Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Chimes at Midnight (AKA “Falstaff”; Campadas a medianoche)
Directed by Orson Welles
Written by Orson Welles from plays by William Shakespeare based on Holinshed’s “Chronicles”
1965/Spain/Switzerland
Internacional Films/Alpine Films
First viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Falstaff: My King! My Jove! I speak to thee my heart!

Prince Hal: I know thee not, old man; fall to thy prayers!/ How ill white hairs become a fool and jester![/box]

I wasn’t really in the mood for Shakespeare, but Chimes at Midnight lured me in with excellent acting and striking camera work.

Welles condensed episodes from Richard III; Henry IV, Parts I and II: Henry V; and (I think) The Merry Wives of Windsor into one story centering on the friendship between Prince Hal (Keith Baxter) (later Henry V) and the obese, earthy and witty older man Falstaff (Orson Welles).  Prince Hal enjoys a life of debauchery in the company of Falstaff and his cronies while his father, Henry IV (John Gielgud), despairs the decadence of his son and heir.

Prince Hal is all too aware, however, that the Crown will occupy him exclusively once it is his. He coldly casts off his one-time mentor.  With Jeanne Moreau as prostitute Doll Tearsheet and Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly.

Welles plays Falstaff as a sort of naughty Santa Claus and is downright lovable in this part.  The production is sumptuous and and contains everything from battle scenes to farce to intimate character study.  Welles’s directorial imagination is still working at full fever pitch in this, his own favorite of his films.  Recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAs2bL4Sasw