Orson Welles

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q24829: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Citizen Kane (1941); The Magnificent Ambersons (1942); Macbeth (2015); The Other Side of the Wind (2018); Chimes at Midnight; F for Fake; Mr. Arkadin; The Trial. Count them as writer (1 film), actor (5 films) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Herman Mankiewicz: 1 line

  1. unmapped (adapting lived experience) · through Citizen Kane (1941), which they directed: Herman Mankiewicz ⇒ Citizen Kane (the host's read). Sean says Citizen Kane is Welles adapting an experience Herman Mankiewicz had inside the Hearst circle.
    “so in a way, this is him adapting an experience that Herman Mankowitz had”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:41:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

William Randolph Hearst: 1 line

  1. unmapped (subject) · through Citizen Kane (1941), which they directed: William Randolph Hearst ⇒ Citizen Kane (the host's read). Mankiewicz's script was a thinly veiled attack on his friend Hearst.
    “I'm going to make fun of my my pal, Jordan, you know, William Randall first.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:39:21 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Mank (2020): 2 lines

  1. lineage (visual influence) · through Citizen Kane (1941), which they directed: Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: David's interview with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt). Messerschmidt told the interviewer he wanted low, deep-focus photography evoking Citizen Kane, not noir.
    “He's like, no, I want to do it low to the ground, lots of deep focus, evoking citizen Kane.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 1:13:08 · David Sims (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (subject / source) · through Citizen Kane (1941), which they directed: Citizen Kane ⇒ Mank (the host's read). Mank is partly inspired by Pauline Kael's essay on who truly authored Citizen Kane.
    “it's in part inspired by that very famous Pauline Kale, story raising Kane, about the true authorship of Citizen Kane”
    The Big Picture · Emergency Mailbag: The Oscars Are Streaming and Hollywood Is Fighting Over Trolls | The Big Picture · 0:58:09 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)

Oh Father (Madonna video): 1 line

  1. unmapped (tribute) · through Citizen Kane (1941), which they directed: Citizen Kane ⇒ Oh Father (Madonna video) (the host's read). Oh Father is called Fincher's first Citizen Kane tribute.
    “This was his 1st Citizen Kane tribute.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · David Fincher Music Videos · 1:17:07 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001): 1 line

  1. lineage (influence) · through The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), which they directed: The Magnificent Ambersons ⇒ The Royal Tenenbaums (the host's read). Named as a huge influence; rewatching Ambersons shows how much of it is in Tenenbaums.
    “it's wild how much, uh, ten bombs or how much Amberson's is in ten bombs.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ With Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald · 1:16:15 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (13) everyone in directing

Other (6) everyone in other

Acting (5) everyone in acting

Writing (2) everyone in writing

What was said about them, by kind

contrast (1)

  1. contrast (contrast): Quentin Tarantino → Orson Welles. After the debut he was compared to Welles, but unlike Welles he topped it with Pulp Fiction.
    “The the person, the number one person that he was compared to after this came out was Orson Wells.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Reservoir Dogs’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 1:26:45 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

people (1)

  1. people (people): Compulsion → Orson Welles. Welles arrives with 30 minutes left and dominates the courtroom.
    “he just dominates for the final 30 minutes in a courtroom”
    The Big Picture · Objection! Top 10 Courtroom Dramas | The Big Picture · 1:33:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)

programming (3)

  1. programming (programming): Orson Welles → Anthony Perkins. If Welles wins they would add some Perkins (The Trial).
    “God, if Wells wins, we'd do some Perkins too.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:06:16 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. programming (programming): Preston Sturges → Orson Welles. Sturges, a 7 seed, was placed against Welles, a tough draw.
    “Now we had him against Wells.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:18:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. programming (programming): Orson Welles → Powell and Pressburger. The closest round was Welles vs Powell and Pressburger; the speaker thinks Blank Check should add the Archers eventually.
    “I do think that we should add the archers to the pile of blank shack should just do them eventually.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:24:33 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

verdict (3)

  1. verdict (verdict): Orson Welles → Terrence Malick. Welles beat Malick.
    “Wells beat Malik.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:52:25 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. verdict (verdict): Orson Welles → Chimes at Midnight. Chimes at Midnight is a movie one speaker adores.
    “a Shakespeare nerd is a movie I adore.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:53:47 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. verdict (verdict): Orson Welles → David Lean. The speaker knew Welles would likely beat either Lean or Hitchcock, but wanted Lean to advance.
    “I knew Wells would probably beat either of those guys, but I was kind of like, would be pretty cool.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:11:14 · David Sims (0.60 sure it was them)

what-if (3)

  1. what-if (what-if): Orson Welles → Dune. Welles was considered for the Baron; Divine too but had health issues.
    “Orson Wells, obviously, is considered for the Baron.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:47:10 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if): Orson Welles → Heart of Darkness (Welles, unmade). Welles was going to do Heart of Darkness instead of Kane.
    “he was going to do Hearts of Darkness, Heart of Darkness, instead of Kane”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:41:24 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
  3. what-if (what-if): Orson Welles → Mel Brooks. A Brooks win over Welles in the final four could make Brooks a champion.
    “I feel like if if Mel beats Orson... Then he can be Cooper.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2022 MARCH MADNESS UPDATE 2 PRESENTED BY THE CHIP REPORT · 0:28:39 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Orson Welles: Welles climbed weight classes over the years, called the huskiest director who ever lived at his peak.
    “he is perhaps the huskiest director who ever lived.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:53:02 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)