''Twelfth Night'' is a 1933 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

short color film, notable as the very earliest surviving film directed by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, then aged 17. It is a recording of the dress rehearsal of Welles's own abridged production at his '' alma mater'', the Todd School for Boys, where he had returned to direct this adaptation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'' for the

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Drama Festival in 1933. The play won first prize at that year's festival, presented as part of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, A Century of Progress Exposition.

Production

After Orson Welles's return from Europe, his friend and former headmaster Roger Hill invited him to join the Todd faculty and co-direct the Todd School's production of ''Twelfth Night''. Using the edited version of the play that would appear in their book ''Everybody's Shakespeare'' (1934), Welles designed the costumes and conceived and created the set.Frank Brady (writer), Brady, Frank, ''Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1989 The production made use of Kenneth Macgowan's concept of having the stage as a giant open book, with the turning pages being changes of scenery, painted by Welles himself.Richard France (writer), Richard France, ''The Theatre of Orson Welles''. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 1977. Jonathan Rosenbaum (ed.),

and Peter Bogdanovich, ''This is Orson Welles'' (Da Capo Press, New York, rev. 1998 ed.) Using a color motion picture camera loaned to him by Hill, Welles increased the lighting and filmed most of a dress rehearsal — his very first film. Welles operated the camera himself, leaving it in a static position in the auditorium. A silent film camera was used, but Welles later recorded an accompanying narration on a gramophone disc.Jean-Pierre Berthomé and Francois Thomas, ''Orson Welles at Work'' (Phaidon, London, 2008) p.310 Hill suggested to Welles that he film the play, wrote biographer Frank Brady (writer), Frank Brady, who viewed the result firsthand:

The print that I saw of Orson's ''Twelfth Night'' in Roger Hill's living room in Miami, a half-century later, was still perfectly preserved with rich color and quite professionally focused but without any camera movement, or pronounced flourishes or angles. It was simply shot from one point of view, perhaps from the middle of the tenth row of the theater: an amateur recording of the play on film rather than a piece of cinema.

The Todd School production of ''Twelfth Night'' received the silver cup from the Chicago Drama League after competition at the Century of Progress Exposition in July–August 1933."Amateur Dramatic Groups to Compete for Trophy at Fair". United Press International, United Press, July 7; ''Ruston Daily Leader'', July 8, 1933, page 1. "Amateur dramatic groups from all sections of Metropolitan Chicago will compete this summer at Enchanted Island, World's Fair fairyland for children at A Century of Progress, for a silver cup to be awarded by the Chicago Drama League, Miss Anna Agress, director of the Children's Theatre on the Island, has announced. Twenty-four groups, ranging from Thespians of years' experience to child actors, are on the schedule. Although most of the program will be played during July and August, the contest opened several days ago with the Todd School for Boys, of Woodstock, Ill., presenting Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night''. The Todd boys were the 1932 cup winners." The cast included Hascy Tarbox as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Roger Hill's daughter Joanne Hill as Viola.Tarbox, Todd, ''Orson Welles and Roger Hill: A Friendship in Three Acts''. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media, 2013, . The play was presented at the English Village at the Chicago World's Fair. "A short film excerpt from it is still in the Hills' possession", wrote critic Richard France (writer), Richard France. "Unfortunately, Welles's original staging was not used, only his set. A small backdrop is completely covered with a bright stylized rendering of a London street."

Preservation status

Although the film was believed lost for a while, at least one extended fragment of a copy has survived in the private possession of Welles's former teacher and lifelong mentor Roger Hill, who produced the play. In addition, in the 1930s and 1940s, copies of the film were available for hire by schools and drama societies. Although it is the earliest surviving footage filmed by Welles, it was not the first time he had used a film camera – he told one biographer that he had first done so when making a silent home movie of a visit to St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, at the age of nine (in 1924–25).Joseph McBride (writer), Joseph McBride, ''Orson Welles'' (Da Capo Press, New York, 1972, rev. 1996 ed.), p.24

References

External links

* {{Twelfth Night 1933 films American short films Films directed by Orson Welles Films based on Twelfth Night American black-and-white films