Synopses & Reviews
Revealing the facts rather than the myths behind Orson Welles' Hollywood career, this groundbreaking history analyzes the career of one of the most well-known American filmmakers. Exploring why Welles' films never matched his youthful masterpiece Citizen Kane, this investigation delves into the enemies that hounded him, his unwaning faith in his audience, and the brilliance of his films — before they were butchered by the studios. Based on shooting scripts, schedules, internal memos, interviews, articles, lectures, and personal correspondence, this work creates a concrete picture of his professional and artistic struggles and successes. This heartbreaking tale brings to life the intelligent, perceptive, and passionate man who, for all his failings as a person, was utterly uncompromising in his art.
Review
"Drawing on archival records, including studio memos and interviews, Heylin analyzes Welles's major films and details what he considers the ongoing betrayal of the director's work by supposed friends and foes alike." Library Journal
Review
"A fascinating encapsulation of one great example of the perdurable struggle between art and commerce." Booklist
Review
"While Heylin's prose is only workmanlike, with an occasional lapse in grammar, we aren't looking for Lionel Trilling here. We're looking at the most meticulous champion Orson Welles has ever had." Budd Schulberg, The New York Times Book Review
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.