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 other. The films the hosts said they were tied to, which the two lists below run through too: The General (1926); Dune (1984); Lady in the Water (2006); Mank (2020); Heart of Darkness (Welles, unmade). Count them as director (8 films), 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.

Citizen Kane (1941): 2 lines

  1. lineage (visual influence) · through Mank (2020), which they were tied to as subject of Mank: 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 Mank (2020), which they were tied to as subject of Mank: 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)

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977): 2 lines

  1. programming (programming) · through Dune (1984), which they were tied to as considered Baron: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Dune (the host's read). Dune was positioned and released as the studio's answer to Star Wars, the next big space epic.
    “Uh, this movie is released with the energy of, here you go, here's the new Star Wars.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 0:22:17 · John Hodgman (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (tentpole hope) · through Dune (1984), which they were tied to as considered Baron: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope ⇒ Dune (the host's read). Dune was meant to be the new Star Wars franchise, Lynch writing the sequel, coloring books on shelves.
    “I thought it was going to be the Star Wars.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:18:09 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Jack Fincher: 1 line

  1. lineage (script origin) · through Mank (2020), which they were tied to as subject of Mank: Jack Fincher ⇒ Mank (the maker said so: Fincher's own account as read from the dossier (outlet not named)). Fincher's father wrote the original Mank script, which David set aside until years later.
    “I'm handed this script that my dad wrote about all powerful directors ruining storytelling”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:48:09 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

The Lost Weekend (1945): 1 line

  1. craft (visual echo) · through Mank (2020), which they were tied to as subject of Mank: The Lost Weekend ⇒ Mank (the host's read). The election-night drunk sequence in Mank is called self-consciously reminiscent of The Lost Weekend.
    “almost self-consciously reminiscent of the last the lost weekend”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Mank with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 2:03:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

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

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977): 2 lines

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Dune (1984), which they were tied to as considered Baron: Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read). The Dune book's messaging is credited as one of the things that inspired Star Wars.
    “And not only that, the messaging of this is one of the things that inspired Star Wars.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 0:22:22 · John Hodgman (0.70 sure it was them)
  2. theme (theme) · through Dune (1984), which they were tied to as considered Baron: Dune ⇒ Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (the host's read). Dune's Fremen/revolution material is the denser source that Star Wars abstracts; the Force is Dune without the drugs.
    “the Force in Star Wars is like doom without the drugs.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:17:01 · David Sims (0.30 sure it was them)

David Lowery: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Dune (1984), which they were tied to as considered Baron: Dune ⇒ David Lowery (the maker said so: David Lowery's episode later in the series). A later series guest, David Lowery, called Dune a very big film for him as a child.
    “we have an episode coming later in the series with David Lowry, who talked about Dune being a very big film for him”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:33:25 · unknown (0.40 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)