The Alfred Hitchcock classic Orson Welles called “one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen”
After his death in 1985, a series of taped conversations that Orson Welles preserved came to light. Welles was planning to write an autobiography on his six decades in the entertainment industry, and from the content found on the recordings, it doesn’t sound as though Welles was going to hold anything back. From past collaborators to former flames, Welles had a seemingly endless pit of contempt for his contemporaries.
During his later years, Welles would often have lunches with fellow director Henry Jaglom. With a tape rolling, Welles was remarkably candid and unguarded with his thoughts. Whether Welles and Jaglom planned on editing the tapes is unknown; Welles died before any firm plans for his much-talked-about autobiography ever began in earnest. Some of the pair’s conversations eventually appeared in Peter Biskind’s 2013 book My Lunches With Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles, where some of Welles’ most surprising takes were preserved uncensored.
From calling Charlie Chaplin “arrogant” to considering Laurence Olivier “stupid”, Welles wasn’t afraid to go against the public personas of some of cinema’s most beloved figures. Spencer Tracy was “hateful”, Richard Burton was “a joke”, and Jennifer Jones was “hopeless”. Welles even claimed that he had a romance with Marilyn Monroe before she became famous.
“She was a girlfriend,” Welles claimed. “I used to take her to parties before she was a star … I wanted to try and promote her career. Nobody even glanced at Marilyn.”
Welles’ hottest take was reserved for one of his fellow directors, Alfred Hitchcock. Unlike most critics and contemporaries, Welles wasn’t a fan of Hitchcock’s move from Britain to Hollywood. During one particularly spirited conversation, Welles took aim at a film that has become central to Hitchcock’s legacy: Rear Window.
“I’ve never understood the cult of Hitchcock. Particularly the late American movies,” Welles proclaimed. “Egotism and laziness. And they’re all lit like television shows … I saw one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen the other night [Rear Window] … Complete insensitivity to what a story about voyeurism could be. I’ll tell you what is astonishing. To discover that Jimmy Stewart can be a bad actor … Even Grace Kelly is better than Jimmy, who’s overacting.”
Watch the trailer for Rear Window down below.
