Woodstock Theatre to feature Orson Welles' films
The Woodstock Theatre, in cooperation with Woodstock Celebrates, will present the Welles Film Festival May 16-18. The three-day festival will celebrate Welles' multifaceted career by featuring four of his films from the 1940s.
The film festival will feature "Macbeth," "Lady From Shanghai," "The Stranger" and "Citizen Kane" at the Woodstock Theatre, 209 Main St., Woodstock. Tickets are $5 for each movie.
"Macbeth" will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, May 16. Filmed in just 23 days, the movie features Welles' moody, atmospheric take on Shakespeare's dark tale.
The film festival resumes at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 17, with "Lady From Shanghai," which stars Welles, Rita Hayworth and Everett Sloan. The classic film noir features Welles as an Irish seaman entranced by a mysterious and unhappily married beauty.
"The Stranger" will be shown at 7 p.m. Saturday. The film stars Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young and Welles, who also directed the feature. The post-World War II thriller is about a hunt for a Nazi war criminal and was the most financially successful film of Welles' career.
The festival closes with a screening of "Citizen Kane" at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 18. Directed, cowritten and produced by the 25-year-old Welles, the movie is often considered by critics, filmmakers and fans to be the greatest film ever made.
The movie was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and won an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles.
The film festival is one of several Woodstock Celebrates events that will be held in honor of Welles' career as an actor, writer and director and to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Todd Theatre Festival at the Woodstock Opera House, where Welles began his career as a theater director.
The year 2014 also marks the 80th anniversary of Welles' first film, "Hearts of Age," an 8-minute short filmed in Woodstock that jump-started his successful career.
Woodstock Celebrates will also feature a host of guest speakers who will discuss Welles' life, career and body of work; a performance of Welles' radio scripts and a photo and multimedia tribute to the legendary filmmaker.
Orson Welles was an Academy Award-winning actor, producer, writer and director who was best known for the movie "Citizen Kane" and the radio adaptation of "The War of the Worlds." Welles attended the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock where he accredited the beginning of his career when he directed his first play.
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