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The Encyclopedia of Orson Welles
"Citizen Kane is often considered the greatest masterpiece of the cinema
480 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
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October 6, 2025
What looks like it might be a bit of a throwaway in comparison to some of the longer tomes on Welles is actually a pretty indispensible resource. In addition to his films as director, and the expected biographical information, Berg and Erskine give us an entry for all of movies as an actor, demonstrating the other side of his career - the talented movie star who would sometimes take the money and run as opposed to finishing whatever potential masterpiece he was working on.
If you a completist film person and like this sort of thing, this book is both informative and a lot of fun, celebrating the canonical works of an artistic genius while simultaniously presenting his professional and personal flaws, factoring in his ability to tell tall tales about himself instead of repeating his myths verbatim. If there is a flaw, it’s that Welles’ radio work is given a relatively short shrift, but even here we get more than the typical discussion of The War of the Worlds with the exclusion of everything else he did in that medium.
If you a completist film person and like this sort of thing, this book is both informative and a lot of fun, celebrating the canonical works of an artistic genius while simultaniously presenting his professional and personal flaws, factoring in his ability to tell tall tales about himself instead of repeating his myths verbatim. If there is a flaw, it’s that Welles’ radio work is given a relatively short shrift, but even here we get more than the typical discussion of The War of the Worlds with the exclusion of everything else he did in that medium.
Displaying 1 of 1 review