THE SECRET HOUSES OF ORSON WELLES
Readers of this increasingly erratic weblog probably know of my pointless interest in the domestic housing arrangements of my favorite filmmakeers. Previously I've explored the New York townhouse of Sidney Lumet, the Beverly Hills Villa of Fritz Lang and the Wilshire Blvd. apartment of Billy Wilder (as well as the unbuilt Eames house, designed for Wilder in the late forties). Appreciating the place in which an artist chooses to dwell--especially when the artist is a control freak as all directors are--can enhance and eludicate one's appreciation of the artists work. Or so I tell myself. Actually I'm just a real estate whore and love killing time finding this crap out. What do the houses of Orson Welles tell us, though, about the magnificent and often misunderstood maverick filmmaker/actor/writer/theatrical impresario/radio star/advertising star/magician? Welles didn't have a longtime abode--he was more of a gypsy. In a strange way, Welles was his own house, ca...