Chimes At Midnight

Orson Welles considered Chimes At Midnight his best work, and while I wouldn't go that far it is an excellent interpretation of William Shakespeare's character Falstaff, whom Welles considered the Bard's greatest creation. It takes pieces of four different Shakespeare plays: Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, and The Merry Wives Of Windsor and presents Falstaff's story.

Falstaff is a dissolute gentleman (he is Sir John, after all) who spends most of his time drinking and carousing at a tavern. He is fat and given to excess, and friend to Hal, Prince of Wales (Keith Baxter), much to Hal's father's chagrin. His father is King Henry IV (John Gielgud),who is dealing with a rebellion by the Percy family, including Henry Percy, called Hotspur (Norman Rodway).

Baxter will have to put aside his juvenile behavior and prepare to be king, leaving Falstaff and his cronies behind. In one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of literature, after Hal is crowned he must tell Falstaff, "I know thee not, old man," and banish the fat man. Welles, who of course is known as a great director, was also a great actor, and the expression on his face in this scene, a mixture of sadness and pride, is breathtaking.

Welles, as he did with most of his films, struggled to find the financing and the film shot over a few years, debuting at Cannes to mixed notices in 1966 (he initially got financing by telling a producer he was going to make a version of Treasure Island). The cast is certainly interesting, with mixed acting styles. Gielgud, a classical actor of renown, goes old school as Henry, in fact the character always seems to be pissed off, as if the actor himself didn't want to be where he is. Margaret Rutherford is a terrific Mistress Quickly, and though Falstaff doesn't appear in Henry V, Welles takes her eulogy from that play and inserts it here. Jeanne Moreau plays Doll Tearsheet, a prostitute that Falstaff keeps time with.

The film is exquisitely shot and directed. The photographer is Edmond Richard, who uses deep focus exquisitely. Often characters are in the extreme distance. When Henry IV dies, attended by his son, the tableau of the two men is set deep in the shot, with a few dozen men filling in the forefront, to dazzling effect.

A problem is the sound, which was shoddily recorded. If you don't know the plays, you may well wonder what's going on, as much of the lines can't be understood (Gielgud being an exception).

Even so, I can't imagine we'll ever see a better depiction of Falstaff on film.