Welles mixes pieces of 5 different plays by Shakespeare to achieve this one of a kind film. The end result is one of his finest films and one of the best Shakespearean films ever made.
Chimes at Midnight was a film made for under 1 million dollars, this is Orson Welles as the one man band, acting, directing, and financing the film himself. Welles ran out of money and pieced the film together, dubbing a lot of the actors himself. The stunning Battle of Shrewsbury scene was filmed with only 100 extras.
How's the film? Well pretty brilliant, Welles is very good as Sir John Falstaff but equally impressive are John Gielgud as the king, Keith Baxter as his son Prince Hal, and just about everyone else which includes Jeannie Moreau and Margaret Rutherford of all people. For a film with no budget Welles gets some visually impressive effects filming on location in a Spanish castle. Editing was always a very important part of an Orson Welles film and Chimes at Midnight is a very well edited film.
This is actually a film based on Shakespeare where you aren't either trying to decode the bard's language or just sitting in front of the screen bored out of your mind waiting for it to come to an end.
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| Orson Welles directs Chimes at Midnight |
An amazing achievement.
117 minutes.
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