“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” — Orson Welles

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles looks at Welles’ remarkable genius on the eve of his centenary — the enigma of his career as a Hollywood star, a Hollywood director (to some a Hollywood failure), and a crucially important independent filmmaker.

Welles’s life was magical: a musical prodigy at age 10, a director of Shakespeare at 14, a painter at 16, a star of stage and radio at 20, romances with some of the most beautiful women in the world, including Rita Hayworth. His work was similarly extraordinary, most notably Citizen Kane, considered by many to be the most important movie ever made, created by Welles when he was only 25.

In the years following Kane, Welles’s career continued to change as he made film after film (some never finished, many dismissed) and acted in other projects, often to earn money in order to keep making his own films.

Magician features scenes from almost every existing Welles film, from Hearts of Age, (which he made in a day when he was only 18 years old) to rarely-seen clips from his final unfinished works like The Other Side of the Dream, The Deep, and Don Quixote, as well as his television and commercial work.

The documentary was directed by award-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman, and features over a dozen detailed interviews with Welles, spanning fifty years, along with comments from Jeanne Moreau, Sir Peter Brook, Costa-Gavras, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Richard Linklater, Frank Marshall, Paul Mazursky, Wolfgang Puck, Norman Lloyd, renowned editor Walter Murch (who re-edited Touch of Evil from Welles’s extensive notes twenty years after Welles was fired), and Welles’s close personal friend Peter Bogdanovich.

Magician covers the controversy of Welles’s fall from grace in Hollywood, and his constant attempts to continue exploring his art through making films and directing plays. Welles’ infamous struggles – with money, with women, with authority, and of course, with his weight – are all part of his story, as are his charm, enormous talent, and astonishing work.

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Documentary – PG-13 – 94 min – Tickets $8 – Get tickets online
Fri, Jan. 23: 7:00 p.m.
Sat, Jan. 24: 7:00
Sun, Jan. 25: 5:00
Mon, Jan 26: 7:00
Tues, Jan 27: 7:00
Weds, Jan. 28: 7:00
Thurs, Jan. 29: 7:00
Fri, Jan. 30: No Screenings
Sat, Jan. 31: 9:15
Sun, Feb. 1: 7:15
Mon, Feb. 2: 9:15
Tues, Feb. 3: No Screenings
Weds, Feb. 4: 9:15
Thurs, Feb. 5: 9:15