THE LIFE OF ORSON WELLES With a single feature film, the first one he ever made, Orson Welles changed the way motion pictures were made. The picture he made was Citizen Kane, universally called the greatest film ever made, and despite its critical success, it was a commercial failure. Because of it, the cinema was changed forever, but its creator was practically finished. It is a cruel joke that filmmakers, producers, and famous actors all …showed first 75 words of 1469 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1469 total…down the street to the Venice Theatre and threw a spectacular improvised performance of it in the aisles. Soon after Welles resigned from the project, and after his departure Houseman was fired. Welles and Houseman went on to form a new repertory company called the Mercury Theatre, which according to James Naremore was lifted "from a copy of Mercury magazine lying in a corner of an empty fireplace at Welles's home." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**