For such a remarkable beginning, Welles had quite a rough career, filled with disagreements, unfinished works, and disappointments. His last performance came in the glorified toy commercial Transformers: The Movie<\/i>, in which he voiced a planet-sized robot, released the same year he died in 1985. <\/span><\/p>\n Whatever the shortcomings of his career, Welles still changed cinema forever as both an actor and a director. A giant of a man, in terms of both size and on-screen persona, he left behind a host of fascinating films. Find here the best Orson Welles movies.<\/span><\/p>\n Even non-cinephiles know Citizen Kane<\/i> as the greatest movie ever made, and that hyperbole still doesn\u2019t capture the achievement of Welles\u2019s film. Co-written by Herman J. Mankiewicz, Citizen Kane<\/i> follows the life and death of Charles Foster Kane, an imperious newspaper magnate with political ambitions brought down by the emptiness within him. Welles has the ideal counterpoint in his frequent co-star Joseph Cotten as reporter Jerry Thompson, tasked with investigating Kane\u2019s life to discern the meaning of his last word, \u201cRosebud.\u201d Cotten\u2019s less-theatrical approach gives Welles space to go big as Kane, an acting achievement almost overshadowed by the film\u2019s stylish direction. Of course<\/em> we also consider it one of the best Orson Welles movies.<\/p>\n English film director Sir Carol Reed may not have the same name recognition as Welles, but the two filmmakers share one quality, having both directed Welles in his best roles. Welles doesn\u2019t appear until late in The Third<\/i> Man<\/i>, which focuses on author Holly Martins (Cotten) looking for information about his friend Harry Lime (Welles), who seems to have disappeared amidst lawless postwar Vienna. When Lime makes his entrance, he does so with style, with flickering shadows and an impish smile. That scene is just one example of the expressionist photography Reed employs throughout the film, capturing the moral morass of this noir classic. <\/span><\/p>\n Of course, any movie that follows Citizen Kane<\/i><\/a> will disappoint on some level. So no one can complain that The Magnificent Ambersons<\/i> from the next year isn\u2019t the greatest movie ever made. It\u2019s just one<\/em> of the greatest movies ever made. That designation deserves attention due to the troubled nature of the production, which ended with RKO Studios excising more than an hour from Welles\u2019s intended cut, giving the movie a happy ending, and driving composer Bernard Herrmann to abandon the film. Despite this meddling, The Magnificent Ambersons<\/i> stands as a monumental piece of cinema, a testament to the mercurial nature of American fortune. <\/span><\/p>\n Touch of Evil<\/i> opens with a tense single-take, tracing the course of an oblivious couple who drives across the U.S.\/Mexico border with a bomb hidden in the vehicle. But the most audacious part of the film comes with Welles\u2019s role as corrupt police captain Hank Quinlan. Forced to work with Mexican officer Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston, believe it or not), Quinlan chomps on cigars and leers at passing women. Welles indulges in every available acting tic to play Quinlin, chewing more scenery than his hammy scene partner, Heston. And yet, the overheated take matches the tone of Touch of Evil<\/i>, a dyspeptic noir about corruption across borders. <\/span><\/p>\n Welles has always integrated into his work the strong contrasts and canted angles of German Expressionism, but never as much as he does in The Trial<\/i>, his adaptation of the novel by Franz Kafka. Welles recreates the absurd bureaucracy that ensnares Josef K. (Anthony Perkins<\/a>) by simplifying his sets to bold blocks of black and grey, constructing labyrinthine structures where the Advocate (Welles) pleads the case of his client. The Trial<\/i> proves to be a marriage of like minds, as Welles understands Kafka\u2019s frustration with modern society and works that anger into every frame of the picture. <\/span><\/p>\n Orson Welles often plays larger-than-life figures in love with their own mythology with more than a little comic energy. So it\u2019s only natural that he would take on the role of Shakespeare\u2019s noble clown Falstaff from Henry IV Part 1<\/i> and Part 2<\/i>. For Chimes at Midnight<\/i>, Welles integrates those plays with several other Shakespeare works, including The Merry Wives of Windsor<\/i>, Henry V<\/i>, and Richard III<\/i>. The remix provides a wider look at Falstaff\u2019s influence on Prince Hal (Keith Baxter), the next King of England. The expanded role allows Welles to find more dignity in Falstaff, making him more than a lout whom Hal must desert on the way to the throne. <\/span><\/p>\n Welles\u2019s unmistakable baritone might be his greatest tool as an actor, which is why The Lady from Shanghai<\/i> puts off viewers in its opening moments. Welles adopts a ridiculous Irish accent to play Mike O\u2019Hara, a seaman hired to look after Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth), the beautiful young wife of rich lawyer Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane). When he falls for Elsa, O\u2019Hara allows himself to be drawn into a murder plot by Bannister\u2019s partner George Grisby (Glenn Anders). Byzantine plot twists follow, made even more dazzling by Welles\u2019s dizzying cinematography. <\/span><\/p>\n When Welles\u2019s character unmasks himself as the titular Mr. Arkadin<\/i> towards the start of the film, the camera pushes into his face and turns on a slight angle, underscoring his bulging eyes. Over the top as it is, the shot serves as a fitting introduction to the character, who seems like an echo of Charles Foster Kane. Arkadin plays a mystery at the center of the movie, a giant of a man who knows nothing about his past and hires petty criminal Guy (Robert Arden) to compile a confidential dossier about him. Mr. Arkadin<\/i> proves why Wlles is the best director of himself, as he limits his own screen time while still dominating every scene. <\/span><\/p>\n The last theatrical work directed by Welles, with the possible exception of the posthumously finished and released The Other Side of the Wind<\/i><\/a>, F for Fake<\/i> defies every definition. Welles appears at the start of the film to declare it a documentary about the famed art forger Everett Sloane. However, Welles leads the reader along endless digressions and reversals, indulging in discussions about the lover of Pablo Picasso and even his own work, including his famous War of the Worlds<\/i> prank. That radio program proves to be the inspiration for F for Fake<\/i>, which may, in the end, be another colossal prank. <\/span><\/p>\n Any conversation about Welles\u2019s Othello<\/i> must acknowledge that Welles cast himself as the titular Moor, and does darken his face and style his hair for the part. Outside of that extreme lapse in taste, Othello<\/i> is an incredible film. Welles’s bold filmmaking ratchets up the tension already present in Shakespeare\u2019s play. Othello<\/i> and Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier) stride across courtyards lined by columns half in shadow. A blade of light illuminates the glare of Iago (Miche\u00e1l Mac Liamm\u00f3ir) as he concocts his evil scheme. Welles throws himself into the tragedy and fire of Shakespeare\u2019s play, matching his thunderous performance with his courageous camera. <\/span><\/p>\n Given his frustration during the production of The Magnificent Ambersons<\/i>, it\u2019s no surprise that he would try something more studio-friendly for his third movie. Based on a story by Victor Trivas and written by Anthony Veiller, The Stranger<\/i> takes place in a small Connecticut town, where fugitive German Franz Kindler (Welles) has made a new life for himself as a respected teacher, Charles Rankin. When war criminal hunter Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) follows Kindler to his new home, he must stay alive long enough to bring Ranking to justice. Welles resented the movie, but there\u2019s no denying the talent he brings even to a half-hearted effort, shooting the climactic bell tower scene with his signature dynamism. <\/span><\/p>\n Director John Huston knows how to make a classic adventure film, so it\u2019s no surprise that he would take on one of the great American adventure tales, Herman Melville\u2019s Moby-Dick<\/i>. Huston and his co-writer Ray Bradbury strip away the symbolic ramblings of Melville\u2019s book, whittling it down to an exciting tale of wandering sailor Ishmael (Richard Basehart) serving on the Pequod under maniacal Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck). However, Huston does retain some of Melville\u2019s mesmerizing language by casting Welles as Father Mapple, preacher at the Whaleman’s Chapel. Welles delivers Mapple\u2019s sermon on Jonah and the Whale with a thundering voice and a Puritan\u2019s scowl, lending the film some of the novel\u2019s spiritual stirring for just a moment. <\/span><\/p>\n After the lukewarm reception to The Lady from Shanghai<\/i>, Republic Pictures did not want to give Welles a large budget, especially not for a Shakespeare adaptation. That limitation can be seen throughout Macbeth<\/i>, not just in the casting choices available to him to the sets he had to use. However, Welles took every opportunity available to make the movie his way, which did allow him and his cast members to use a thick Scottish accent. That push and pull may sound like a recipe for disaster, but somehow, Welles turns in an exciting and fresh take on the great tragedy. <\/span><\/p>\n When his RKO contract expired and he was free to work for other studios, Welles took the opportunity to play Edward Rochester in an adaptation of Charlotte Br\u00f6nte\u2019s Jane Eyre<\/i>, as it would earn money for his own projects. Director Robert Stevenson mounts a handsome version of the novel from a script he wrote with Brave New World<\/i> author Aldous Huxley and Welles\u2019s one-time collaborator John Houseman. Stevenson emphasizes the gothic elements of the tale, which matches Welles\u2019s smoldering take on Rochester\u2019s romance with Joan Fontaine\u2019s Jane. <\/span><\/p>\n Based on the novel by Meyer Levin, itself a fictionalized account of the Leopold and Loeb murders, Compulsion<\/i> stars Dean Stockwell and Bradford Dillman as young men who believe they can commit the perfect crime. Journeyman director Richard Fleischer and Oscar-nominated writer Richard Murphy craft a compelling psychological study, which builds to a trial in which Welles plays a Clarence Darrow-style defense attorney. Welles\u2019s take threatens to break the reality of Fliescher\u2019s otherwise sober film, but it sells the power of his character\u2019s argument. <\/span><\/p>\n Welles is not the sole big name in Is Paris Burning?<\/i> the French historical epic directed by Ren\u00e9 Cl\u00e9ment. He joins a cast that includes Americans Kirk Douglas and Glenn Ford as well as international stars such as Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, and Ernst Fritz. Welles plays Swede Raoul Nordling, a relatively small role even within such a stuffed cast. As always, Welles does as much as possible with his part, adding a level of theatricality to the sometimes self-important proceedings. <\/span><\/p>\n The Muppet Movie<\/i> may be the perfect cinematic adaptation of a beloved television series. It tells how the misfits of The Muppet Show<\/i> came together and uses celebrity cameos in place of the guest host conceit of the TV show. As a tale about the love of showbiz and Hollywood success, The Muppet Movie<\/i> wears its optimism on its sleeve, which makes Welles the perfect choice to play Lew Lord, the studio head who finally awards Kermit and his gang with \u201ca standard rich and famous contract.\u201d It’s not just one of the best Orson Welles movies; it’s one of the greatest movies ever made about Hollywood dreams.<\/p>\n Welles left numerous projects uncompleted throughout his life, including The Other Side of the Wind<\/i>, which he first imagined as his Hollywood comeback. Welles shot over 100 hours of footage and left behind notes about their assembly, but the film remained unfinished until 2018, when Peter Bogdanovich and Frank Marshall edited a version for Netflix. If the thought of a brand new Orson Welles movie in 2018 sounds too good to be true, that\u2019s because it is. The completed version of The Other Side of the Wind<\/i> feels like an even less focused version of F for Fake<\/i>, far too rambling to be a satisfying satire of Old Hollywood, New Hollywood, or anything else. <\/span><\/p>\n Based on the novel by Samuel Shellabarger, Prince of Foxes<\/i> stars Tyrone Power as Andrea Orsini, a soldier in the service of imperious Prince Cesare Borgia (Welles). The movie might strike modern viewers as stodgy and slow, but Welles clearly enjoys playing a larger-than-life baddie. The movie also worked for Oscar voters, who recognized the film for Best Black and White Cinematography and Best Costume Design, Black and White in the 1950 Academy Awards. <\/span><\/p>\n Welles did not direct any of the four segments in the anthology film Ro.Po.Pa.G.<\/i>, but no one would complain about the omission. After all, even he has to respect the four filmmakers involved, Jean-Luc Godard, Ugo Gregoretti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Roberto Rossellini. Furthermore, Welles at least plays a director, appearing in Pasolini\u2019s section La ricotta. <\/i>A religious and social satire in keeping with the Italian filmmaker\u2019s most famous work, La ricotta<\/i> documents the struggle of an impoverished actor in a biblical movie. Welles\u2019s arrogant and disaffected director captures Pasolin\u2019s anger at the world\u2019s support of his country\u2019s ruling elite. <\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Philip Saville, the 1968 production of Oedipus the King<\/i> shares Welles\u2019s artistic spirit. Saville works from a direct translation of the Greek original and filmed the movie on location in Greece. Despite these nods towards authenticity, Saville\u2019s Oedipus<\/i> has a stagey, theatrical feel, which suits Welles just fine. He appears as the seer Tiresias, decked in a massive cloak and scruffy silver beard. Welles bogs out his eyes and adds vibrato to his voice as Tiresias tells Oedipus (Christopher Plummer) about his fate, giving the prophecy its proper weight. <\/span><\/p>\n Welles can sometimes go big in performance to the point of absurdity, making him an excellent pick for the film version of Joseph Heller\u2019s Catch-22<\/i>. Director Mike Nichols and writer Buck Henry have a rebellious spirit that seems like an odd match for the more classical Welles, but he makes a meal of his scene as Brigadier General Dreedle. However, the division serves the film, as Dreedle has no patience for the knuckleheads under his command. It\u2019s not enough to prevent Nichols\u2019s ambling version from muting the satire of the source material, but good for a few chuckles. <\/span><\/p>\n Joseph Cotten is Welles\u2019s most important co-star, if not his most important collaborator. A conventional leading man, Cotten made space on the screen for Welles to go as big as possible. So when Cotten wanted to star in a screenplay of his own, adapted from the novel by Eric Ambler, Welles lent both his assistance in revisions and played a bit part as Turkish officer Colonel Haki. Cotten\u2019s authorial voice matches his screen presence, as Journey Into Fear<\/i> is a functional, if unmemorable, thriller. But the movie never matches the excitement of Welles\u2019s appearances on screen. <\/span><\/p>\n As a producer, Steven Paul has his name on Baby Geniuses<\/i>, Ghost Rider<\/i>, and other famously bad movies. As a director, he helmed Slapstick of Another Kind<\/i>, a misguided adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut\u2019s most vulnerable novel. Jerry Lewis and Madeline Khan play Wilbur and Alicia Swain, twins who enjoy the perfect intimacy of a shared mind. Vonnegut uses that bizarre premise as a study of the need for community, a concept that falls far beyond the movie\u2019s reach. However, Paul does manage to make Slapstick<\/i> into an unsettling film in its own right, as when Welles lends his voice to the Beaver, the all-powerful alien who brought the twins into being. <\/span><\/p>\n1. Citizen Kane (1941)<\/h2>\n
![\"Citizen](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Citizen-Kane-1941-Image-Credit_-RKO-Radio-Pictures.jpg\" "\\"The")
2. The Third Man (1949)<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Third-Man-1949-Image-Credit_-British-Lion-Film-Corporation-1.jpg\" "\\"The")
3. The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) <\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Magnificent-Ambersons-1942.jpg\" "\\"The")
4. Touch of Evil (1958)<\/h2>\n
![\"Touch](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/A-Touch-of-Evil-1958-Image-Credit_-Universal-International-1.jpg\" "\\"The")
5. The Trial (1962)<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Trial-1962-Astor-Pictures-Corporation.jpg\" "\\"The")
6. Chimes at Midnight (1965)<\/h2>\n
![\"Chimes](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Chimes-at-Midnight-1965-Image-Credit_-Peppercorn-Wormser-Film-Enterprises-United-States.jpg\" "\\"The")
7. The Lady from Shanghai (1947)<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Lady-from-Shanghai-1947-Image-Credit_-Columbia-Pictures.jpg\" "\\"The")
8. Mr. Arkadin (1955)<\/h2>\n
![\"Mr.](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Mr.-Arkad1955-Image-Credit_-Warner-Bros.jpg\" "\\"The")
9. F for Fake (1973)<\/h2>\n
![\"F](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/F-is-for-Fake-1973-Image-Credit_-Planfilm-Specialty-Films.jpg\" "\\"The")
10. Othello (1951)<\/h2>\n
![\"Othello](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Othello-1951-Image-Credit_-Marceau-Films_United-Artists.jpg\" "\\"The")
11. The Stranger (1946)<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Stranger-1946-Image-Credit_-RKO-Radio-Pictures-1.jpg\" "\\"The")
12. Moby Dick (1956)<\/h2>\n
![\"Moby](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Moby-Dick-1956-Image-Credit_Warner-Bros.jpg\" "\\"The")
13. Macbeth (1948)<\/h2>\n
![\"Macbeth](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/MacBeth-1948-Image-Credit_-Republic-Pictures.jpg\" "\\"The")
14. Jane Eyre (1943)<\/h2>\n
![\"Jane](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Jane-Eyre-1943-Image-Credit_-20th-Century-Fox.jpg\" "\\"The")
15. Compulsion (1959)<\/h2>\n
![\"Compulsion](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Compulsion-1959-Image-Credit_-20th-Century-Fox.jpg\" "\\"The")
16. Is Paris Burning? (1966)<\/h2>\n
![\"Is](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Is-Paris-Burning-1966-Image-Credit_-Paramount-Pictures.jpg\" "\\"The")
17. The Muppet Movie (1979)<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Muppet-Movie-1979-Image-Credit_-Associated-Film-Distribution.jpg\" "\\"The")
18. The Other Side of the Wind (2018)<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/The-Other-Side-of-the-Wind-2018-Image-Credit_-Netflix.jpg\" "\\"The")
19. Prince of Foxes (1949) <\/h2>\n
![\"Prince](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Prince-of-Foxes-1949-Image-Credit_-20th-Century-Fox.jpg\" "\\"The")
20. Ro.Po.Pa.G. (1949)<\/h2>\n
![\"Ro.Go.Pa.G.](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/la-ricotta-resize.jpg\" "\\"The")
21. Oedipus the King (1968)<\/h2>\n
![\"Oedipus](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Oedipus-the-King-1968-Image-Credit_-Rank-Film-Distributors.jpg\" "\\"The"){kind=icon}
22. Catch-22 (1970)<\/h2>\n
![\"Catch-22](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Catch-22-1970-Image-Credit_-Paramount-Pictures.jpg\" "\\"The")
23. Journey Into Fear (1943)<\/h2>\n
![\"Journey](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Journey-into-Fear-1943.jpg\" "\\"The")
24. Slapstick of Another Kind (1982)<\/h2>\n
![\"Slapstick](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Slapstick-of-Another-Kind-1982-Image-Credit_-International-Film-Marketing.jpg\" "\\"The")
25. Casino Royale (1967)<\/h2>\n
![\"Casino](\"https:\/\/wealthofgeeks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Casino-Royale-1967-Image-Credit_-Columbia-Pictures.jpg\" "\\"The")