Orson Welles’s Favourite Films

George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked in theatre, radio, and film. He is remembered for his innovative work in all three: in theatre, most notably Caesar (1937), a Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar; in radio, the legendary 1938 broadcast “The War of the Worlds”; and in film, Citizen Kane (1941), consistently ranked as one of the greatest films ever made. Below are his ten favourite films.

1. City Lights (Chaplin, 1931).
2. Greed (von Stroheim, 1924).
3. Intolerance (Griffith, 1916).
4. Nanook of the North (Flaherty, 1922).
5. Shoeshine (De Sica, 1946).
6. Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein, 1925).
7. La Femme du boulanger (Pagnol, 1938).
8. La Grande Illusion (Renoir, 1937).
9. Stagecoach (Ford, 1939).
10. Our Daily Bread (Vidor, 1934).
Orson Welles: A Biography (audiobook)
Orson Welles, Volume 1: The Road to Xanadu (Paperback)
Orson Welles, Volume 3: One-Man Band (Hardcover)
My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles (kindle)
Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles (kindle)