Orson Welles

Citizen Kane became one of the most influential films ever made. This topic is part of Film People within Movies & Television. This page currently draws on 11 supporting questions, with answers and bonus facts available below.

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Orson Welles trivia questions

Orson Welles directed and starred in which 1941 film?

Answer: Citizen Kane

Bonus fact: Citizen Kane became one of the most influential films ever made.

Which radio drama caused a famous public reaction in 1938?

Answer: The War of the Worlds

Bonus fact: Welles's Mercury Theatre broadcast presented the story as breaking news.

What fictional newspaper tycoon does Welles play in Citizen Kane?

Answer: Charles Foster Kane

Bonus fact: The character was partly inspired by real media magnates.

Which Reed film stars Orson Welles as Harry Lime?

Answer: The Third Man

Bonus fact: The Third Man is set in postwar Vienna.

Which actress stars opposite Orson Welles in "The Lady from Shanghai"?

Answer: Rita Hayworth

Bonus fact: Hayworth cut and dyed her famous red hair blonde for the role of Elsa Bannister.

Orson Welles adapted "The Lady from Shanghai" from which novel?

Answer: If I Die Before I Wake

Bonus fact: Sherwood King’s novel provided the basic story, though Welles reshaped it heavily for the screen.

Which Shakespeare character is at the center of Orson Welles’s "Chimes at Midnight"?

Answer: Sir John Falstaff

Bonus fact: Welles himself plays the larger-than-life Falstaff.

Orson Welles’s "F for Fake" is mainly about what subject?

Answer: Forgery and deception

Bonus fact: The film playfully blurs documentary, performance, editing, and outright trickery.

Which 1958 film Touch of Evil opens with a famous long tracking shot?

Answer: Touch of Evil

Bonus fact: Orson Welles directed the elaborate opening sequence.

Who directed and starred in the 1948 film "Macbeth"?

Answer: Orson Welles

Bonus fact: Welles played Macbeth himself and brought an expressionistic visual style to Shakespeare’s tragedy.

Who directed and played the title role in the 1951 film "Othello"?

Answer: Orson Welles

Bonus fact: Welles spent years completing the film while financing pieces of production from other acting jobs.

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