The Merchant of Venice (1969 film)
| The Merchant of Venice | |
|---|---|
A screenshot of the restored film, depicting Shylock.
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| Directed by | Orson Welles |
| Produced by | Orson Welles |
| Written by | Orson Welles |
| Based on |
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Francesco Lavagnino |
| Cinematography |
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Release date
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September 1, 2015 (VIFF) |
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Running time
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35 mins |
| Country |
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| Language | English |
The Merchant of Venice is a 1969 drama short film directed by Orson Welles based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. While actually completed, it is frequently cited as an unfinished film, though better described as a partially lost film due to the loss of film negatives.
Welles played the role of Shylock in addition to producing and directing the film as well as writing the adaptation. Charles Gray featured as Antonio and Irina Maleeva as Jessica. Further cast members were Dorian Bond, Bill Cronshaw, Mauro Bonnani and Nina Palinkas. Bonnani was not a professional actor, but an editor who was then working on Welles's Don Quixote, while Palinkas was the younger sister of Oja Kodar, whose real name was Olga Palinkas.
Differing sources give the film's running time as between 30 and 40 minutes. Welles started work on the film in 1969. It was originally produced as part of his abandoned 90-minute television special, Orson's Bag, which was made for CBS; but later that year, with the project close to completion, CBS withdrew their funding over Welles' long-running disputes with US authorities regarding his tax status, and so Welles completed the film as an independent project.
Filming commenced in Venice, but when financial troubles began, production was relocated to Dubrovnik, and parts of the Dalmatian Coast, which were less expensive to film in and doubled for Venice; and filming was completed in Rome, where Welles was editing Don Quixote. The film itself was a shortened version of the play, Welles even eliminated the character of Portia from the film after his mistress Oja Kodar declined the role, due to her then-limited knowledge of English. Francesco Lavagnino, who had written the musical scores of Welles's two previous Shakespeare films, Othello (1952) and Chimes at Midnight (1966), provided a full musical score for this film.
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