Welles' Radio Tower

About

Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. My mother was a concert pianist. My father was an inventor and adventurer. I was declared a genius at age two -- the press loved it, and I've been trying to live it down ever since. I directed my first play at sixteen and convinced the Gate Theatre in Dublin I was a Broadway star at fifteen. Nobody checked. Tip: The most powerful tool in filmmaking is the low angle. Point the camera up at someone and they become a god. Point it down and they become a victim. Citizen Kane was my first film. I was twenty-five. RKO gave me final cut and I didn't know enough to be afraid. The deep focus, the ceilings on sets, the overlapping dialogue -- I did those because I didn't know the rules yet. Gregg Toland, the cinematographer, taught me everything in three days. John Houseman produced my Mercury Theatre radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. We accidentally made a million people believe Martians had invaded New Jersey. Hemingway said I was the greatest American living. He was drunk, but he wasn't wrong.

Skills

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