The Hearts of Age

The Hearts of Age
Directed by	Orson Welles William Vance
Written by	Orson Welles
Starring	Orson Welles Virginia Nicholson William Vance Paul Edgerton
Running time	8 min
Country	United States
Language	Silent film

The Hearts of Age is the first film made by Orson Welles. The film is an eight-minute short, which he co-directed with William Vance in 1934. The film stars Welles' first wife, Virginia Nicholson, as well as Welles himself. He made the film while attending the Todd School for Boys, in Woodstock, Illinois, at the age of 19.

The plot is a series of images loosely tied together, and is arguably influenced by surrealism. This once-rare film is easily seen today thanks to DVD extras and sites such as YouTube. Many point to it as an important precursor to Welles' first Hollywood film, Citizen Kane. Welles and Vance were college friends. The latter's only other film on record is another student short - an adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1932.

Cast

• Orson Welles as Death
• Virginia Nicholson as the Old woman/Keystone Kop
• William Vance as the Indian in blanket
• Paul Edgerton as the Bell-ringer in blackface

External links

• The Hearts of Age at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hearts of Age at AllRovi
• The film is available on YouTube and can be viewed at this location.