Othello

Stars: Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, The Third Man, Macbeth, A Man For All Seasons), Suzanne Cloutier, Michael MacLiammoir. While the critics have dutifully lined up and pointed their thumbs heavenward over the rediscovery of Orson Welles lost "masterpiece," the hype is more than the finished project can bear. Best Picture winner at the 1952 Cannes film festival, Welles' Othello had a limited run in the U.S. and then disappeared. Thought lost, a negative in good condition was rediscovered, and reconstructive work amounting to a million dollar's worth was used to restore the picture and clean up the damaged audio track. The results are technically impressive...yet, the voices don't quite synchronize with the actors' lips, and we are dealing with some fairly rapidly delivered Shakespearean English here. Welles, never a great actor, is not particularly good here as the title character of the Moor (played in blackface--as did Olivier and Anthony Hopkins; interestingly the only black Othello on video is William Maxwell's in Kultur's Othello). Married to Desdemona (Cloutier), a white Venetian, the controversy over the mixed marriage is interrupted by the invasion of Cyprus, and Othello is posted thither. Overlooked for promotion, a soldier named Iago (MacLiammoir), decides to "poison" Othello's mind by suggesting that his wife is having an affair with another soldier. MacLiammoir is not terribly good as Iago (recently both Bob Hoskins and Ron Moody have done the role much better), and the first half of Othello virtually hinges on Iago's growing malignity. What saves Welles' version, however, is a strong second half buttressed by creative camerawork (Welles' staging of Desdemona's death is second to none on the silver screen). Not in a class with Citizen Kane by any means, but worth a look. Audience: If you have a strong classics collection, you'll want to add this. Film buffs will surely want to see. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Oct. 3, 2017—Criterion, 2 discs, 93 min., not rated, DVD: $39.95, Blu-ray: $49.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1952's Othello sports an excellent transfer and an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include a 1995 audio commentary by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and Orson Welles scholar Myron Meisel, Welles's 1979 last completed film essay documentary “Filming Othello” (83 min.), the 1995 documentary “Souvenirs d'‘Othello'” on costar Suzanne Cloutier (49 min.), a 2014 interview with scholar Joseph McBride (33 min.), the 1953 short film “Return to Glennascaul” by costars Micheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards (28 min.), interviews with Welles biographer Simon Callow (22 min.), author Ayanna Thompson (22 min.), and scholar Francois Thomas (19 min.), and a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Geoffrey O'Brien. Bottom line: a handsome edition of Welles's adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play.]