What do you think?
Rate this book
Me and Mr Welles: Travelling Europe with a Hollywood Legend
‘I’ll tell you another thing, Dorian. Don’t ever give people what you think they want. Give them what they never conceived as possible.’In late autumn 1968, Dorian Bond was tasked with travelling to Yugoslavia to deliver cigars and film stock to the legendary Hollywood director Orson Welles. The pair soon struck up an unlikely friendship, and Welles offered Bond the role of his personal assistant – as well as a part in his next movie. No formal education could prepare him for the journey that would ensue.This fascinating memoir follows Welles and Bond across Europe during the late 1960s as they visit beautiful cities, stay at luxury hotels, and reminisce about Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, among others. It is filled with Welles’ characteristic acerbic wit – featuring tales about famous movie stars such as Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich and Steve McQueen – and is a fresh insight into both the man and his film-making.Set against the backdrop of the student riots of ’68, the Vietnam War, the Manson killings, the rise of Roman Polanski, the Iron Curtain, and Richard Nixon’s presidency, Me and Mr Welles is a unique look at both a turbulent time and one of cinema’s most charismatic characters.
- GenresMedia Tie In
232 pages, Paperback
Published April 9, 2018
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 13, 2018
A delightful memoir written by someone who lived very closely with Orson Welles during the years when the world was against him.
During this period we see Welles desparately struggling to keep afloat, both financially and artistically, and resorting to numerous skuldudgeries to keep producing,
An extraordinary tale of their relationship and how Welles used to 'use' the people he worked with as he gyrated around Europe, never quite finishing most of the films he worked on for the last decades of his life.
A penetrating look into the mind of the great man and an amusing commentary by both Welles and the author on the Hollywood 'Greats' that they had dealings with during their time together.
Written with wry humour and a crisp style, the book should be prescribed reading for any young person starting their career in the film world.
During this period we see Welles desparately struggling to keep afloat, both financially and artistically, and resorting to numerous skuldudgeries to keep producing,
An extraordinary tale of their relationship and how Welles used to 'use' the people he worked with as he gyrated around Europe, never quite finishing most of the films he worked on for the last decades of his life.
A penetrating look into the mind of the great man and an amusing commentary by both Welles and the author on the Hollywood 'Greats' that they had dealings with during their time together.
Written with wry humour and a crisp style, the book should be prescribed reading for any young person starting their career in the film world.
Displaying 1 of 1 review