George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaption of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), the most famous broadcast in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), which many critics and scholars name as the best film of all time.
After directing a number of high-profile theatrical productions in his early twenties, including an innovative adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock, Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was occurring. Although these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to instant notoriety.
Martha Gellhorn: Past five minutes, I've watched you. I've watched you type pages and let them float into the wastebasket.::Ernest Hemingway: Never crumple pages. Always let them float gently into the basket.::Ernest Hemingway: Any writer who rips out his stuff and crumples it will go insane in a year, guaranteed.
Ernest Hemingway: Writing's like mass. God gets mad if you don't show up.
Ernest Hemingway: Hey, no snooping.::Martha Gellhorn: Come on, muses always snoop.
Ernest Hemingway: Done by noon... drunk by 3:00. That's my philosophy.
Ernest Hemingway: In this world, when you find a good place, you don't leave it.
Ernest Hemingway: That woman loves humanity, but can't stand people.
Martha Gellhorn: We were good in war. And when there was no war, we made our own.::Martha Gellhorn: The battlefield neither of us could survive was domestic life.
Ernest Hemingway: Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.::Ernest Hemingway: As a writer grows in public stature, he sheds his loneliness, and often his work deteriorates, for he does his work alone.
Ernest Hemingway: And if he's a good enough writer, he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.
Martha Gellhorn: I do not see myself as a footnote to someone else's life.
Plot
Christopher Plummer plays Flash, a curmudgeon with a hankering for classic movies and booze. Cameron is a volatile teen who commits grand theft auto just because the car is an exact replica from Christine. Their relationship is forged in the darkness of a movie theater and fueled by a mutual appreciation of rebellion and cinema. Cameron enters a student film contest, though he lacks the resources of his peers. Learning that Flash is a retired Hollywood gaffer-and the only surviving crew member from Citizen Kane-Cameron follows him to his home at the Motion Picture Residence for the Elderly, a colony of aging film folk set aside by the industry. A quirky fellowship develops, in which Flash and his friends help Cameron make his film, and, in doing so, change his life.
Keywords: chihuahua, dog, german-shepherd, juvenile-delinquency, los-angeles-california, mentor, movie-theater, teenager
It's never too late to rewrite your life's story.
Separated by a Generation, United by a Passion
Flash Madden: We never lose our gifts - only our opportunity to open them.
Flash Madden: Oh boy. Does he have the best crew in town?::Mrs. Erskine: Well, the oldest crew anyway.::Speed: what?::Mrs. Erskine: And the only one with a deaf sound mixer.::Speed: I heard that.
[Flash jams the Gameboy of the projectionist into the projector, because it's about to explode]::Projectionist: Oh, my god! My Gameboy!!::Flash Madden: I'm sure that Santa will bring you a new one.
Nurse: [Observing Mildred flirting with Flash in the rest home] Just the *thought* of you two bumpin' uglies messes me up.
Flash Madden: [Muttering out loud in retro-themed movie theater, where "Touch of Evil" is playing] Charlton Heston playing a Mexican... Give me a friggin' break.
Flash Madden: [Taunting a nearby audience member in the movie theater] Hey look, professor: I've MADE more movies than you've been to!
Mickey Hopkins: I'm sorry, Flash. It's been too long. I've lost "the gift".::Flash Madden: Ah, we never lose our gifts - only the opportunity to open them.::Mickey Hopkins: That's pretty eloquent... for a gaffer.::Flash Madden: Even us juicers have our moments, huh?
Cameron Kincaid: [He and Flash are discussing cigars] But aren't Cuban cigars illegal in this country?::Flash Madden: I consider it burning their crops!
Flash Madden: [Speaking to Cameron] This country's famous for shittin' on their elderly. God help you if you don't have family... America's all about the young, the beautiful, the "Winner"! Ya' know, kid, in Europe, Asia, and especially Africa, the elderly are truly respected and they're almost TREASURED by the young people. Not here, though. Oh, no... We live in a throw-away society. If it breaks, throw it away. If a new one pops up, throw the old one away. If your puppy grows up to be a pain-in-the-ass dog, dump it. Someone will kill it. If your marriage isn't working, hey, divorce, throw it away, marry someone else. If you get sick of them, throw them away, too.
Flash Madden: Nietzsche was full of shit, most of the time. Tolstoy said that Nietzsche was stupid and, uh... abnormal.
Plot
The life of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig in Brazil. He wrote the famous book "Brasil, País do Futuro" (Brazil, Country of the Future). He and his wife Lotte, in a mysterious death pact, decided to kill themselves in the week following 1942 Carnival, in Brazil.
Plot
The life of 'Edward D. Wood Jr.', hailed as the worst director (of _Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)_ (qv), _Glen or Glenda (1953)_ (qv) and _Bride of the Monster (1955)_ (qv)) of all time.
Keywords: 1950s, actor, actress, affection, angora, angora-sweater, apartment, b-movie, bach's-toccata-and-fugue, baptism
Movies were his passion. Women were his inspiration. Angora sweaters were his weakness.
When it came to making bad movies, Ed Wood was the best.
Kathy O'Hara: Eddie's the only fella in town who doesn't pass judgment on people.::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: That's right. If I did, I wouldn't have any friends.
[Bela, in his Dracula costume, hears the doorbell on Halloween night]::Bela Lugosi: Children! I love children.
Edward D. Wood, Jr.: I met Bela Lugosi.::Dolores Fuller: Why, I thought he was dead.::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: No, he's very much alive. Well, sort of.
[Bela Lugosi casts a love spell on Vampira who is on TV while moving his fingers like Dracula]::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: My Gosh, Bela, how do you do that?::Bela Lugosi: You must be double-jointed. And you must be Hungarian.
Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Boy, Mr. Lugosi, you must lead such an exciting life! When is your next picture coming out?::Bela Lugosi: I have no next picture.::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: You gotta be joking, a great star like you? You must have dozens of them lined up!::Bela Lugosi: Back in the old days, yes... Now, no one gives two fucks for Bela.::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: But you're a big star!::Bela Lugosi: No more. I haven't worked in four years. This business, this town, it chews you up, then spits you out.::[pauses]::Bela Lugosi: I'm just an ex-boogeyman.
Bela Lugosi: They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?
[Bela Lugosi answers the door on Halloween night wearing his Dracula costume]::Children: Trick or treat! [At the sight of Dracula, all but one little boy scream and run away]::Bela Lugosi: Aren't you scared, little boy? I'm going to drink your blood!::Little boy: You're not a real vampire. Those teeth don't frighten me.::[Bela looks puzzled. Ed Wood appears next to him in the doorway]::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: How 'bout these? [Pulls out his entire row of front teeth]::[Little boy screams and runs away]::Bela Lugosi: Hey... How d'you do that?::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Dentures! [Holds them up] Lost my pearlies in the war!
Georgie Weiss: Why would Lugosi wanna do a sex-change flick?::Edward D. Wood, Jr.: Because he's my friend!
[On the phone, agitated]::Georgie Weiss: Look, look, look, when I said that you could have the western territories, I didn't mean all 11 states! I meant California, Oregon, and, uh, what's that one on top...::[Looks at map]::Georgie Weiss: Washington! Yeah, yeah. Oh, really? Well, *screw you*!
Edward D. Wood, Jr.: My girlfriend still doesn't know why her sweaters are always stretched out.
Plot
George Abitbol, "the Most Classy Man on Earth", dies sputtering his famous last words: "cr*ppy world!" What the heck did he mean? Reporters Steven, Peter and Dave investigate. La Classe Américaine is a montage of scenes taken from the Warner Bros. catalog and dubbed to fit the narration of what is arguably the greatest story ever told.
Keywords: actor, alaska, american-idol, assumed-dead, automobile, bikini, bull, burp, burping, car-accident
Plot
Based on the life and times of silverscreen goddess, Rita Hayworth. This film shows in detail her happiest and saddest moments, the men she dated and her successful career as an actress as well as many other aspects of her life.
Keywords: actress, based-on-book, dance, film-camera, sex-symbol, showbiz, star