"Carol Reed was one of my major influences, though arguably Orson Welles deserves some sort of codirector credit on The Third Man. I’m waiting for Criterion to release Outcast of the Islands, which is high on my list of ten favorite films."

"Carol Reed was one of my major influences, though arguably Orson Welles deserves some sort of codirector credit on The Third Man. I’m waiting for Criterion to release Outcast of the Islands, which is high on my list of ten favorite films."

"Twentieth Century is a show business theater story, and Barrymore gives an extraordinary performance. Orson Welles told me that whenever he and Larry Olivier did a comedy, after seeing it, that he and Larry both were just doing Barrymore in the 20th Century. "

"Carol Reed magnificently evoked the specificities of time and place in post–World War II Vienna. The mood, the sound, the camera work . . . and perhaps, Orson Welles at the top of his acting game. Joseph Cotten might be one of the greatest underrated actors of all time."

"I bet there aren’t any movie theaters on the desert island, so I will bring books that remind me of cinema. I will try to secretly fill a whole luggage. Some interviews collections: Hitchcock-Truffaut, Orson Welles, Ava Gardner…Officially here is one, with the sublime Billy Wilder."

"Much has been written on this great film—I would just say that I am always struck by how perfect Joseph Cotten is as a foil to Orson Welles (not for the first time, of course). Cotten flawlessly captures Graham Greene’s cynical view of American naïveté on matters of international affairs and the mysteries of human behavior"

"There’s another one called Citizen Kane. Here’s a man [Orson Welles] who didn’t look back and read about [William] Randolph Hearst and say, ‘sorry, I won’t make it until [Hearst dies]. He said, ‘To hell with it. I’m gonna make it anyway. If you see yourself in it, fine, that’s too bad.’ And he made it! And it was true! And the way he made it, and the way he works…. Ahhh. I had the opportunity to meet him one time, and I said, ‘Mr. Welles?’ And he said (mimicking Welles’ baritone voice), ‘Orson’s the name, and if you don’t win the g-d—ed Academy Award for Marty, I’m gonna quit it altogether.’ He was that kind of a fellow. He was a good man."

"A Clockwork Orange would be [on the list]. Clockwork Orange and Citizen Kane, because they’re both all-time favorites, and I think Orson Welles did with Citizen Kane so much interesting stuff for the year that he did it, what nobody else did before. The same with Kubrick for Clockwork Orange. They broke a lot of filmmaking rules and the subject matter is, for me, very interesting."

"This mesmerizingly brilliant film noir was Orson Welles’ last Hollywood movie. Dumped into second feature playdates, it’s finally become more popular than Citizen Kane. It was recut and reshot by the studio but a longer preview version surfaced a few years ago and is preferable to the well-meaning but bogus “reconstruction” edit which seems to be the extant version. Both are available on the dvd box set."

"A shadow of a man turning around a corner, casting itself so tall it reaches beyond the roofs of buildings; endless tunnels underground broken by the white light of arched openings, and the creepy and mocking music of the zither. The Third Man is a noir archetype. Orson Welles is only present for about a quarter of the film, and he still manages to take it over complete"