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If you pay attention to take 3, the drunken Welles (after holding his head down between thumb and forefinger) is doing the Jackie Gleason/ Ralph Kramden thing with the "Mwwaaahhhaa..".
It's so bad and sad, yet funny.
This guy was such a big blowhard and was so full of himself even in the later years after he had long since crashed and burned that he still thought himself "above it all".
The video speaks for itself.
FIVEHOUSE was too good for him at this point.
Welles WAS 'above it all'. He just didn't bow to stupid mainstream bluff in Hollywood. He could've had all the finances to make movies he wanted, but he was a genuine artist.
As for the ad, every advert has multiple bad takes. The end product is what counts. He's clearly out of it here, probably drunk, possibly ill. But he still has what you'll never have. You're the great guy who's going to bring them all down to earth, aren't you?
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If you pay attention to take 3, the drunken Welles (after holding his head down between thumb and forefinger) is doing the Jackie Gleason/ Ralph Kramden thing with the "Mwwaaahhhaa..".
It's so bad and sad, yet funny.
This guy was such a big blowhard and was so full of himself even in the later years after he had long since crashed and burned that he still thought himself "above it all".
The video speaks for itself.
FIVEHOUSE was too good for him at this point.
Welles WAS 'above it all'. He just didn't bow to stupid mainstream bluff in Hollywood. He could've had all the finances to make movies he wanted, but he was a genuine artist.
As for the ad, every advert has multiple bad takes. The end product is what counts. He's clearly out of it here, probably drunk, possibly ill. But he still has what you'll never have. You're the great guy who's going to bring them all down to earth, aren't you?
Jeez, what's with the attitude? I happen to agree that Welles was a blowhard in later life, despite his brilliance in the early part of his career. Once he reached the 1970's, he became a sell out and did Mrs. Paul's fish stick commercials, Paul Masson commercials, voice-overs for movie trailers, and star of that god awful Nostradamus documentary. But Fivehouse was too good for Welles? Wow, talk about consistency.
At least Anzaldiman is not a sellout, bloated drunk, and, quite frankly, DEAD, like Welles is.
MaxB
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At least Anzaldiman is not a sellout, bloated drunk, and, quite frankly, DEAD, like Welles is.
MaxB
Hell, no. Welles was a genius in his day. Welles was a sellout because he made adverts to fund his projects? He's dead. Yes, that's true. So is Michelangelo.
Let me ask you: if even all you say about him in later years is true, does that cancel out his early brilliance? European audiences know another Welles, not just a showman, but a comic, a raconteur, a commentator, who was still working on good projects, many of which never came to fruition, right up until the end. Most of the fear of Welles came from envy and cowardice.
Anal Zidman likes to debunk 'puffery'. Welles would be good company, don't you think?
Satire is good. But you have to know where your ground is. Nihil nisi bonum. Welles has done us all such harm, hasn't he? He started wars, made porno-movies, killed children? No, he did good stuff, and could have done more, had he been the 'selling out' kind.
I do adverts too, by the way.
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At least Anzaldiman is not a sellout, bloated drunk, and, quite frankly, DEAD, like Welles is.
MaxB
Hell, no. Welles was a genius in his day. Welles was a sellout because he made adverts to fund his projects? He's dead. Yes, that's true. So is Michelangelo.
Let me ask you: if even all you say about him in later years is true, does that cancel out his early brilliance? European audiences know another Welles, not just a showman, but a comic, a raconteur, a commentator, who was still working on good projects, many of which never came to fruition, right up until the end. Most of the fear of Welles came from envy and cowardice.
Anal Zidman likes to debunk 'puffery'. Welles would be good company, don't you think?
Satire is good. But you have to know where your ground is. Nihil nisi bonum. Welles has done us all such harm, hasn't he? He started wars, made porno-movies, killed children? No, he did good stuff, and could have done more, had he been the 'selling out' kind.
I do adverts too, by the way.
I agree - Welles early career in unmistakenly remarkable. CITIZEN KANE was groundbreaking in how it reshaped the visual style of films. I don't recall any other film of that year (1941) that came close to it, within the context of style and technical achievements. Yes, we won't forget that he utilized his legendary Mercury Theater Troupe with an impresseive ensemble (Cotten, Moorehead, et. al.). I would challenge anyone to disbute otherwise. Let's also remember that Orson Welles - the actor, and Orson Welles - the director, are two different beasts. If you are evaluating Welles and his acting career versus Welles the director, it is obvious that his strength as actor has made him more renowned. For all intents and purposes, though, I am looking at the man as a whole. Welles seemed obsessed with trying to top KANE for the next twenty years or so. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS and TOUCH OF EVIL may be considered classics, but it seems that he tried way too hard to top himself. And if one looks at his varied career, I am having a tough time in seeing the brilliance of "The VIP's," "Casino Royale," "Treasure Island," "The Muppet Movie," "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow," "Butterfly."
I don't know who "Anal Zidman" is (maybe a fellow British Colleague?), but I had a phone conversation with ANZALDIMAN last night and we agreed on some aspects of Welles achievements, as well as the purely "paycheck" oriented decisions he made (Mel Brooks' HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART ONE)that steered him into 1970's Mickey Rooney territory.
Anyway, at least Welles has the integrity not to get involved with ALAN FIVEHOUSE.
MaxB
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ORSON WELLES on ALAN FIVEHOUSE
"...It is is ironic that I would be asked to do the trailer voiceovers, when I really wanted to do the film. Freddy [Loftybeck] definitely had something there. I always imagined this FIVEHOUSE character with a sharp intensity, worthy of Shakespeare. Lonsdale never really appreciated that aspect and, not surprisingly, his performance is flat and monodimensional, in many ways. But Freddy told me that I was too good for FIVEHOUSE and that he sought out that very dynamic that Lonsdale brought to the project. He told me that he needed this intesity that I referred to in the supporting cast, in order to make it work. In the end, he was right.."
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FRED LOFTYBECK on WHO WEEPS FOR ALAN FIVEHOUSE?
"...While many consider this the weakest in the FIVEHOUSE canon, there were many interesting aspects of this film. Namely, it is the only FIVEHOUSE film to be photographed in 3-D, at the suggestion and direction of Mr. Lonsdale. In the end, I don't know if it mattered in selling tickets, but it was fun to watch this film being made, in many respects..."
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"...My process for direction was no different from the craft of acting. One needs to have a keen sensibility with respect to maintaining form on one level, while creating on another. It is a rather simple approach..."
MICHAEL LONSDALE on directing WHO WEEPS FOR ALAN FIVEHOUSE?
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"...I received a call once from a German reporter from Der Spiegel, who, despite his not-so-good English, delighted that we were reviving the ALAN FIVEHOUSE character for the BBC. (Laughs) He could not wait for DER FUNFHAUS FUNF, as he so emphatically declared...."
FREDRICK LOFTYBECK commenting to REUTERS in December, 1998.
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SUSANNAH YORK on REVENGE OF ALAN FIVEHOUSE
"...We were all told to lose about 40 kilograms of weight - from our normal character weight - before shooting began, as Mr. Lonsdale personally cooked for the cast and crew during the lunch and dinner breaks. (Laughs) I have never seen anyone who can create such wonderment with Brie and quail's eggs, like Lonsdale could (Laughs)..."
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"...Freddy [Loftybeck] always had crates of organic Hass avocados flown in and delivered to the set. He enjoyed fresh guacamole daily with nearly everything that he ate. One day, I had an entire crate smuggled from the set to my personal kitchen trailer. I created this succulent avocado soufflé, along with my renowned carrot consumé. Freddy was quite annoyed over the theft of his avocados, by enjoyed the soufflé, despite his bouts with Diarrhea..."
MICHAEL LONSDALE on "Cooking for ALAN FIVEHOUSE"
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The infamous Lonsdale "carrot consumé" has one scrambling for the bowl every time.
MaxB
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I've heard that Lonsdale's secret recipe for pasta fagioli is extraordinary.
He is a master chef in Italo-French cuisine.
MaxB
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Our friend – Barry I Gruever – is back with a fury.
The following appeared in the February 1995 edition of the Journal of the University of Northern Kentucky (JUNK). It is being reconstituted with the permission of Barry I. Gruever, managing editor of JUNK.
WHO WEEPS FOR A SONG – THE ARTISTRY BEHIND WHO WEEPS FOR ALAN FIVEHOUSE?
By Barry I. Gruever
In the modern motion picture, the use of a song can often capture a character’s malady with a melody. The music alone shapes the tone, while the lyrics create the angst. It is angst that has beleaguered the world of Alan Fivehouse since the renowned British movie detective exported onto the screen in 1979.
Although that terrific musical score featured no musical song to accompany the laments of the protagonists, several subsequent Fivehouse outings have employed the skills and talents of respective lyricists and composers to further broaden the detective’s landscape. In REVENGE OF ALAN FIVEHOUSE, Leslie Bricusse supplied wonderful pain - with the help of composer Georges Delerue and actress Susannah York – to the palette of Fivehouse’s conflicted torment. The effective use of the song, during the opening pivotal drowning death sequence of Ms. York’s character, pushed the horrific brutality to a higher level within the context of the film.
In the new film, “WHO WEEPS FOR ALAN FIVEHOUSE?”, Bono and The Edge supplied the melancholy lyrics, along with composer George Fenton’s haunting music, to the title song.
BONO: The song plays over the opening credit sequence where an older, much more cynical, extremely hardened, and borderline bitter ALAN FIVEHOUSE [Michael Lonsdale] is riding in the back of this car driven by his Sergeant.
THE EDGE: Gilberdyke. (Laughs)
BONO: (Laughs) Yeah – that’s it. The sequence is not meant to be funny, though, and Michael expressed to us what he wanted to convey in this scene. He gave us specific instructions, in terms of the style, the flow. He was quite….
THE EDGE: Yeah – He was quite…(Laughs).
Coupled with the duo’s trademark sensibilities, they went to work on SORROW IS A LONELY CHOICE. Once finished, they handed over the lyrics to composer George Fenton.
GEORGE FENTON: The whole experience was quite strange. In any of my previous collaborations, I’ve worked closely with the lyricists in order to maintain an organically methodical approach to the finished piece. It makes logical sense to be able to naturally construct and edit the lyrics around the music – the melody primarily. However, they just handed me this completed prose and essentially told me to “go to work” and write the music. There was no mutual collaboration. So, I had the uncompromising challenge of effectively working the music into the lyric with no permissible alteration of the prose. It was frustrating at times, but it worked in the end.
Mr. Fenton elaborated that he had to present three ideas to the director [Lonsdale] in order to allow for the ever-changing tone of the film.
GEORGE FENTON: Ultimately, I don’t think he knew what he wanted until the very end. Normally, I would deal with a producer – or producers – making the final decisions, but Fred [Loftybeck} was very “hands-off” when it came to the music. He told me that he would rather entrust the musical details with the composer, just offering some initial input in terms of the overall mood and tone…However I think he had some difficulties with Michael this time, or so I’ve been told.
Bono and The Edge relayed a similar sentiment.
BONO: I remember Michael became angry at Fred during one of our creative sessions. He threw a half-eaten chicken leg at the wall when Fred queried him on a change that he had us make with the chorus.
THE EDGE: (Laughs) That chicken smelled awful. I believe it was boiled in Apple Cider Vinegar and jalapeno peppers. (laughs).
The finished product often takes on a form of its own – and SORROW IS A LONELY CHOICE is no exception. With the permission of the artists, we offer to you the complete lyrics to the complete song – SORROW IS A LONELY CHOICE – for the film “WHO WEEPS FOR ALAN FIVEHOUSE?”
It happens all the time, too much wanton crime,
You have a job to do, and it’s always new,
But you’ve contemplated high, and fell so low,
That you don’t have faith, in the work that you know,
CHORUS
Sorrow, Is A lonely Choice,
A Solemn reflection, A Morbid Voice,
Sorrow Is A Lonely Choice,
A Crazy Stare, A tearful rejoice,
Sorrow Is A Lonely Choice,
With wind at Your Back, In your Old Royce,
All the years that have passed, Isolation reigns,
The moments run rampant, with all the pains,
Of your life seen empty, through a modest shell,
With evil quietly lurking, amongst the common hell,
We don’t Know What the Future Holds,
Life, Destruction, or Death in the fold,
The answers my friends are in a sealed fate,
So Cold and barren like an empty crate,
No Wine or Brie can keep you comforted,
When the time is right to be the hunted,
CHORUS
Sorrow, Is A Lonely Choice,
A Blind Paradox, Of Forgotten Life,
Sorrow Is A Lonely Choice,
Of Heartbreak’s Meaning, A Departed Wife,
Sorrow Is A Lonely Choice,
The Constant of Anger, A Mindless Strife,
The End May Be Near, Or So They Say,
If Fear Is the Key to the Means or the Way,
Then Brave Souls Bury Me Where I Lay,
In A Pub, In A Park, A School Where Children Play,
CHORUS
Sorrow, Is A Lonely Choice,
A Close Thunder, A Broken Promise,
Sorrow Is A Lonely Choice,
A Vast Ensemble, Ignoring the Bliss,
Sorrow Is A Lonely Choice,
To Stand Alone, With Moldy Swiss.
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Always, an amazing group of artists.
MaxB
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ALAN FIVEHOUSE dialogue classic, from WHO WEEPS FOR ALAN FIVEHOUSE?
Ignorance is bliss in some circles, Inspector Fivehouse, but if you expect me to believe that ignoring Gugliermo's unruly behavior is anything less, then I'd expect more..."
Barrister Ludmore
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Anzaldiman,I hear there is an ALAN FIVEHOUSE compilation album coming out shortly. More details soon.
MaxB
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