Orson Welles is considered by many to be one of the greatest actors and directors to ever live. His work constitutes some of the most influential films ever created, and Citizen Kane is still touted as the single greatest piece of cinematic work ever threaded through a projector. Even decades after his passing, Welles is one of the pillars of cinema, and there's no denying that his work changed how everyone looks at film.
He was also an angry, bitter man - Welles was an insanely difficult man to work with, and not just because of his perfectionist style. Other people were seemingly beneath Welles, and while the man is responsible for a truly remarkable body of work, there are a number of occasions in which Welles didn't quite live up to the stature of his art.
This is most evident towards the end of his career, where Welles he became a commercial spokesman for products well beneath his talent. One of the most infamous is a commercial for Paul Masson wine. You can tell something was wrong when Welles began the first take by just staring into the abyss:
Yes, it's tragic to see someone who was once thought of as a true visionary in the film industry reduced to talking about a Californian wine.
But it's also comedy gold.
The first take can be chalked up to a mere misunderstanding. Welles missed his mark, and that's that. During the second take, however, Welles sounds drunk. He's not just a little tipsy, either. Where Welles was once known for reciting Shakespeare, here he just shouts "Ma-huaghh The French!" into the camera, as stunned extras just look on.
Finally, the third take is absolutely perfect: Welles is seemingly pushing back against the director: his speech is still slurred, that much is obvious, but Welles' delivery is so intentionally terrible that it's hard not to laugh. Welles dead-eyed stare into the middle distance is comedic perfection - and while it's still a little disappointing to see someone like Welles fall from grace, anyone who says they didn't laugh is lying.
It's clear that this isn't the Orson Welles that created films like The Third Man and Citizen Kane - this is a man who was once on top of the world realizing that he's filming a commercial for table wine, and wants to make the experience as painful as possible for everyone around him.
Also, considering its his 100th birthday, we'd be remiss if we didn't include one of Welles' best roles: Unicron, from the Transformers animated film.
Happy birthday, Mr. Welles!
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