'' Hitchcock. And you see more people blatehring on about how great a director Hitchcock is more than Welles, yet I doubt you'll make a similar post of Alfred ''everyone is forced to think him great'' Hitchcock's board.
I don't think Hitchcock was a "One Trick Pony", as you put it. All he did was refine a certain way of filmmaking until he was the best he was, just like Leone or Lean (with h2000is epics) or Hawks. No one is forces to like a director or film. A person may force themselves to like it, but other people can't.
Welles made the the three greatest movies of all time (
Citizen Kane
,
The Magnificent Ambersons
and
Touch of Evil
), so it's logical to call the best. I'ld put Kubrick second because he tried his hand at a differant genre each time and made a masterpiece (most of the time, anyhow). -
CharteredStreets — 16 years ago(February 02, 2010 06:39 AM)
Anybody who talks about Citizen Kane as though the plot matters or has anything to do with why it's admired has not business talking about movies, period.
Sorry I love Citizen Kane beyond measure but that's an idiotic statement to make.
If I have to tell you again, we're gonna take it outside and I'm gonna show you what it's like! -
psicosismark — 15 years ago(April 16, 2010 09:01 PM)
Welles filmography is borderline flawless in my opinion as I can really only find two I dislike; The Stranger and The Immortal Story.
My favorite Welles pictures are from his 60's period such as The Trial & Falstaff Chimes at Midnight, I read someone mention Vertigo was "haunting", well these two are the epitome of psychological terror with claustrophobic visuals only Welles could conjure.
I find both are highly underrated and were the victim of the director's negative publicity caused by Hollywood's obsession to undermine his credibility as a director in which mediocre director's like Steven Spielberg willfully took part in.
If these later films were financially successful they would be hailed as the deserving masterpieces they truly are, instead they were barely shown anywhere let alone on a national level and its up to people with good taste to understand their beauty. -
Martin_Sloan — 15 years ago(April 17, 2010 07:04 AM)
It's not about how many, but how good, the films are. Hitchcock made 54(?) films, not all masterpieces. Terrence Malick has made four films, all masterpieces. Personally, I rank Malick higher than Hitchcock.
Kubrick made "only" 13 movies, 11 of which are more or less concidered great works. Chaplin didn't direct that many feature films either, but is still concidered one of the greatest.
I wouldn't put Welles #1 on the list. He made some truly great movies, but compared to, let's say Kubrick, or my personal favorite Scorsese, or Billy Wilder - Welles can't really be concidered better than these. In my opinion. Welles was a great director, and certainly is on my top 15, but there are other directors I like more. Hell, all lists are about personal taste.
The Seventh Seal
is an amazing, powerful film, but I'd be lying if I say I see it as often as
Back to the Future
.
Martin Scorsese
IS
the best -
elvisgr6 — 15 years ago(May 18, 2010 07:28 PM)
In response to previous posts, Orson Welles admitted he didn't direct any of The Third Man (1949) it was all Carol Reed. As a note of interest, Orson Welles said that his favourite film director was John Ford. As Scorsese86 previously stated, it's all about personal taste. I already disagree with his last statement in which he claims The Seventh Seal is an amazing, powerful film. I found it overrated and to be honest, boring. There can never be a "best director ever." Nobody is ever going to agree on the same person.
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vintagevalor-2 — 15 years ago(March 31, 2011 03:28 PM)
Having read all of the posts here I must jump in and add my 2 cents worth. In the opinion of Wells himself, John Ford was the best director of their day. And maybe that is where this discussion should be placed, "best direcrtor of their day" As both Wells and Ford are gone, along with most of the rest of the fine directors mentioned in these postings, Kurisawa, hawks, Hitchcock, there can be no "Best Director of alltime" Time ain't finished yet! However, placed in the context of the times in which these fine gentleman lived, I vote for Ford, followed by Wells and then Hitchcock and then the rest in any order one chooses.
Most of Fords films are timeless, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, FORT APACHE, THE QUIET MAN, THE SEARCHERS, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, even his lesser pictures hold up today. Collectively they are some ofthe best films ever made.
Wells contribution is CITIZEN KANE and TOUCH OF EVIL, in my opinion. Two great movies. I do not think his films in which hewas only an Actor can be considered As fine a film as THE THIRD MAN is, it's Reeds picture, not Wells.