It's All True (1993) - Memorable Insight into a Genius

"It's All True" (1993).

Make no mistake, "It's All True" (1993) is a circa 1943 film, not a 1993 one - the release was delayed for 50 years because it was never completed during Orson Welles' lifetime. But for lovers of old cinema, this is worth a look.  The experience of making this film scarred Orson Welles for life (he only did it, I understand, to help the war effort), and it really isn't very good.  But, it does have some of the Welles master touches here and there.  More of a curiosity piece than anything else.

The "film" starts out as a documentary, then concludes with actual footage shot by Welles for the project. Both parts complement each other, and so this is a film for those interested in Welles, film-making, Allied politics during World War II, and Hollywood studio machinations. The Welles footage is interesting, but it does no more than loosely recount a story basically taken out of the newspapers of its day.

I managed to see this film at its "premiere" at the New York Film Festival, held at Lincoln Center in September 1993. Several of the producers were there - I recall walking past a gathering of them afterward out by the street, perhaps three men and a woman - and I recall one of them saying, quite reverently, "It isn't every day that you get to see the premiere of an Orson Welles film."  After later learning what they had to go through to get this made (finding and rescuing the remaining footage, getting the financing out of France of all places, somehow piecing together the facts of a project nobody except some poor Brazilian locals and a few of Welles' loyal associates wanted told, I should have stopped and shook their hands - or maybe just bowed.

Orson Welles filming "It's All True."

I'm a bit of a Welles fan, though surely not the ultimate one. So, it was quite an honor to be present that night of the premiere at the New York Film Festival. The house was packed, and everybody seemed appreciative. The film made a bit of a splash at the Festival, and then was quickly forgotten. And that's a shame, because to understand Welles and the best of film-making, I think you should see this film.

Orson Welles shooting "It's All Good."

Throughout his life, Welles held a grudge about the incidents behind this production. He was minding his own business, returning to Hollywood on the train from a trip to New York, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Welles had many projects in various stages of completion at the time, including his radio show, but President Roosevelt and Nelson Rockefeller (a major RKO stockholder asked ("ordered" is perhaps slightly overstating it) to drop everything to help the war effort. Specifically, the coordinator of the federal Inter-American Affairs office asked him to go to Brazil (on his own dime) to make a documentary (noncommercial) film in order to improve "hemispheric solidarity." Rockefeller made it clear that he expected Welles to get to Rio by February to film the annual carnival. What the US government, the studio, and the Brazilian government wanted (but apparently never made crystal clear to Welles) was a simple tourist look at the Carnival and maybe a few other scenic spots. Welles complied, basically because he wanted to serve his country and trusted his Hollywood associates to honor their agreements and responsibilities and take care of winding up his remaining projects under his remote direction.

Orson Welles filming native Brazilian dancers for "It's All True."

All very nice, in theory. There is many a slip twixt the lip and the cup, however. Welles ended his radio program, did some quick editing of his next film, "The Magnificent Ambersons," and flew to Rio. He took a small crew, and they shot the carnival in Technicolor and black and white. He adapted an anthology idea that he had been working on (which in turn he had adapted from previous radio projects) to make the film a series of vignettes about Brazilian life. While there, he heard about a 1650-mile raft voyage completed by four impoverished fishermen (jangadeiros) from Fortaleza to Rio to plead their case about improper fishing practices before President Vargas. This is where he ran into resistance both from the Brazilian and US governments. Welles persisted, much to everyone's chagrin.

Orson Welles during the production of "It's All True."

So, the main story idea Welles developed centered around the journey by the four fishermen to speak to President Vargas about how they were being exploited by the owners of local fishing boats. And they were being exploited, there is absolutely no question about that. Welles started filming in the slums ("favelas"), because, quite logically, that's where the people being exploited lived.  President (actually dictator) Vargas (rather ironically known as "Father of the Poor") didn't want any of this Communist propaganda about slums being filmed, so he threw Welles out of the slums, got in touch with Washington, Washington got in touch Rockefeller, and Rockefeller with Welles' employer RKO. Welles' supportive boss there got fired, and Welles was effectively recalled (after shooting a token schedule in June and July, 1942). Along the way, his follow-up to "Citizen Kane," "The Magnificent Ambersons," was ruined because everyone at the studio now knew that Welles was on the outs and disregarded Welles' instructions from Brazil (and also probably because they just felt like ignoring him in any event). Welles sent detailed notes about how he wanted the film edited that were barely looked at.

Everything went downhill fast. Rockefeller left the RKO board of directors, studio president George Schaefer was forced to resign, and editor Robert Wise (who later became a top Hollywood director) butchered the editing of "The Magnificent Ambersons." The studio ultimately booted Welles and his staff from the studio lot. "It's All True" was never finished, and Welles didn't get to direct again until after the war, several years later. It wasn't called a blacklist then, but Welles was as blacklisted as anyone. Even then, his formerly Olympian reputation was completely shot, at least with studio executives who assigned projects. Welles spent the rest of his career taking freelance projects, odd jobs to finance his own projects, and basically working on his own.

His anger and bitterness lingered. Thirty years later, during interviews, he would suddenly, angrily and almost randomly drop the name "Nelson Rockefeller" (then the New York Governor, then Vice President) as if Rockefeller (essentially the guy at RKO who sent him to Brazil) was the evil master puppeteer making the whole world dance to his tune (as he had made Welles dance). The name "Vargas" also pops up unexpectedly in Welles' other work, usually not as the most sympathetic of characters (such as the lead character in "Touch of Evil). Welles would on occasion mention in later years that German submarines had been operating off the coast while he was filming, which had heightened the tension surrounding this production and no doubt made Washington listen especially carefully to what its tenuous ally in Brazil wanted.

With Welles himself destroyed (which some who themselves were not called "boy genius" probably didn't mind a bit), the film itself became irrelevant. It had served its purpose, murky as it was, of bonding Brazil and the US closer together than ever - though, ironically, by being against Welles. The background of all this infighting was quickly and conveniently forgotten by just about everyone else, but certainly not by Welles. Most of the film is lost, because it was from a "failed project" and nobody but Welles had any interest in preserving the evidence of the political hit on a respected director (Welles actually tried to save the film he had shot, but he ran out of money). Some survived, but not necessarily the best parts or enough to sustain a narrative.

As for the film itself, there isn't much of a "story." Basically, the anthology concept disappears and we are left simply with the story of the four fishermen (one of whom drowned during filming). It is a tale of some ordinary, poor Brazilians who do something extraordinary. But the film is important because it is full of the magnificent Welles touches and sheer humanity that he brought so effortless to film - and, of course, because it was true and reflected well on the Brazilian people. I particularly recall a shot of the fishermen, in the film's concluding segment, walking down a lonely Brazilian street. At first we are near them - then the camera pulls back and we see these tiny figures advancing into a huge city. How easy a shot is that to conceptualize, after the fact? But you will struggle to find such obvious, perfect metaphors in the work of others.

Orson Welles and his crew during the filming of "It's All True."

In a way, as the documentary portion of this film makes clear, this project cost Welles dearly. It ruined his chances of creating masterpiece after masterpiece like a Hitchcock or a Billy Wilder.  However, he was the one who achieved the lasting victory. Long after Vargas had committed suicide and Rockefeller had died of a heart attack while in flagrante delicto, the people of Brazil were comparing Orson Welles to Martin Luther King for his attempts to bring the plight of the working poor to the public's attention. The 1993 premiere of "It's All True" made the front pages in Brazil. To this day, you may not find a more admiring group of Welles fans than you will in certain obscure precincts of Brazil - and all because of a film project that "failed" and cost Welles a huge chunk of his career. There are much worse outcomes in life than becoming a national hero in a country you never intended to visit in the first place.

Orson Welles during the production of "It's All True."

You and I may righteously admire Mr. Welles because he made great art - there is no real dispute about that. The Brazilians, however, also admire him because Welles actually did something for them above and beyond what he had to do - and for which he suffered horribly - to help them in their daily lives. He got out their story, but more importantly, he cared about their story and did something about it. And that, my friend, is how you become a national hero.

I recommend this film to those who are not looking for a standard "story" film, but rather for some insight into a true talent and some examples of his genius. It is well worth the trouble.



2017