Orson Welles became one of the most famous stars in the world during his career. He began in theatre and radio, and while still in his early twenties he became an acclaimed writer, director and performer. Most notably, he performed The War of The Worlds on the radio anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It is alleged that the performance caused mass panic as many listeners were said to believe that it was real. It is alleged that this happened because the listenership at the time was not very large. This is important to note, because Welles was a master of PR. He would later cut trailers together in such a way that didn’t reveal story so much as to heighten excitement in the audience in order to get them in the theatre. Thus, Welles was a master showman who would use his skill to attract an audience. Welles was also deeply influenced by Shakespeare as he performed Julius Caesar on Broadway, and made Othello for the silver screen, and later in the 1960s created a television version of The Merchant of Venice.
Welles was often the smartest man in the room, and had massive talent. This was apparent as the writer/director would also edit his own films. And, he became known for his great talent as an editor. With this we are able to see that he exerted great control over all of his pictures which led to difficulty distributing his later work as studios were not keen to jump on board with the artist as they found him difficult to work with, and his films did not return a great profit. Welles’ genius was in continuing to push what was possible in cinema. On Citizen Kane he pushed cinematographer Gregg Toland to continue to push the limits of deep focus, and by doing so he created the iconic shots of the parents signing their son away as he plays through the window in the snow and the contrast of the shot later in the film while he is a fully grown businessman now in control of his destiny.
Welles was also one to adapt quite well to the circumstances that occurred on set, and used everything as an opportunity to tell his stories instead of dismissing them without thought. This may be is greatest advantage as he would use techniques from years past to create a particular style on screen, such as his “March of Time” sequence in Citizen Kane, where he scratched the film to give it a newsreel footage feel. And, he would allow the happy accidents on set to give him something fresh he never saw before which is what Oja Kodar, his partner until his death said was what made him great.
