Movies

Orson Welles’ Final Film ‘The Deep’ Ruined His Legendary Career

BBG News

Orson Welles experienced one of the most disappointing career descents among directors. After enduring decades of rejection, the director of “Citizen Kane” aimed for a comeback with the film titled “The Deep“. He believed it would reshape his public image and become the hit that funded his comfortable retirement. However, he encountered several setbacks: losing an actor due to scheduling issues, running out of funds, and then his leading man passing away. Plunged into despair, he abandoned the project altogether, choosing not to complete it. The rest of his life, which lasted another 12 years, saw him completing no more full-length narrative feature films.

In this rephrased version: Orbert wisely selected a powerful drama with strong characters, an adaptation from Charles Williams’ 1963 novel, featuring Jeanne Moreau, Michael Bryant, Laurence Harvey, and himself. However, you might find the IMDb rating to be average. Despite his passing, Welles still faced challenges. It’s essential to consider the rating with a pinch of salt as that version of the film is a patchwork interpretation of the script using leftover fragments. The editing wasn’t endorsed by Welles, and not all the audio has been correctly dubbed in. Tragically, the production was plagued by fate, novelty blood, and the ill-will of French customs officials, making one question whether this film’s troubled history supports the idea of curses.

The Film That Demoralized Welles

Despite a strong storyline and talented actors like Laurence Harvey from The Manchurian Candidate, the project found itself trapped in an endless cycle of development, effectively halting all progress. Production came to a complete standstill right away. The writer-director earned a fortune by making brief appearances in high-profile films during the ’50s and ’60s, which he then used to finance his own movies. In The Deep, as was common in his films, his absence meant that no key scenes or supplementary footage could be filmed, leading to stand-ins being used for Welles. However, due to some unexpected chemical reactions, the artificial blood ended up turning green, according to biographer Barbara Leaming.

It seemed unfortunate that Welles decided to transition to Technicolor at a less than ideal moment. He no longer desired the label of being an avant-garde filmmaker; instead, he aimed for financial success this time around. As his daughter recounted, he expressed his hope that it wouldn’t be another art-house movie. Instead, he wanted to demonstrate that they could generate income. However, it turned out that he would not achieve this goal.

Shortly following Harvey’s death, production on the project fell into a deep slumber from which it never truly awakened. To add to the misfortune, the film reels were confiscated by French customs officials and locked away for an extended period, as detailed in the book What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?. Dorian Bond, a former associate of Welles, asserted that the footage could have been salvaged with creative editing techniques like using doubles or other methods, but overwhelmed by the challenge of crafting a high-energy action film, it became clear to Welles that he was no longer making his movie, but someone else’s. As Bond described in his book Me and Mr. Welles, due to the “material being too flimsy” and the “characters being overly simplistic,” he ultimately abandoned the project out of sheer fatigue and disillusionment.

The Surviving Fragments

The promotional clip from the documentary One-Man Band allegedly adhered to the source material, but a few snippets somehow managed to slip away and circulate independently. Unfortunately, like many of Orson Welles’ intended films, it remained unfinished, gathering dust on a shelf. This missed opportunity for a career resurgence was particularly poignant as he grew more isolated from the film industry. His reputation became increasingly tarnished by the passage of time, eclipsed by a new wave of daring independent American filmmakers who successfully brought their projects to fruition. Scraps of The Deep could be found in Welles’ 1973 documentary F For Fake, a comeback attempt reduced to mere background footage, possibly included to justify the resources and funds expended on its production.

Staggering Unfulfilled Potential Becomes His Legacy

As for the quality of that production, judging from the testimonies, it seems quite promising. Peter O’Toole supposedly admired the script, despite not being able to film it due to other commitments, and co-star Moreau spoke highly of it, recalling the daily footage as extraordinary. However, if a final cut ever surfaces, it might feel underwhelming given that the 1989 movie ‘Dead Calm’ had already set the stage for it by several decades. The film, a chilling horror thriller featuring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman, and Billy Zane, was ultimately completed by producer George Miller after its initial production.

Welles’ intended reinvention never materialized. His later years were filled with sorrow and mockery, resorting to odd jobs such as TV advertisements. He did some voiceovers and even produced a few humorous documentaries, but The Deep essentially marked the end of his film career, his final opportunity for a project worthy of his real talent. In an attempt to make ends meet, he ended up inebriatedly filming commercials for photo-copiers, board games, and frozen vegetables. He often argued with the engineers over the quality of his recorded lines.

Orbital blessings favored Welles during the creation of his masterpiece at 26 years old, yet we remain puzzled as to why he may have incurred their subsequent disfavor. Over the course of three decades, he transitioned from a groundbreaking artist into a caricatured figure of the past. The film “The Deep” was intended to rejuvenate his career, but it ultimately marked the end of his creative journey.

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2025-05-11 03:39

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