This week’s episode of The Road to Cinema Podcast features a conversation with author Josh Karp as we discuss his new book “Orson Welles’s Last Movie: The Making of ‘The Other Side of the Wind’.” I had the incredible privilege to read Mr. Karp’s new book. It’s an exciting discovery for any Welles fanatic striving to learn more history behind this infamous, uncompleted final film of Orson Welles. “The Other Side of the Wind” has been looming in my orbit for years. I have followed every morsel of information that has popped up in press reports which sometimes gives a glimmer of hope that the film will finally be completed. Among those revelations was an article in The New York Times from last October which discusses the possibility of the film’s completion this coming year. Oct. 28th 2014 NY Times Article “The Other Side of the Wind” is Orson Welles’s yet to be completed final film which started production in 1970, shot on and off for almost 5 years, then unfortunately languished in post-production limbo for more than 3 decades after Welles’s death in 1985. Karp’s book explores the less than conventional production process as well as the legal complications that have kept the film’s negative in a vault in France under lock and key.
From the set of “The Other Side of the Wind” featuring actor John Huston, writer/director Orson Welles, and actor Peter Bogdanovich. “The Other Side of the Wind” tells the story of down-and-out director Jake Hannaford (Huston) who celebrates his 70th birthday in the shadow of a film he hopes will be his comeback but which may also be his professional and personal ruin. Peter Bogdanovich plays Brooks Otterlake, an up-and-coming filmmaker and former Hannaford protege. The film also features performances from actors Susan Strasberg, Mercedes McCambridge, and Edmond O’Brien along with Dennis Hopper, Paul Mazursky, Henry Jaglom, Joseph McBride, Claude Chabrol, and Welles’s companion and collaborator Oja Kodar.
We learn how the Oscar winning filmmaker behind “Citizen Kane” was forced by both financial and logistical restrictions to film “guerrilla style” in Los Angeles, stealing locations and utilizing friends’ homes as makeshift sets. The majority of the film was shot on location inside a rented home in Carefree, Arizona. This Arizona home served as the “Los Angeles residence” for Jake Hannaford, the setting for Hannaford’s 70th birthday party which is the focal point of the film.
The book also explores how almost 30 years after Welles’s death, people close to Welles have continued to keep “The Other Side of the Wind” alive by attempting through every action possible to complete the editing and post-production process. Among those who have and are still attempting to make Orson’s vision a reality include: the late Gary Graver who was the cinematographer on the film, Oscar nominated producer Frank Marshall who served as line producer & assistant to Welles, and Oscar nominated filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich who played the role of “Brooks Otterlake.”
The book will be released in-stores and online on April 21st. Click here! To pre-order a hard cover edition or Kindle e-book from Amazon.com
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From the set of “The Other Side of the Wind” featuring cinematographer Gary Graver, writer/director Orson Welles, and behind Welles, his companion & collaborator Oja Kodar