Happy 100th Birthday Orson Welles!

What a better way to celebrate the big O - with my friend F.X. Feeney running the show:

TOUCH OF GENIUS: ORSON WELLES AT 100

The word “genius” has been associated with Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 - October 10, 1985) nearly since his birth in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The son of a successful inventor and concert pianist, the future actor-director proved to be gifted in the arts as a child. The title was such a frequent refrain through his life that a 1940 Saturday Evening Post story joked, “Orson was an old war horse in the infant prodigy line by the time he was 10. He had already seen eight years' service as a child genius. Some see the 24-year-old boy of today as a mere shadow of the 2-year-old man they used to know.”

Previous successes shadowed Welles for so long that some view his career solely through the prism of missed opportunity, allowing uncompleted works such as THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND to obscure a long string of triumphs. While his debut, CITIZEN KANE, is unquestionably a masterpiece of unusual lighting and camera angles, innovative use of sound and extended takes, so is TOUCH OF EVIL, made 17 years later. His Shakespeare adaptations, created without the support of a major studio, offer further testament to Welles’ continuing growth as an artist over the decades: From MACBETH (1948) toOTHELLO (1952) to CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1965), each was more impressive than the last.

Though it would have been wonderful if THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS hadn’t been recut against his will, or if he’d gotten to direct CATCH-22 instead of simply acting in it, as it stands, Orson Welles’ body of work remains among the richest in cinema history.

Series also includes THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, THE STRANGER and MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES.

Series programmed by Gwen Deglise, Grant Moninger and John Hagelston. Program notes by John Hagelston.

F.X. Feeney will sign copies of his new book 'Orson Welles: Power, Heart, and Soul' and introduce each night in the series!

Films in this Series at the Aero

Book Signing With F.X. Feeney! THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI / THE STRANGER Thu, May 7, 2015 - 7:30pm Aero Theatre	Book Signing With F.X. Feeney! CITIZEN KANE / THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS Fri, May 8, 2015 - 7:30pm Aero Theatre	Book Signing With F.X. Feeney! CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT / OTHELLO Sat, May 9, 2015 - 7:30pm Aero Theatre
Book Signing With F.X. Feeney! TOUCH OF EVIL / MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES Sun, May 10, 2015 - 7:30pm Aero Theatre

Aero Theatre • Thu, May 7, 2015 - Sun, May 10, 2015