My Lunches With Orson by Peter Biskind
Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 12:24 pm
The great pleasure I experienced while in Washington DC/Culpeper last week was to get the chance to read a review/pre-release copy of MY LUNCHES WITH ORSON, Peter Biskind’s compilation of Henry Jaglom’s recorded luncheon conversations with Orson Welles at the Mai Maison in Hollywood. Though I will never believe Jaglom’s claims that Welles told him it was okay to surreptitiously record these afternoon talks, bless him for doing so, because it preserved Welles at his most candid, funny, and frequently insightful and it is a delightful read. Welles speaks very frankly about innumerable subjects, all as long gone as Orson so just as safe from his barbs, this is an Orson Welles one never got on the Merv Griffin Show.
Welles takes on some of the people in his own life, from more dirt on John Houseman to some lovely, unvarnished opinions on Peter Bogdonovich, with whom Welles was not that happy with at the end of his life. Some good gossip about his own personal life, from dating Lena Horne to more insights about his marriage to Rita Hayworth, yet Welles also interestingly denies being Michael Lindsay-Hoggs illegitimate Father or ever having an affair with Geraldine Fitzgerald.
For our own comedy interests, the most interesting chapter would have to be his memories of dealing with Charlie Chaplin during the making of MONSIEUR VERDOUX. Welles again claims that he wrote a complete screenplay of his version of the Landru story, and Chaplin had agreed to do it, then dragged his heels and finally admitted that he couldn’t stand to be directed by anyone else and wanted to buy Orson’s script so he could make it himself. Welles gave Chaplin the screenplay, telling him to pay what he thought it was worth, then was a bit chagrined to receive a check from Chaplin for a miserly $1500. What galled Welles more was when Chaplin screened VERDOUX for him, Welles first saw no writing credit for himself at all, which Chaplin claimed was necessary because he was being sued by Konrad Bercovici at the time for plagiarism over THE GREAT DICTATOR (a suit which Chaplin settled out-of-court by paying Bercovici $95,000, claiming he couldn’t afford the bad publicity though apparently Bercovici had him dead to rights) and had to make it look like he indeed wrote all of his own work.
Welles then also interestingly tells a story Mal St. Clair told him about working for Chaplin as a writer (or as Chaplin called them, his “assistants”) and being fired by Chaplin after talking to him about a gag his staff was working on in front of visitors. His portrayal of Chaplin certainly jibes with some other candid opinions on the man, but it is refreshing to hear someone talk of Chaplin as a human being, rather than an “artist”. Welles then admits that he thinks Buster Keaton was way greater a comedian that Chaplin, an opinion he regrets is being finally taken up by the Film History and Critical Community at the time so that he cannot keep it as his own minority opinion anymore. Welles then makes a historical misstep in claiming that only Harold Lloyd had no writers, but it is a mistake that he at least seems to genuinely believe.
This is a wonderful book, and just like Buster Keaton, it is wonderful that so much new Orson Welles material has come to light even these so many years after he has left us. I always enjoyed Orson Welles in conversation, it may have indeed been one of his greatest arts, and this book is a goodly and most unfiltered bundle of his talk. I hope that an audio book made up of the actual tapes comes out, just like Bogdonovich did with his THIS IS ORSON WELLES book in the 90’s, but MY LUNCHES WITH ORSON will do just fine for now, even in print, Welles voice comes through loud and clear.
RICHARD M ROBERTS
Welles takes on some of the people in his own life, from more dirt on John Houseman to some lovely, unvarnished opinions on Peter Bogdonovich, with whom Welles was not that happy with at the end of his life. Some good gossip about his own personal life, from dating Lena Horne to more insights about his marriage to Rita Hayworth, yet Welles also interestingly denies being Michael Lindsay-Hoggs illegitimate Father or ever having an affair with Geraldine Fitzgerald.
For our own comedy interests, the most interesting chapter would have to be his memories of dealing with Charlie Chaplin during the making of MONSIEUR VERDOUX. Welles again claims that he wrote a complete screenplay of his version of the Landru story, and Chaplin had agreed to do it, then dragged his heels and finally admitted that he couldn’t stand to be directed by anyone else and wanted to buy Orson’s script so he could make it himself. Welles gave Chaplin the screenplay, telling him to pay what he thought it was worth, then was a bit chagrined to receive a check from Chaplin for a miserly $1500. What galled Welles more was when Chaplin screened VERDOUX for him, Welles first saw no writing credit for himself at all, which Chaplin claimed was necessary because he was being sued by Konrad Bercovici at the time for plagiarism over THE GREAT DICTATOR (a suit which Chaplin settled out-of-court by paying Bercovici $95,000, claiming he couldn’t afford the bad publicity though apparently Bercovici had him dead to rights) and had to make it look like he indeed wrote all of his own work.
Welles then also interestingly tells a story Mal St. Clair told him about working for Chaplin as a writer (or as Chaplin called them, his “assistants”) and being fired by Chaplin after talking to him about a gag his staff was working on in front of visitors. His portrayal of Chaplin certainly jibes with some other candid opinions on the man, but it is refreshing to hear someone talk of Chaplin as a human being, rather than an “artist”. Welles then admits that he thinks Buster Keaton was way greater a comedian that Chaplin, an opinion he regrets is being finally taken up by the Film History and Critical Community at the time so that he cannot keep it as his own minority opinion anymore. Welles then makes a historical misstep in claiming that only Harold Lloyd had no writers, but it is a mistake that he at least seems to genuinely believe.
This is a wonderful book, and just like Buster Keaton, it is wonderful that so much new Orson Welles material has come to light even these so many years after he has left us. I always enjoyed Orson Welles in conversation, it may have indeed been one of his greatest arts, and this book is a goodly and most unfiltered bundle of his talk. I hope that an audio book made up of the actual tapes comes out, just like Bogdonovich did with his THIS IS ORSON WELLES book in the 90’s, but MY LUNCHES WITH ORSON will do just fine for now, even in print, Welles voice comes through loud and clear.
RICHARD M ROBERTS