60 YEARS AGO
Originally published December 8, 1962
Orson Welles, with such resounding disasters behind him as Macbeth and Othello, found it nearly impossible [to get funding for a movie]. Indeed, since Touch of Evil five years ago, which barely broke even, no studio had trusted him to direct anything. Nor were his lame alibis, his flamboyant public antics, his arrogance and tantrums calculated to recover prestige.
“It’s rough to be thought of as the fellow who had it — once. I could easily have gone on the sauce. Then I found a solution. For years I’d been telling people they were wrong about Welles. I tried a new tack. I’d give ’em a steely look and say, ‘You were right. Only I’ve changed.’
