Orson Welles as Shakespeare's Falstaff: "Chimes at Midnight" (1965)

This is a fan trailer and a scene from "Chimes at Midnight", a film that represents the pinnacle of the near-lifelong quest Orson Welles had to bring portions of three of Shakespeare's plays ("Richard II", Henry IV, Parts One and Two) and one comedy, "The Merry Wives of Windsor", together into a seamless production.
In the late 1930's, while still only in his twenties, Welles mounted a Broadway production of the same material called "Five Kings". It reportedly was a three or four hour affair in the theater and was not as popular with the critics as his first foray into Shakespeare work, 1938's adaptation of "Macbeth", the so-called "Voodoo Macbeth" that was set in Haiti and featured an all-African-American cast. He also directed a New York production of "Julius Caesar" with his Mercury Theatre players--set in a then modern state not unlike contemporary Nazi Germany.

Ten years later Welles did a more traditional version of "Macbeth" on the screen. Unfortunately his luster had faded in Hollywood as a director after his brief triumph with "Citizen Kane". "Macbeth" was shot as a low-budget effort, shot in just three weeks at one of Hollywood's "Poverty Row" studios, Republic Pictures. That film owes something to German Expressionism and the Russian master director Sergi Eisenstein, influences you can still see in "Chimes" . Welles wisely cast himself as the Scottish King.

Budget problems also plagued "Chimes of Midnight" (released as "Falstaff" in the United States during a brief run). Shot in Spain in 1964, the film was made for a million dollars and financing was very iffy at critical times of production.
Due to cost concerns, the major actors Welles rounded up (Sir John Gielgud, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford) were only available for a few days. For the Battle of Shrews-bury, a epic battle of "chivalry" that deteriorates into a gripping and mud-strewn melee, Welles never had more than 150 extras to carry a nine-minute battle scene that begins with the chivalrous knights and flags flying--the romantic facade of The War of the Roses which will inevitably end as the muddy, bloody and senseless slaughter of fellow countrymen. .


But the true colors of Welles' (and Shakespeare's) greatness lives in scenes like this next one--the witty reprobate and glutton Sir John Falstaff (Welles) having fun playing king with his "protege", the young Prince Hal. This scene--from Act Two of "Henry IV, Part One" foreshadows the break between the young wastrel prince--who is already becoming a cunning player for power after his father dies--and the cheerful down-to-earth older man Hal will cast away later on.

"Chimes At Midnight" is a hard film to track down. I've only been able to locate a so-so VHS version of the film that was probably a bootleg. Due to legal problems, the film is not available in the United States, but is featured in segments on You Tube and there is a DVD version available from Brazil (!) Sadly, Welles film suffered from poor sound quality from the necessity of using a mediocre laboratory and inferior equipment. Even in a rough state that it will likely always be seen in, this is, however a great film. Welles himself said this was the film he thought "might just get him into Heaven."