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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Only Biography from Welles's Perspective, January 21, 2007
There are many biographies of Orson Welles but only one was written with his cooperation. Welles never wrote his autobiography past his childhood, so along with This Is Orson Welles, this is all we have to judge his life from, using his words. Despite the book's many flaws, most glaringly without details about many of Welles's most important films and with only bar and the fact that Leaming does seem to be very obsequious toward her subject, it still captures much of his personal life, especially with Rita Hayward. Overall, the book is intoxicating and a very compelling read considering the many other biographies about Welles, most of which are full of hyperbole and outright lies about the man, his life and his work.
To get the best idea of Welles, read this book along with This Is Orson Welles, to get an idea about Welles's ideas about his movie and stage careers, Citizen Welles which is a fair overview of his life without hyperbole and Whatever Happened to Orson Welles, which focuses on Welles's career from the 1960s to his death. All of which add up to get a real picture of this man who created some of the greatest films of the 20th century and wanted to be a mystery above all other things.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Weak., June 10, 2002
June 10, 2002 The first problem with Barbara Leaming's biography
of Orson Welles is that it principally relies on
the absolute worst source imaginable: Orson Welles
himself. Anyone who knows the details of Welles's
life, career and character even a little knows that
the man was a liar. Not a malicious one, to be
sure--his was more of a child's capacity for
prevarication, born out of equal parts insecurity
and need for attention--but a liar nonetheless. The second problem is that while Leaming is a
serviceable writer, she is not particularly worldly.
She's certainly not objective. She seems to belong
to that cosmetically clever but ultimately narrow
breed of communicators: the gossip monger. She
loves anecdotes, and swallows Orson's whole. All the requisite facts are in this book, but other
Welles biographies have served the man and his art
better. The single greatest irony about this book
is how smarmy, superficial and childish its subject
comes off in this, the work of his most flattering
biographer. It's too easy to spot Welles toying with Leaming,
and he doesn't come off very charming or impressive
by extension. He sees her coming from too far off
and feeds her lots of junk, too much of which she
printed.
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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Meat Loaf with Extra Gravy, March 5, 1999
By A Customer
On the whole an entertaining read but Leaming's gossip-column style and unabashed idolatry grate before long. Leaming saves her best prose not for Welles' legendary charm or artistic genius, but for his various appendages. "The only way to make the plane was to hitchhike," Leaming writes, "but when Orson extended the long tapered thumb of his extraordinarily beautiful hand, the only vehicle to stop was a garbage truck, into which Welles and company promptly crowded." Such flourishes, as well as the index, which is surprisingly clever--under Welles, (George) Orson there is an entry entitled "false noses used by 350, 353, 401, 424" are the gravy on this meat loaf of a book. Eat up!
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