My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles

Initially, as an admirer of the career and film work of Orson Welles, I had mixed feelings regarding this fascinating book, which is comprised of recorded conversations between Welles and Henry Jaglom, an independent film writer and director that took place during the last several years of the iconic director's life. Since the conversations memorialized in the book were evidently recorded without Welles consent, and without his knowledge that they would ultimately be commercially released, there is an underlying feeling that Welles is being taken advantage of and that he would not have preferred to have disseminated these views of various luminaries that he expressed in unguarded moments to the public. What is primarily conveyed in the book is the extraordinary difficulty that Welles, the acclaimed director and co-screenwriter of Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons and Touch Of Evil, had in mounting virtually any film project that involved him as a director. He is repeatedly frustrated in obtaining financing for a proposed film of King Lear; he intends to direct an adaptation of The Dreamers, he wants to film an original political screenplay called The Big Brass Ring, however, despite his awards and accolades, he cannot get a box office male lead actor to commit to the project and to help him to generate the money to fund the film. He is haunted by an undeserved reputation that he is unreliable and unable to bring a film to completion on time and within budget. We do see evidence of Welles' self destructive propensities, particularly in conversation with the head of production for HBO; she is interested in hiring Welles for an undetermined project, however, when Welles suggests a Grand Hotel concept set in a luxury resort and his proposal doesn't generate immediate enthusiasm, he is condescending and unnecessarily abrasive to a potential employer. Welles' comments and observations regarding various great actors and actresses and directors are caustic, petty and insulting; he makes derogatory remarks about Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud, two icons of stage and film ,questioning their intelligence, their capabilities as actors and suggesting that they have compromised their artistic integrity; he dislikes the later films of Alfred Hitchcock, including Rear Window and Vertigo; he insults the performances and reputation of Humphrey Bogart; he is extraordinarily rude to Richard Burton, who politely asks Welles if he can bring Elizabeth Taylor to his table to greet him [ they had worked in The V.I.P's together ] and he is, by turns, insulting and envious of the late career success of his former Mercury Theater partner John Houseman, who received an Oscar for his portrayal of a law school professor in The Paper Chase; Welles believes that Houseman is trying to take undeserved credit for the artistic success of Citizen Kane. There is an underlying sadness to these comments and observations; they diminish Welles' genuine talent and creativity as a film artist. Having made these observations, the book is a compelling and entertaining read for any aficionado of Welles' body of work. He would undoubtedly be gratified by the resurgence of interest in his films, including the release of anniversary editions of Kane and Touch Of Evil. He is truly a man for all seasons.

This work is fascinating for anyone interested in historical eavesdropping, and you don't need any prior interest in or admiration of its subject as some great film maker. (As a matter of fact, while I had liked Orson as a warm likable character, I've always been bewildered by people finding either Citizen Kane or The Magnifcent Ambersons to be great movies, as I've always found them both to be just about unwatchable.)"My Lunches with Orson" put together by Peter Briskin, is derived from tape recorded transcripts from mutual Orson Welles friend admirer Henry Jaglom who sits with Orson over a period of a year and a half--which will be the last year and of a half of Orson's life-- and at Orson's instigation are recording their conversations as they have lunch at Orson's favorite restaurant favorite, Ma Maison, which is becoming popular because Orson dines in state there almost every day with his small lap dog. Illegal to have an animal in the restaurant, but Orson's dog is tolerated.So instead of interviews, it's them talking and changing conversations rapidly, and Orson is super knowlegeable about everything in the world, has a quicksilver mind, has met everybody in the world from all fields, pontificates about everything at great length,(food, dogs, politics, history, reveals he thought Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart were rotten actors, the Irish are the worst people in the whole world,etc.) and Henry Jaglom is responding like any friend would with surprise and contradicting viewpoints in amused debates, and this sprinkled with Orson's intact memory reciting huge passages from Shakespeare, things from his own scripts. Plus sudden raucous laughter, dirty jokes, deeply felt insecurities and self-deprecation. All this during a time when Welles is struggling financially, trying to launch some projects in America and Europe which keep falling through at the last minute because the former Boy Wonder might be washed up, is kaftan-wearing overweight and having to use a cane.

Many things make this a puzzling "book."First, the bravado and arrogance of Mr. Welles are offset by evidence of uncertainty and hesitation. Second, there is generosity here trumped by outrage and bigotry. Then, of course, there's the fact that this isn't really a book at all. It's mainly a transcript of recorded conversations. It, therefore, makes people eavesdroppers as much as readers so that, at times, it's hard to know if we're hearing who Welles really is or just listening to him perform.Although he disliked a large number of people, Mr. Welles liked Henry Jaglom, his regular lunch partner who comes across in these talks (that Jaglom recorded with Welles' assent) as a cloying, emotional strut for Welles who was by this time nearing the end of his life.If fact, it is largely because of the end game time frame that these conversations seem unfair. Welles had been a giant dripping with gifts and bursting with energy and ideas. However, in this book/transcript, he becomes a classic burlesque of an old man. He is fearful, frustrated, encrusted with rigid opinions, judging everything and approving little. He is an anecdotal mother lode (thus salvaging a three-star rating). But by the time of these lunches, this man carved from solid ego had become sensitive as a spaniel to a dog whistle.To shift metaphors ... all you have here is a slice of Orson Welles from the back of the loaf. This book wasn't necessary and reveals nothing about his genius. Consider one excerpt from near the end: "If I got just one commercial, it would change my life! And that's why my failure as a performer in commercials hurts me so much, because of the difference it would make in my life."Please. Is that worth including? It's just old age jabber, little more than "bad lighting" in an otherwise shining life. Sadly, My Lunches With Orson isn't prime Welles. It's just table scraps.

Great. Read bits before bed.

Welles is entertaining and erudite enough; but what a pain in the backside his interlocutor Henry Jaglom is. Impression is that Welles only befriended Jaglom because he – wrongly – believed him to be an up and coming film maker who could help Welles get his films made. They are not intellectual equals and, I suppose, one of the revelations of the book is how desperate Welles was at this point in his life that he could spend so much time in the company of a non-entity like Jaglom. This makes the book quite sad.

I BBC already said very enjoyable reading. If you are an Orson Welles fan. But entertaining

Whether you like him or not - one of the 20th centuries great raconteurs, warts and all. Great read

Great Read. Sad and Sneaky way of getting the Stories.Would Never do that to my supposed Friends.