Book review - "Hello Americas" by Simon Callow

Part two of the Orson Welles story by Callow following his superb Road to Xanadu goes from the immediate period following Citizen Kane to Welles leaving America at the end of the decade. I thought at first it was an odd choice but it works brilliantly. 

We go through the making of The Magnificent Ambersons then the debacle of It's All True (the one-two punch that knocked him out in Hollywood, which Kane did not) - this section of the book is a bit sluggish to be honest; Callow is a highly skilled writer, but this is stuff that has been well covered before. 

Where it really picks up is what happens next: Welles basically turns his back on movies (apart from the odd acting gig) and returns to radio, also writing columns; much of his work has a political slant and Welles becomes interested in political causes, particularly of the Popular Front variety. 

 

Callow was clearly fascinated by this aspect to Welles (which I confess I knew little apart from assuming he had the regulation liberal views), quoting extensively from his speeches (I'm with the book reviewer of the New York Times who suggested a book of Welles writings would be a great addition to Wellesology - while Welles never had the long term impact as a politician or public speaker as he did as a filmmaker, it was an important part of his life at the time and deserves due consideration).

He also found time to woo and marry Rita Hayworth, take his magic tour on the road, then re-enter the theatre with a production of Around the World in Eighty Days (Callow is brilliant on theatre and this chapter is the highlight of the book for me; I wish he'd made a film in this sort of genre). Ratings and readership figures declined - Welles never seemed to have found the popularity on stage and radio he enjoyed in the late 30s -and he had to go back to films to make money (one of the strengths of Callow's books is he retrieves Welles from the POV that he was only interested in making movies, that was the centre of his life). 

 

Compromised films followed: The Stranger, Lady from Shanghai and MacBeth. Callow argues Welles probably had little chance with the first two but should have had his way with the last, but by then had gotten jack and was off in Europe making Black Magic.

This isn't as good as Road to Xanadu, mostly because the material is less compelling - there is less theatre, less radio, more politics and cinema, ares which Callow is less strong. But still highly enjoyable. Welles did have a hard time but reading this one can't help acknowledging he was given plenty of chances (in the mid 40s especially the studios were gagging for him to star in movies for them). But still gripping. Orson Welles the story was often more interesting than his films.