He said Joseph Cotten was a terrible actor…

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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Orson Welles

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RvaBread22 — 10 years ago(July 11, 2015 09:58 AM)

Joseph Cotten was a brilliant NATURAL actor who could act circles around this phoney ham.

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Patmratm — 10 years ago(July 15, 2015 07:48 AM)

Well, he sure did like working with him.

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generalusgrant — 10 years ago(July 27, 2015 07:30 PM)

Welles said Jimmy Stewart was a terrible actor, NOT Joseph Cotton. See here:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/29/orson-welles-criticism-hollywood-stars-ta1354pes

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RvaBread22 — 10 years ago(September 07, 2015 11:51 PM)

Oh I see. Even though I prefer Cotton to Stewart, I really disagree with that statement.

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Androctus — 10 years ago(December 07, 2015 05:09 PM)

Read the words closer. I think Orson was just criticizing Jimmy's performance strictly in Rear Window, which is not shocking considering he didn't seem to have much praise for Hitchcock as a fellow director. Contrarily, I've heard Orson say some glowing things about Stewart:
Mind you, I'm sure he was under no obligation to do that particular program, and the roasters were arranged to leave Orson (the best) for last. Can't see him bothering if he didn't really mean 5b4any of it.

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Edward_de_Vere — 10 years ago(August 04, 2015 03:54 PM)

If Welles thought Cotten was terrible, why did he cast him in so many of his films? It would be like hearing Martin Scorsese say that Robert De Niro is a terrible actor. Seems to me this story is BS.

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PatFilm — 10 years ago(November 22, 2015 03:32 AM)

To the OP: think before you post and Orson Welles was an actor with a wider range than you think

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mrmathexpert — 10 years ago(December 08, 2015 05:09 PM)

Cotten was a terrible actor.

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RvaBread22 — 9 years ago(July 17, 2016 02:02 PM)

He was an amazing actor. One of the most underrated.
"Life is like a box of Krispy Kreme donuts".

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JoeyJoeyJoey — 9 years ago(July 19, 2016 05:06 PM)

Not really. He was wooden, played the same character over and over, and had no range. He wasn't a top draw.

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RvaBread22 — 9 years ago(July 24, 2016 12:20 PM)

You have to be kidding. He never played the same character over and over. He could play a nice guy or the villain equally well. He was definitely not wooden. He could act with his eyes even. Most actors can't do that. He could just be completely still and his eyes could convey so much. Have you not seen "Shadow of A Doubt"? If anyone overacted it was hammy flammy Orson Wells.
"Life is like a box of Krispy Kreme donuts".