The iconic director Orson Welles called “arrogant” and “deeply dumb”
When it comes to the greatest filmmakers of all time, there is little doubt that the Citizen Kane director Orson Welles is considered to be one of the very best, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese and Akira Kurosawa. A maverick director and star of the silver screen, Welles is one of the most iconic names to come out of the Hollywood studio system.
Taking to the industry in the early 1930s, Welles immediately started to multitask in the industry, both starring in and directing the 1933 short film Twelfth Night. But, it wouldn’t take long for the filmmaker to reach his peak, making Citizen Kane at the age of 25, mere years after his debut, claiming an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ as well as a ‘Best Picture’ nomination.
Still, it would be wrong to think that this was Welles’ only success, with the director helming a number of iconic films, including 1958’s Touch of Evil with Charlton Heston and 1962’s Kafka tale The Trial, starring Anthony Perkins. As a multi-talented man, one of Welles’ greatest features would come toward the end of his career, releasing the remarkable documentary F for Fake in 1973.
Still, despite being a beloved artist in the industry, Welles was also known for his tumultuous personality, hot temper and curious opinions, being known for calling out fellow actors if he didn’t like them.
For example, Welles wasn’t huge on the iconic British Oscar winner Laurence Olivier, calling him straight up “stupid” in a series of recently uncovered recordings.
Elsewhere, Welles was pretty critical of influential filmmakers, calling the British comedian and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin supremely “arrogant” despite the star being known for some of the most inclusive comedies of early cinema. From the early classic The Kid, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, to his revolutionary political Oscar nominee, The Great Dictator.
The origins of Welles’ hatred towards Chaplin started when the former suggested that the comedian and filmmaker make a dramatised documentary on the life of the French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru, who murdered at least ten women, one boy and two dogs. So infatuated by the idea, Chaplin agreed to pay Welles $5,000 for it as long as the film featured a credit to the Citizen Kane director.
Yet, things got complicated when Welles claimed to have written the entire screenplay for the film, which was released in 1947 in the form of Monsieur Verdoux. Claiming to have had a much larger role in the movie than Chaplin gave him credit for, Welles grew a deep resentment toward the star, stating: “Chaplin was deeply dumb in some ways,” before adding that his 1936 masterpiece Modern Times “doesn’t have a good moment in it”.
Take a look at the trailer for Monsieur Verdoux below, which Welles may or may not have had a part in creating.
