Review of Chimes at Midnight (1965) by Allan C — 24 May 2015

One of Orson Welles' lesser seen films, but one that should stand alongside his finest. Welles is wonderful as the comic and tragic figure of Falstaff. Anyone interest in the film will already be familiar with Shakespeare's story and likely have seen it's many film iterations, but Welles take is an interesting on in that Falstaff really does take center stage over Prince Hal and the film nearly unfolds from his perspective.

Welles is magnificent in the role of Falstaff and from this point forward will be the marker by which I measure all other characterization. As with most of his film at this point in his career, Welles had to film over several years and rarely had all of the actors all at the same time.

Considering that single scenes were filmed at different time and sometimes in completely different locations, the end result comes off seamless. Supported by the great Jeanne Moreau and the even greater John Gielgud, the cast is incredibly strong.

And an actor who I was not familiar with, Keith Baxter, does a fine job as Prince Hal and absolutely holds his own with some very strong screen personalities.