The last unfinished film of Orson Welles was an object of fascination and rumor for thirty years after his death, way more than any other project Orson ever did. In fact, it wasn't even his last unfinished film, but the other ones are hardly ever mentioned, such as 'The Dreamers' or 'Merchant of Venice'. Then there is a sixty year trek with 'Don Quixote', muddied even further by a nine part Italian television series about Spain that he shot and edited as part of the effort to raise funding. Footage from the television series was mixed in with actual film footage for the misguided Jess Franco 1992 version of the film, looking like a bad VHS duplicate.
Among the rumors that I heard were that the film was taken away by the Iranian government after the fall of the Shah and that Welles' cinematographer was really a well-known porn director. 'They'll Love Me When I'm Dead' proves that both those assertations were true, giving you a glimpse of just how strange things could be in the Wellesian universe. Watching footage of the X-rated film '3 AM', edited by Welles himself, helping to finish it so his loyal cinematographer Gary Graver could be free to come out to play, is perhaps the apex of surreality in that excellent documentary. Almost all the truth behind Orson's legacy is explored. Almost.
The Elephant in the room that is not discussed is the ongoing feud between the two women in Welles' legacy, Oja Kodar and Beatrice Welles. Kodar was Orson's companion and muse for the last few decades of his life, while Beatrice is his daughter. They both have legal rights to the scattered remains of Welles' property, but both come at it from different sides. Too often, Gary Graver was stuck in the middle.
Graver all but gave up fifteen years of his life to dedicate himself to the whims of Welles, never paid but always on call. He considered it a privilege, but footage of his wife in the documentary suggests that she had other thoughts on the subject. For instance, Welles gave Graver his Oscar after it was used as a prop in 'The Other Side of the Wind'. In the 1990s, after paying for film storage out of his own pocket for decades, he sold the statue, only to have Beatrice sue Sotheby's to get it back. So much for his dedication and hard work.
"They'll Love Me When I'm Dead' does give due to Graver finally. That's the good news, as he worked tirelessly on not only 'The Other Side of the Wind' but also 'F For Fake', where he is prominently displayed in the trailer, and all other projects from Welles' late life, finished or not. However, the other collaborator, Oja Kodar, while constantly on the screen, is not really interviewed. What interviews are included make her sound like she can barely speak English.
Curious, as there is a 1995 documentary, 'Orson Welles; One Man Band', where she is perfectly audible, as is she on a commentary that she did with Gary Graver in 2005 for 'F For Fake'. Graver did his own documentary about working with Orson, even though it looks like an off-line edit. Padded out with a few trailers, including a twelve minute one for 'F For Fake' which I believe is three minutes longer than the one usually seen, and the trailer for Oja Kodar's film 'Jaded', created to try and raise money to finish 'The Other Side of the Wind'. I'd dearly love to see it, just to see how much influence she had on Welles' later work, it's obviously a labor of love. Graver is the real hero of this story, and he does get his due.
What does this all mean? If I can speculate a little, the guess would be that no version of 'The Other Side of the Wind' could be made without appeasing Beatrice Welles. I don't blame her; upon her father's death, she was probably left nothing but credit card bills. Trying to reclaim a portion of his heritage is fine, but it has been reported that she has been more of a hinderance than a help, particularly in the restoration of 'Touch of Evil'. 'They'll Love Me When I'm Dead' seems to be the Beatrice version of the story. Obviously, there's more than one version of events.
Poor Peter Bogdanovich seems to really be stuck in the middle of all this, appearing in all three documentaries, even if he sometimes appears reluctant. Bogdanovich is the direct link between the French post war critics and the New Hollywood, being among the first writers in America to go out to Hollywood and interview aging directors such as John Ford and Howard Hawks. He tried writing a book with Welles but after three years decided to get into the film business instead. Starting at the bottom as an assistant to Roger Corman, his first project was a biker picture, as amusing choice for such an academian.
When given the chance by Corman to actually direct, Bogdanovich made a minor masterpiece, the haunting 'Targets'. This film completely re-imagines the horror movie better than anything else I've ever seen. Starring Boris Karloff in his most unusual role as an aging horror movie star, it focuses mostly on a young man who, for no apparent reason, starts killing people. Closely based on the Texas Tower Shooter, the film ends with a confrontation in an outdoor movie theater. Strangely, so does 'The Other Side of the Wind'. I wonder if there was a link.
Unfortunately, due to the huge amount of public violence and unrest in 1968, 'Targets', although purchased outright by MGM from Corman, barely got a release, deemed too controversial. With 'The Last Picture Show', Peter had a genuine hit, following it up with a few more, all affectionate backward glances at America. During this period, he split with his wife Polly Platt, who in hind sight might have been his secret weapon, hooking up with starlet Cybil Shepard. It appeared as if Bogdanovich had gone Hollywood.
A string of flops followed, and by 1976 Peter was no longer on the A list of directors, a career trajectory similar to good friend Welles. Like Orson and John Huston, he also did a great deal of acting, and continued his academic career as well. He's a good director, and later work like 'The Cat's Meow' and 'Running Down a Dream,' the Tom Petty biography, were well done. His latest piece is a biography of Buster Keaton, done last year.
Bogdanovich also seemed to be one of the longest lasting people involved in 'The Other Side of the Wind'. He started acting the part of a film critic but changed parts when Rich Little (!!!) dropped out of a major role. It's obvious that the role was based on him, just like John Huston's role was also autobiographical. This film was meta before the word was even invented.
Bogdanovich stuck with Orson as things started to fall apart. Much of the later filming was done at his house after Welles crashed in the spare room for what seemed like years, much to the displeasure of Cybil Shepard, as voiced in 'They'll Love Me When I'm Dead'. After Peter's career nose dived, there's a horrible clip of Welles being catty about it with Burt Reynolds on a talk show. The story Bogdanovich tells about the letters he received form Orson says a lot about their relationship.
By sheer attrition. Peter is also the one who helps finish 'The Other Side of the Wind'. Welles is long dead, Graver also, and Oja Kodar, despite co-writing the script and appearing often naked in the film, seems a distant participation. Again, I'm guessing that Beatrice Welles had something to do with these facts. Bogdanovich did a great job, probably having nearly as much knowledge of Orson's concept as anybody, as well as a little clout left in Hollywood.
It must have been traumatic for Peter, as the relationship between him and Orson went way sour, even during the filming. In fact, it's one of the plot points of the film, so it would have been hard to ignore. Then again, any relationship with Welles was going to turn out bad in the end, except with Oja, who stuck it out past the end. She has recently won custody of some raw footage to 'Don Quixote'. The drama of Welles' life may not yet be over.
Being Welles' offspring was no picnic, either. Just ask any of his three daughters, one by each of his three wives. He treated them exactly like he treated his various helpers, with emotional distance except when they were needed. A classic absentee father, Rebecca, the middle one, fared worse, having an emotionally unreliable mother as well, Rita Hayward. Things didn't turn out to good for her, although she managed to keep things private most of the time.
The most revealing line in the movie comes from Beatrice Welles, the one daughter who was willing to wade into the mess and exert her rights. When Gary Graver's wife says that her husband was treated like a son, Beatrice comes back with a rejoinder. Her father had no parental instinct, she says, and she would know. The way Welles treated Gary, it's hard to argue with her. Yet she's the one fighting to both preserve her father's legacy and shape it to her own vision.
In short, my only complaint against the hugely informative and enjoyable 'They'll Love Me When I'm Dead' is that it really comes off at the end cancelling out everybody's opinions but hers. Maybe that's what was needed to get the thing done. Notice, for instance, the completely different way that Frank Marshall come off, an absolute unknow when joining 'The Other Side of the Wind's' production, eventually marrying Kathleen Kennedy and becoming one half of the ultimate power couple in Hollywood. Good for him; he currently has nine films in pre-production on IMDB alone. Yet in the Graver documentary, it's all about his bumbling mistakes and bad treatment. This is noticeable absent from the more recent documentary.
Peeking behind the scenes, the real reason that 'The Other Side of the Wind' finally got finished was ultimately because of Frank Marshall's clout. This guy knows everybody in Hollywood, and if he wants it done, they'll do it just to get on his good side. Frank Marshall regularly produces blockbusters, the exact opposite of both Orson Welles and the plot of 'The Other Side of the Wind'. But he had the good taste and judgement to get this long-doomed mess finally put to rest. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.
Without the nurturing of someone like Frank, it will be difficult for Oja Kodar to get 'Don Quixote' put together. Same with all the other unfinished Welles projects. This one got lucky, and a big shot from Hollywood coming back to repaid a debt. Despite what 'They'll Love Me When I'm Done' shows, the movie wasn't nearly as finished as Orson let on.
There's yet another documentary about this entire troubled production, also done in 2018. At first glance it seems like one of those typically geeky 'behind the scenes' pieces that focuses on all the technical aspects, which indeed it does. But again, if you read between the lines, you start to realize that, despite the segments of the film that were finished and frequently shown, even during Orson's life, there were a lot of gaps missing. As usual for a Welles film, the audio was a complete mess. Same thing happened to 'Othello' and 'Mr. Arkadin' and a few others. It's the reason why both 'The Deep' and 'The Merchant of Venice' are considered unfinished. While a great innovator in the use of audio, something Orson learned from radio, he had a hard time looping his films, often shot silently.
On top of fixing the audio, which including bringing in actor Danny Huston to dub his father John's voice, there were crucial scenes missing, like the shooting of the dummies near the climax. In other words, they separated all the material about the limitations of 'The Other Side of the Wind' to a separate documentary. It makes it seem like the film was really finished, which it wasn't. Typically, raw material was scattered around the world.
Welles was a genius in cinema, but he wasn't tidy. He left multiple messes, and now others are trying to clean them up. Gary Graver and Oja Kodar did just that for thirty years, and they have been pushed aside, as was Jess Franco for his terrible attempt at putting some version of 'Don Quixote' together back in 1992. Like the Jimi Hendrix estate, there is now a rich sponsor supporting the family to rebuild the legacy. With Jimi it was Paul Allen. With Orson, it's Frank Marshall.
I should be grateful, and I am - cautiously. But I don't want to forget about those X-rated films either. They give Orson's life a certain funk that smells more like the truth. Don't make it too tidy. That's not what true genius is about. And at the end of the day, Orson Welles was a true genius, even when he was an absolute mess. That's what makes his so special, and the ultimate Auteur.
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