Orson Welles: Hello Americans (82 page)

1
‘By enlarging the field of causal explanation beyond the studio career of Orson Welles …’ from
Persistence of Vision
.

2
‘what matters is the homage Welles rendered to Flaherty …’ ibid.

3
‘incomparable bravura personality’. Kenneth Tynan,
Profiles
.

1
‘like a Prussian riding master …’ Betty Lasky,
RKO: The Biggest Little Major of Them All
.

2
‘big, robust bulldog …’ ibid.

3
‘Your triumph is one of the greatest accomplishments …’
Hollywood Reporter
.

4
‘I just had a hot tip …’ Betty Lasky, op. cit.

5
‘the Wizard of RKO …’ Joseph V. Breen Press Conference,
March 1941.

6
‘
projectitis
…’ Dusan Makavejev in Simon Callow,
Shooting the Actor
.

7
‘I hereby sell …’ Agreement between Orson Welles and Charles Chaplin, 24 July 1941.

8
‘All the stories we do for Welles …’ Letter from John Fante, n.d., quoted in Stephen Cooper,
Full of Life
.

9
‘part of the whole Broadway–Browder axis …’ Quoted in Michael Denning,
The Cultural Front
.

10
‘a modern form of
education …’ Speech by Orson Welles, 6 March 1943.

11
‘I’ve never been anywhere else on time …’ Duke Ellington,
Music is my Mistress
.

12
‘my own conception of the picture …’ Memorandum to Joseph Breen, 10 July 1941.

13
‘
MY FACE FILLS THE FRAME
…’ From draft for
The Way to Santiago
.

14
‘I took the right-wing …’ Eric Ambler, quoted in Michael Denning,
Cover Stories
.

15
‘an unnamed picture has
taken precedence …’ RKO report, 17 July 1941.

1
‘The RKO lawyers did shudder …’ Frank Brady,
Citizen Welles
.

2
‘extraordinary … one of the most interesting actors …’ Peter Bogdanovich,
This is Orson Welles
.

3
‘I’d been such a breathless fan of his in the theatre …’ ibid.

4
‘You have made me – happy …’ Letter from Richard Bennett to Orson Welles, 8 March 1942.

5
‘I can think of nothing …’ Orson Welles lecture to motion picture students of New York University, 20 October 1942.

6
‘It can be chalked up as another …’ Letter from Robert Gessner to Richard Wilson, 24 October 1941.

7
‘
I LOVE YOU
.’ Telegram from Orson Welles to Norman Foster, 27 September 1941.

8
‘Personally, I shall never …’ Telegram from Norman Foster to Orson Welles, 2 October 1941.

9
‘
WE ALL MISS YOU TERRIBLY
…’ Telegram from Orson Welles to Norman Foster, 3 October 1941.

10
‘the tremendous investment …’ Richard Wilson account of telephone conversation with Reg Armour, 8 October 1941.

11
‘
YOU ASKED ME TO BE BRUTALLY FRANK
…’ Telegram from Orson Welles to Norman Foster, 18 October 1941.

12
‘
YOU REALLY ARE A SWEET GUY
…’ Telegram from Norman Foster to Orson Welles, 19 October
1941.

13
‘Charles Higham reports …’ Charles Higham,
Orson Welles: The Rise and Fall of an American Genius
.

14
‘He had eight sets upstairs and downstairs …’ Stanley Cortez in Charles Higham,
Sources of Light
.

15
‘This is the second case of the Welles company …’ Memorandum from Bill Eglinston.

16
‘Immediately, said Cortez …’
Sources of Light
.

17
‘People said I was much too arty …’ ibid.

18
‘she was quite unfocused …’ Peter Bogdanovich, op. cit.

19
‘There I was to meet him …’
Daily Telegraph
, 15 March 1943.

20
‘Jim, it’s too static …’ Interview with James Stewart,
The RKO Story
, BBC Television, 1987.

21
‘
CROSBY IS INDULGING IN TOO MUCH REFLECTOR
…’ Telegram from Orson Welles to José Noriega, 30 October 1941.

22
‘
RETAKE HEAD-ON CLOSE SHOT
…’ Telegram from Orson Welles to Norman
Foster, 8 November 1941.

23
‘
SENOR ORSON WELLES DEAR PATRON
…’ Telegram from Norman Foster to Orson Welles, 9 November 1941.

24
‘Several times we were afraid …’ Telegram from Norman Foster to Orson Welles, 2 December 1941.

25
‘how really and truly important and beautiful …’ Telegram from Orson Welles to Norman Foster, 10 December 1941.

26
‘the greatest tour-de-force of
my career
…’ Barbara
Leaming,
Orson Welles
.

27
‘Orson must have overheard …’
Sources of Light
.

28
‘while poor Tim Holt …’ Interview with Agnes Moorehead,
Kurtain Kall
, 1 July 1973.

29
‘
AGNES MOORHEAD DOES
…’ Telegram from George Schaefer to Orson Welles, 3 December 1941.

30
‘hastened to thank you …’ Memorandum from Joe Breen to Orson Welles, 2 December 1941.

31
‘This film will be one of the outstanding pictures
…’ Memorandum from Phil Reismann to Orson Welles, 2 December 1941.

32
‘It is extraordinarily dramatic and beautiful to look at …’ Letter from Herb Drake to Arnold Weissberger, 5 December 1941.

1
‘an imperialistic war for world markets …’ FBI report, 16 April 1943.

2
‘the eager beaver to end all eager beavers …’ Quoted in Culver and Hyde,
American Dreamer
.

3
‘Rockefeller may also …’ Frank Brady,
Citizen Welles
.

4
‘They [the Brazilians] feel …’ Letter from Phil Reismann to Joseph Breen, 11 December 1941.

5
‘Here is sensational news …’
A Noite
, 12 December 1941.

6
‘
GIVE ASSURANCES TO ALL CONCERNED
…’ Telegram from Norman Foster to José Noriega, 24 December 1941.

7
‘That is good publicity for the school …’ Letter from Richard Wilson to Roger
Hill, 17 December 1941.

8
‘
PLEASE SHUT UP FOR A FEW DAYS
…’ Telegram from Roger Hill to Orson Welles, 20 December 1941.

9
‘Everybody talks about it …’ Letter from Roger Hill to Orson Welles, 23 December 1941.

10
‘It is probably difficult for you to realise …’ Letter from Ellen Cole Fetter to Orson Welles, 16 December 1941.

11
… ‘this goes to you as an expression of our government’s …’ Letter
from George Schaefer to Orson Welles, 22 December 1941 (drafted by Joseph Breen).

12
‘there should be nothing sex-suggestive in the line …’ Memorandum from Hays Office to RKO, 8 January 1942.

13
‘For your information and guidance …’ Memorandum from William Gordon to Norman Foster, 3 January 1942.

14
‘There was a Mercury style of acting …’ Peter Bogdanovich,
This is Orson Welles
.

15
‘I’m pretty
awful in it …’ ibid.

16
‘whoever was nearest the camera …’ ibid.

17
‘Who’s he?’ Minute of meeting at RKO, 12 January 1942.

18
‘These
jangadeiros
are almost legendary figures …’ OI-AA Memorandum to John Hay Whitney, 19 January 1941.

1
‘He has left the country furious with yours truly …’ Letter from Herb Drake to Tom Pettey, 4 February 1942.

2
‘colder than a producer’s
heart …’ Letter from Tom Pettey to Herb Drake, 22 January 1942.

3
‘The first thing on arrival …’ Letter from Lynn Shores to Walter Daniels, 3 February 1942.

4
‘would like for Orson Welles to film some of the daring exploits …’ Press Release by Tom Pettey, 29 January 1942.

5
‘I’ll go nuts with another inactive week …’ Letter from Ned Scott to Herb Drake, 7 February 1942.

6
‘We were on our own
…’ Joe Biroc interviewed in
The RKO Story
, BBC Television, 1987.

7
‘
BECAUSE OF THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WORK
…’ Telegram from Orson Welles to Jack Moss, 6 March 1942.

8
‘
RECEPTION OF ORSON WELLES
…’ Telegram from Phil Reismann to George Schaefer, 12 February 1942.

9
‘this enormously sympathetic big boy …’
A Noite
, 11 February 1942.

10
‘The moment the Producer-Director-Writer arrived …’ Press
Release by Herb Drake, 12 February 1942.

11
‘Welles and Phil Reismann …’ Memorandum from Tom Pettey to Herb Drake, 17 February 1942.

12
‘It must be remembered …’ Memorandum from Orson Welles to RKO front office, 25 May 1942.

13
‘The human element in particular …’ ibid.

14
‘Carnival isn’t a religious observance …’
Orson Welles Alamanac
, 4 November 1944.

15
‘for 1942 the order is
FORGET THE
WAR
!’
Life
, 18 March 1942.

16
‘a director of the movie production …’ Press release by Tom Pettey, 18 February 1942.

17
‘a combination of crinolines …’
Life
, op. cit.

18
‘I am enclosing a sort of day-to-day report …’ Letter from Lynn Shores to Walter Daniels, 16 February 1942.

19
‘The problem of shooting carnival …’ Memorandum from Orson Welles to RKO front office, op. cit.

20
‘What made carnival
what it was? …’ Letter from Orson Welles to Bob Meltzer, 23 June 1942.

21
‘he was like a lighthouse …’ Interview with Geraldine Fitzgerald, quoted in
The Road to Xanadu
.

22
‘The humiliated, the timid, the unsatisfied …’ Rui Costa in research document, n.d.

23
‘ideas he might wish to look into …’ Tom Pettey to Herb Drake, 22 February 1942.

24
‘no other personality from the United States …’
A Noite
, 23 February 1942.

25
‘We’re working too hard down here …’ Letter from Orson Welles to George Schaefer, 25 February 1942.

26
‘You may have heard …’
Letter
from Orson Welles to John Hay Whitney, 25 February 1942.

27
‘positively Brazilian …’ Letter from Phil Reismann to John Hay Whitney, 25 February 1942.

28
‘
PLEASE ORSON
…’ Telegram from George Schaefer to Orson Welles, 27 February 1942.