From Publishers Weekly
Using shooting scripts, shooting schedules, internal studio memos, private correspondence to and from Welles, and the director's interviews and public lectures, Heylin re-evaluates the circumstances under which Welles produced the six movies he made for Hollywood studios, from 1941's Citizen Kane through 1958's Touch of Evil. The depth of Heylin's research on Welles's consistent workaholic approach to his art, especially his examination of a 58-page memo Welles wrote to Universal after it dismantled Touch of Evil, aids Heylin in arguing against the claim put forth in other Welles bios that his work declined after Citizen Kane due to his own egotism and excess. Heylin's is the most well-researched and evenhanded refutation of this line of thought published to date, and shows in detail how Welles "was undone by real people, with real motives"—most notably Columbia studio head Harry Cohn, who cut The Lady from Shanghai from 155 to 86 minutes. Heylin (Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry; Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited; etc.) persuasively argues that Welles did indeed make masterpieces after Citizen Kane, but that audiences never got to see them because of continual intervention from Hollywood studio bosses who "had no idea what [Welles] was doing, and why he was taking so long to do it." 12 b&w photos. (Feb.)
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Orson Welles' travails within the Hollywood studio system, which all but demolished his career as one of cinema's most brilliant directors, are the stuff of legend. Executives pulled the plug on many ambitious projects, and the problematic state of many that were realized, recut, and with scenes by studio hacks added, have contributed to the widely accepted view that Welles had a fear of completion. Heylin's meticulously researched defense of Welles confirms that the primary obstacles were external. He explicates the changes wrought on nearly all Welles' films in detail, from the mangled masterpiece The Magnificent Ambersons to Welles' final American release, Touch of Evil, and he examines the budgetarily hindered works Welles made in European exile, too. He doesn't absolve Welles--he notes his habit of disappearing for days at critical junctures--but in light of the personal animosity he shows studio heads displaying toward Welles, it is hard to have anything but sympathy for the director. A fascinating encapsulation of one great example of the perdurable struggle between art and commerce. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
""Marshals an impressive collection of facts . . . [Welles] admirers will read this book with a heartbreaking sense of loss." -- The Commercial Dispatch
"A definite page-turner . . . should be on the shelf of any fan of Welles or American cinema." -- Razor Magazine
"A devoted and meticulously researched work . . . We're looking at the most meticulous champion Orson Welles has ever had." -- The New York Times Book Review
"A most enjoyable book." -- MoviePoopShoot.com
"Deconstructs the myth of bloated loser Orson with scholarly rectitude and a rock critics delight in smashing things." -- Los Angeles City Beat
"Heylin is right to rage against those who stymied his hero." -- USA Today
"Heylin offers much interesting material, especially in script extracts that showcase Welles graceful but energetic writing style." -- Palm Beach Post
"Heylins argument for the stifled genius of Welles should crack even the most hardened unbeliever." -- IGN Filmforce
About the Author
Clinton Heylin is the author of Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited, Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions, Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry, Can You Feel the Silence: Van Morrison, The Da Capo Book of Rock & Roll Writing, and No More Sad Refrains: The Life and Times of Sandy Denny.
