Chimes at Midnight
| Chimes at Midnight | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Orson Welles |
| Produced by | Ángel Escolano Emiliano Piedra Harry Saltzman |
| Written by | William Shakespeare Orson Welles |
| Starring | Orson Welles Jeanne Moreau Margaret Rutherford Keith Baxter John Gielgud Marina Vlady Fernando Rey Beatrice Welles Ingrid Pitt |
| Cinematography | Edmond Richard |
| Distributed by | Continental Film Distributors |
| Release date(s) | Spain: 22 December 1965 |
| Running time | 117 min. |
| Language | English |
Chimes at Midnight, also known as Falstaff and Campanadas a medianoche (Spanish title), is a 1965 film directed by and starring Orson Welles. Focused on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff, the film stars Welles himself as Falstaff, Keith Baxter plays Prince Hal (who will later become Henry V), and John Gielgud plays Henry IV. Jeanne Moreau appears as Doll Tearsheet and Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly.
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[edit] Plot
The script contains text from five Shakespeare plays: primarily Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, but also Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. It was based on Welles's play Five Kings, an adaptation of four Shakespeare plays which he produced in 1939 and again in 1960. The film's narration, spoken by Ralph Richardson, is taken from the chronicler Raphael Holinshed.
Near the end of the film, Welles slightly alters a scene from Henry V, Act 2, Scene 2 in which Henry V pardons an imprisoned street rabble-rouser just before his expedition to invade France. In Welles' version it is stated that this man is Falstaff, and the incident he is pardoning is Falstaff's disturbance of Henry's coronation. Although both the pardoned prisoner and Falstaff are said to drink wine, Shakespeare's original has no implication the pardoned prisoner is Falstaff. In both Welles' film and in Henry V, this scene is followed by the death of Falstaff.
[edit] Cast
- Orson Welles ... Falstaff
- Jeanne Moreau ... Doll Tearsheet
- Margaret Rutherford ... Mistress Quickly
- John Gielgud ... Henry IV
- Marina Vlady ... Kate Percy
- Walter Chiari ... Mr. Silence
- Michael Aldridge ... Pistol
- Julio Peña
- Tony Beckley ... Ned Poins
- Andrés Mejuto
- Keith Pyott
- Jeremy Rowe ... Prince John
- Alan Webb ... Shallow
- Fernando Rey ... Worcester
- Keith Baxter ... Prince Hal
- Norman Rodway ... Henry 'Hotspur' Percy
- Jose Nieto ... Northumberland
- Andrew Faulds ... Westmoreland
- Charles Farrell
- Fernando Hilbeck
- Patrick Bedford ... Bardolph
- Beatrice Welles ... Falstaff's Page
- Ralph Richardson ... Narrator (voice)
[edit] Reception
Film critic Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that Chimes at Midnight "may be the greatest Shakespearean film ever made, bar none."[1] The film was nominated (in 1968) for a BAFTA film award for Welles as Best Foreign Actor. At the 1966 Cannes Film Festival Welles was nominated for the Golden Palm Award and won the 20th Anniversary Prize and the Technical Grand Prize.[2] In Spain it won (in 1966) the Citizens Writers Circle Award for Best Film.
Welles held this film in high regard and considered it along with The Trial (1962) as his best work. As he remarked in 1982, "If I wanted to get into heaven on the basis of one movie, that's the one I'd offer up."[3] Many critics, including Peter Bogdanovich and Jonathan Rosenbaum, also consider Chimes at Midnight to be Welles's finest work. The scene depicting the Battle of Shrewsbury has been particularly admired, serving as an inspiration for movies like Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan.
The film is officially available on region 2 DVD from Spain. Due to complications concerning the film's ownership and the estate of Orson Welles, Chimes at Midnight has only been released twice in the United States, both exclusively on VHS and long out of print. Mr Bongo screened a restored version in the UK at Picturehouse Cinemas on August 1, 2011.[4]
[edit] Books
Chimes at Midnight. Rutgers UP, 1989. ISBN 0-8135-1339-1 (complete screenplay included).
[edit] References
- ^ Canby, Vincent, "The Undiminished Chutzpah of Orson Welles." The New York Times, March 2, 1975
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Chimes at Midnight". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2819/year/1966.html. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ^ Interview with Orson Welles, BBC Arena, 1982.
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/orson-welles-rarely-seen-masterpiece-is-restored-and-rereleased-2313302.html
[edit] External links
- Chimes at Midnight at the Internet Movie Database
- Chimes at Midnight at AllRovi
- Chimes at Midnight at Rotten Tomatoes
- Roger Ebert "Great Movies" review
- Senses of Cinema review
- Cinescene review
- Google Video
