Chimes at Midnight (#830)

The crowning achievement of Orson Welless extraordinary cinematic career,Chimes at Midnightwas the culmination of the filmmakers lifelong obsession with Shakespeares ultimate rapscallion, Sir John Falstaff. Usually a comic supporting figure, Falstaffthe loyal, often soused friend of King Henry IVs wayward son Prince Halhere becomes the focus: a robustly funny and ultimately tragic screen antihero played by Welles with looming, lumbering grace. Integrating elements from bothHenry IVplays as well asRichard II, Henry V,andThe Merry Wives of Windsor,Welles created a gritty and unorthodox Shakespeare film as a lament, he said, for the death of Merrie England. Poetic, philosophical, and visceralwith a kinetic centerpiece battle sequence that rivals anything in the directors body of workChimes at Midnightis as monumental as the figure at its heart.

SHARE

FILM INFO

• Spain
• 1966
• 116 minutes
• Black & White
• 1.66:1
• English
• Spine #830

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary featuring film scholar James Naremore, author ofThe Magic World of Orson Welles
• New interview with actor Keith Baxter
• New interview with director Orson Welless daughter Beatrice Welles, who appeared in the film at age nine
• New interview with actor and Welles biographer Simon Callow
• New interview with film historian Joseph McBride, author ofWhat Ever Happened to Orson Welles?
• Interview with Welles while at work editing the film, from a 1965 episode ofThe Merv Griffin Show
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Michael Anderegg

New cover by Sterling Hundley