Just a word here about my father, Huw Wheldon, who chaired this conversation, and who was the presenter and editor and generally grand panjandrum of 'Monitor' - he and Welles had worked together before, for the BBC, and OW was keen that Wheldon should be his producer. Dad wisely turned the offer down. He said that being in a room with OW 'was like being in a room with a cathedral', a surreal, but brilliant description.
Wynn Pierce Wheldon, Your father was mind-controller. Obviously, nothing to be proud of. 'Monitor' - mon - moon - the left-side of the brain. He was only, programming the masses to use their lower-self. Actors, directors and editors and such are employed to train something sinister into to sub-conscious of the unwitting. The BBC ain't nicknamed the British Brainwashing Corporation, for nothing. Incidentally, it is also, called the British Buggering Corporation because it is full of paedophiles and other freaks. That's why there is a statue of a boy and a weird looking man at the front entrance to it's studios. Your Dad was almost certainly, a Freemason (as they-all are) so, if you don't think I'm correct realise, that their is sentence punishable with death for those who, disclose their sordid secrets. Realise they are master manipulators and deceivers, which is why you are utterly clueless, I am sad to write 💙.
I just watched your father's interview of OW in 1960 and it was brilliant. And I remember thinking so well that Welles enjoyed the interview and appreciated your father. You must be very proud. Thanks for sharing.
I came here for Orson, but Peter O'Toole clearly could give a master class on Shakespeare--not just from the acting perspective, but from the philosophical, emotional, historical, and poetic perspective. I learned so much from his few minutes of commentary and conversation. The importance of letting the verse guide the thought and action, the relevance to the Renaissance audience of drawing out particular passions, the relevance of Church doctrines and belief to the interpretation of the Ghost. Wow! So much to chew on from such a short clip! A very learned man at only 31. I wish he was still with us. I wish they all were. I won't look at any of the plays again without considering O'Toole's comments.
This is what makes TH-cam great! Not things like tic tok or vine. When I read Peter Otoole and Orson Welles having a discussion about Hamlet....wonderful!!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen footage of o’toole speaking so freely or of Welles being so candid and gregarious. They must have enjoyed each other immensely.
I'm sure they did but this is about the 7th interview in a row I have seen on You Tube and Orson has been pretty consistently candid and gregarious in all of them. From young, mid, to old age he seemed to have walked a thin line between being very intellectual and yet very candid and affable.
What a pleasure to experience Peter in his genius rather than acting the charming fool as he so often did in interview settings. To hear him speak of Hamlet, to understand all that he carried in his thoughts and knowing as he enacted the parts, is to understand why he was such a great actor.
Kinda reminds me of that gag in the Simpsons where it’s revealed the Krusty show was originally an intellectual talk show from around this time. Krusty even has a similar get up to o’Toole’s lol
5:22 Welles: "I don't think any madman ever said 'Why what an ass am I.'" - this moment brought tears to my eyes for reasons I don't fully understand. Powerful words.
Study shakespeare and the great british actors. Its not just philosophy, its embodying life in all its permutations. Read about Harris and O’Toole. Believe me theres nothint wrong with you. Youre human, its the world thats growing sick. Men in this era understood deeply the literature and art of our history. You should too! Memorize some shakespeare
I should think it would depend on the particular mental malady. Certainly Donald Trump would never say it, but as far as we know he’s not psychotic; he suffers, rather, from multiple personality disorders. I’ve known (not very well, though) two schizophrenics, and I can imagine both of them saying it or something more or less like it.
Can you imagine Donald Drumpf saying "What an ass am I?" His brain would literally explode. And that is why he cannot be allowed another term as President.
@@itsallgoodman4108 The least we could do is educate ourselves, whoever we are and wherever we are from, everyone should be learned in history and literature.
Incredible to see this glimpse of O'Toole's intelligence and education. Obviously he was a great actor but it's clear to see he knew his stuff inside and out and was truly passionate about it. Of course Welles could talk insightfully at length on almost any topic, but I hadn't seen O'Toole talking seriously about his work before
Welles always strikes me as extremely affected. He doesn’t argue here so much as proclaim, and he is so pleased with his proclamations and pronouncements that he usually repeats them verbatim immediately. He also repeatedly shouts down Ernest Milton’s very reasonable and considered opinions while Peter O’Toole piles on. It’s nice that Peter O’Toole has done a bit of homework and is willing to share it with us, but that’s all I can really say in his favor.
@jeffburns4219 imo O'Toole was the only one who was talking from knowledge. Milton was mainly talking personal perceptions and spirituality - nothing wrong with that except it being not particularly informative or insightful unless you're invested in knowing about Milton the man himself. If only Welles had allowed the other two to finish their sentences once in a while. But I do think O'Toole had the correct approach to the inquiries (using contemporary discourses to aid the textual analysis whilst aware of the historical impliations of there being various quartos etc) they touched upon even though he hadn't been right all the time, and him and Milton would have perhaps been able to hold an actual conversation without someone with 10X volume constantly shouting down and piling on.
Personally, I was more taken with the twinkle in another man's eye - (and the gentle exasperation) as OW was guffawing in reaction to one of Peter's many elegant slam-downs.
i've always admired and revered orson welles, but am captivated by o'toole's intellect as highlighted in this excerpt. what a freaking genius he was - and what a delight this video is to watch!
What I like about this is that it is not overly moderated but feels like a real and spontaneous conversation. Today moderators impose themselves too much in seeking to guide conversation, hand out parcels of speaking time to each speaker, et . But in real every day life we don't have moderated conversations and that is what helps the flow of ideas. Here are four people talking.
This is literally a meeting of the minds, captured on film. The way Orson & O'Toole discover they agree with eachother, those aha! moments when each one hears their own thoughts put into words by the other. It's lovely, the conversation really blossoms when they discover they're kindred spirits about certain elements of Hamlet. That it's documented on film is just one of the everyday miracles of modernity.
Elegant way of speech, fascinating conversations, and THESE TWO PEOPLE IN THE SAME ROOM?!!!! Thank you internet for this...for a way I can live in a beautiful past.
I have listened to this many times, watched or read Hamlet, and watched this again. What a rare and superb nugget to have survived on film and made it to the electronic archives. These two are probably the premier Shakespearean actors of their time (yes, I really believe so), and their observations helped my really understand Hamlet for the first time.
Wow! I am almost spell bound by these intelligent, loquacious, mellifluous and eloquent orators. People spoke beautiful in those days, even OW mid Atlantic English
Peter O'Toole was a genuine scholar! He didn't come off that way at all on Carson, etc. And, Welles was a real class act (In social settings ... check out videos of him directing. As you might expect, quite focused and a perfectionist.)
How amazingly O'Tool talks about passion and human instinct and passion, how beautifully expressed and joy gets completed when Wells just talks with that tenor voice!
Wow! How gratifying to see 4 very smart men (2 of whom may have been geniuses) discuss a complex and obtuse series of Shakespearean passages with such insight. They don't have TV like this anymore.
Paul Wardle - I think you chose the wrong word to describe the Shakespearean passages. Shakespeare was not "obtuse" and he didn't write obtusely. Perhaps you meant to write "obscure."
it's just so satisfying how Peter and Orson are so in sync....they really enjoy each others company and it's almost like the other 2 are school professors and their the bad students.
What good fortune to come across this film. The finesse of these two then young actors - two geniuses with their langourous-like charm and tremendous spontaneity/passion and cheek/humour. This is a real discussion and very enriching. The two old fogeys are out of their depth in terms of personality. Who's like these two today I wonder ?
Can you imagine a round table with Robert DiNiro, Lee Marvin, Warren Oats and Andy Warhol (he was a movie director)? I have seen them all on TV separately. Excruciating.
@@garymitchell5899 Orson Welles looked young in this and so did Peter O'Toole, and at that time he really did drink very heavily, as he was the first to admit. He honestly looked very different when he was older, poor man, as he suffered from some very serious health problems. From the appearance of both men, I took this conversation to have taken place a long time ago.
I love them all together: Orson Welles busting out laughing, Milton's unamused stare, and Peter O'Toole looking around like, "C'mon, give it to me! Give it to me!"
@@quincycampbell9828 I think in this case his use of the words "dyke" is more endearing than it is meant as an insult. They are after all talking about a fellow actor(Greta Garbo), whom they no doubt, in reality, respected.
Some temporal context for this intellectual and cultural feast: At the time of this airing, Johnny Carson had helmed the "Tonight" show, over here in the States, for almost exactly a year; O'Toole had become an international superstar in "Lawrence of Arabia," one year earlier; Welles had done the same thing with "Citizen Kane," 22 years earlier; and the Beatles were due to take America (and, by extension, the world) by storm in four short months. I love the delight with which O'Toole and Welles enjoy each others' observations about "Hamlet" and Shakespeare... did they ever work together? What I would give to see that... To my knowledge, I have neither heard of, nor seen, the work of Ernest Milton, but based on his contributions here, I must assume that, as an actor, he was marvelous.
As far as I can find, they never worked together on a film or play and our world is poorer for it, without doubt. However, they had a healthy stable of mutual friends (Anthony Quinn, John Huston, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and John Gielgud being among the more notable) and so the two likely shared a dinner table more than once. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for those conversations, especially after a bottle of wine (or two, or three). Hopefully, the two are in the great theatre in the sky, splitting a humidor of fine cigars and whiling away eternity with the Bard himself. Ernest Milton, by the way, was an Anglo-American actor who played Hamlet regularly on the London stage from the 1920s to the 1940s, and in his day was considered one of the finest interpreters of the Danish Prince. The list of actors who could have made a better third triumvir for this discussion is remarkably short; in their day, it might have only included John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, and were it possible, perhaps the ghost of Edwin Booth (conjuring a spirit to discuss Hamlet seems doubly fitting). Without resorting to gross sentimentalism, I wish modern television featured more stirring discourses like this. Look at the popularity of podcasts; clearly a market exists for fine conversation and expert discussion. And yet all our networks seem to produce is trite, sensationalized sludge. Thank goodness for TH-cam, preserving the thoughts of these masters for the interested and erudition-starved.
One minor thing I'd to add about the posting mentioning Johnny Carson. In The Best.of Johnny Carson 1970s-1980s, tape 2, halfway through, we.have "Huckster Hamlet" Johnny doing the To Be or Not To Be, constantly stopping to try and sell stuff. He says To sleep no.more... and pulls out over the counter sleeping aids! "The shocks that flesh is heir too..If you are having trouble with your shocks... and he pulls.out a card for car repairs..It's really not to be missed for fans of Hamlet.
What a flowering of popular culture that time was. Middle-brow culture at its height, and I don't mean "middle-brow" to be an insult in the slightest. It's a missing aspect of today's culture, where everything is either so supposedly "high" that it no longer has need for beauty, or is in the gutter, where beauty is mocked as something unattainable and therefore elitist and necessary to tear down.
Enjoyed that thoroughly. Made me consider Hamlet in an entirely new way. O'Toole was such a brilliant man. I would have loved to have seen Richard Burton seated at that table. He too had a deep appreciation for Shakespeare.
This is such a WONDERFUL archive treasure - look how relaxed and yet so engaged they are! And how informed, how well-opinionated and informed. It is a pity that we do not have the equivalent format today.
This is like watching an interview with Shakespeare himself. There is no better authority or interpreter of the Bard than Saint Peter of O’Toole or Sir Orson Falstaff Welles. Thank you for this clip.
They never became drinkers until much later my dear. It is clear that, at this point (Oct. '63), they are bright, and their memories are functioning wonderfully in their primes. The stress and drinking that ravaged all of the great actors during this period, was just a ways off.
KenKen3593 I don't think the reason they speak so clearly is because of the pressure of appearing on TV or anything associated with it for that manner. I think it's more to do with appealing to the common denominator in TV and dumbing everything down, instead of speaking to your audience as if they had some understanding of what you were saying.
zipher123 I think the modern problem of TV you are describing is the incessant need for laughs brought about by the 'Late night' comedic host, which has infiltrated all TV interviewing and talk shows. It is about narcissistic promotion and forced comedy, which is why we can't have nice things like this. Actors roundtable comes rather close though, as does one on one director interviews.
Yes Orson is a beast of knowledge and domination. I agree he likes O'Toole's thoughts and company; that's an achievement, as Orson had zero tolerance for the weak minded.
well you could look at him in this way. The 'War of the Wars' was definitely a case of that. He was a control freak and perfectionist that influenced stanley Kubrick with that tendency, a monomania.
The talent in that room would keep the lights on alone. Giant talent and men in control of their profession like no other. Where oh where are such actors now... 24.18 minutes of pure gold!!
I love the fact that Wells sees the essence of Hamlet as a genius. It feels like a “tell”, when we see the things about which we obsess. Wonderful clip all around, thank you for this.
This is a magnificent piece and a great find. 👏 Following the discussion of these superb intellects, provides me with new insights to an already complex and brilliant play. Mind you, i could listen to Welles readings aloud a restaurant menu and be utterly captivated. Much more like this please!
Just found this! An American of fierce intelligence and love of Shakespeare , an Anglo/Irish actor of equally dedicated love, an Anglo/American actor with a life spent in the glory of the Bard. Bliss!
@@linshanhsiang Well his mother was Scottish, his father was Irish but he was born in Leeds in England. So yes, Anglo/Irish. (Whatever yarn he span Carson).
@@pedelibero Being born on English soil does not make you English. And "Anglo Irish" has a precise meaning, that is, a descendant of English settlers on Irish soil who did not intermarry with native Irish. Look it up. And could a name be more Irish than "O'Toole"?
@@linshanhsiang'Anglo Irish’ does not just mean 'a descendant of English settlers on Irish soil'. The trouble with people like you is you look something up on Wikipedia and think you’ve done the research. Unlike you I am Irish and I get very tired of English people like O’Toole claiming they are Irish born when they’re not. To quote a headline in the Irish Independent ‘O'Toole's claims of Irish roots are blarney’. If you don’t know what ‘blarney’ means, look it up. PS having an Irish surname doesn’t make you Irish, that’s a fantasy indulged in by Yanks.
@@pedelibero "People like me"? You assume I base my remarks on Wikipedia, when they are actually based on years of reading about the Anglo-irish. Dictionaries support my contention that "Anglo-Irish" as a noun refers to descendants of English settled in Ireland. Second meaning is adjectival, referring to a treaty between the countries. Additionally, there is no reason to doubt that O'Tooles father was from Ireland. His mother may have been Scottish but archeologists tell us that the Irish settled Scotland in ancient times, eventually intermarrying with the native Picts, so Scots have the right to claim they are of Irish descent. You seem to support your opinion on a newspaper article. Well, we all know how much they are worth. Mostly good for lining the birdcage.
Thank you so much for posting this. It's a true jewel and an example of what the medium of television could be again, if anyone were paying attention. O'Toole has been my beloved favorite since my teens and I'm so grateful for this first-rate material by which to remember him.
Thank you so much for posting this! It's absolutely wonderful to see. My teacher told me to look this up - wish I could see the whole thing but thankful to have this morsel. How absolutely brilliant. xox
Just a word here about my father, Huw Wheldon, who chaired this conversation, and who was the presenter and editor and generally grand panjandrum of 'Monitor' - he and Welles had worked together before, for the BBC, and OW was keen that Wheldon should be his producer. Dad wisely turned the offer down. He said that being in a room with OW 'was like being in a room with a cathedral', a surreal, but brilliant description.
That's genuinely fascinating. Thank you for sharing it.
Is there any chance that more of this interview exists?
Wynn Pierce Wheldon,
Your father was mind-controller. Obviously, nothing to be proud of.
'Monitor' - mon - moon - the left-side of the brain. He was only, programming the masses to use their lower-self. Actors, directors and editors and such are employed to train something sinister into to sub-conscious of the unwitting.
The BBC ain't nicknamed the British Brainwashing Corporation, for nothing.
Incidentally, it is also, called the British Buggering Corporation because it is full of paedophiles and other freaks. That's why there is a statue of a boy and a weird looking man at the front entrance to it's studios.
Your Dad was almost certainly, a Freemason (as they-all are) so, if you don't think I'm correct
realise, that their is sentence punishable with death for those who, disclose their sordid secrets.
Realise they are master manipulators and deceivers, which is why you are utterly clueless, I am sad to write
💙.
WOW.
I just watched your father's interview of OW in 1960 and it was brilliant. And I remember thinking so well that Welles enjoyed the interview and appreciated your father. You must be very proud. Thanks for sharing.
I came here for Orson, but Peter O'Toole clearly could give a master class on Shakespeare--not just from the acting perspective, but from the philosophical, emotional, historical, and poetic perspective. I learned so much from his few minutes of commentary and conversation. The importance of letting the verse guide the thought and action, the relevance to the Renaissance audience of drawing out particular passions, the relevance of Church doctrines and belief to the interpretation of the Ghost. Wow! So much to chew on from such a short clip! A very learned man at only 31. I wish he was still with us. I wish they all were. I won't look at any of the plays again without considering O'Toole's comments.
This is what makes TH-cam great! Not things like tic tok or vine.
When I read Peter Otoole and Orson Welles having a discussion about Hamlet....wonderful!!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen footage of o’toole speaking so freely or of Welles being so candid and gregarious. They must have enjoyed each other immensely.
I'm sure they did but this is about the 7th interview in a row I have seen on You Tube and Orson has been pretty consistently candid and gregarious in all of them. From young, mid, to old age he seemed to have walked a thin line between being very intellectual and yet very candid and affable.
I like to imagine them going down the pub and continuing this conversation over Scotch and pints of Guinness.
These type of interviews with serious people are so missed. This is absolutely fascinating and it’s so spontaneous and genuine. Just wonderful.
I can't even imagine any American actors engaging in a discussion this brilliant today.
Agree. Sad.
@@carefulconsumer8682 Why do you say “American” in particular?
Inn Part tea cool l'aire
nö party, gain
I love Peter O'Toole and Orson Welles so much.. so seeing them together gives me so much happiness. XD
Welles considered O'Toole in what turned out to be the Huston-role in the as yet unreleased The Other side of the Wind.
@@tomnovak9658 Available on Netflix at the moment.
Oh well... what a tool!
God I wish somebody could post the full discussion
What a pleasure to experience Peter in his genius rather than acting the charming fool as he so often did in interview settings. To hear him speak of Hamlet, to understand all that he carried in his thoughts and knowing as he enacted the parts, is to understand why he was such a great actor.
Kinda reminds me of that gag in the Simpsons where it’s revealed the Krusty show was originally an intellectual talk show from around this time. Krusty even has a similar get up to o’Toole’s lol
It's a privilege to hear this beautifully rich conversation.
I love the moments of silence ... unimaginable nowadays ...
Yes moments of silence so the mouth does not spurt out gibberish like nowadays. Dumbing down for 21st century wimps.
@@alexr2172 great counterpoint. I think both points are equally valid.
Amazing! Was that what BBC viewers could encounter on their TV set in 1963?
Where have we come in 60 years?
From this to transsexual perverts talking about PRIDE week !
🤮🤮🤮
Down, down, down
@@johnnyhock Being gay/trans doesn't make you a pervert, you rancid bigot. Grow up.
5:22 Welles: "I don't think any madman ever said 'Why what an ass am I.'" - this moment brought tears to my eyes for reasons I don't fully understand. Powerful words.
Study shakespeare and the great british actors. Its not just philosophy, its embodying life in all its permutations. Read about Harris and O’Toole. Believe me theres nothint wrong with you. Youre human, its the world thats growing sick. Men in this era understood deeply the literature and art of our history. You should too! Memorize some shakespeare
I should think it would depend on the particular mental malady. Certainly Donald Trump would never say it, but as far as we know he’s not psychotic; he suffers, rather, from multiple personality disorders. I’ve known (not very well, though) two schizophrenics, and I can imagine both of them saying it or something more or less like it.
Can you imagine Donald Drumpf saying "What an ass am I?" His brain would literally explode. And that is why he cannot be allowed another term as President.
@@itsallgoodman4108 The least we could do is educate ourselves, whoever we are and wherever we are from, everyone should be learned in history and literature.
@@andrewwilliams9599 to be fair his brain did come close to exploding
Wow, this is one treasure of a conversation.
Peter O’Toole was not only a great actor but also a true intellect.
At its most captivating in his assessment of Ms. Garbo.
@@mortalclown3812hahahaha 😆
It was the glasses.
Incredible to see this glimpse of O'Toole's intelligence and education. Obviously he was a great actor but it's clear to see he knew his stuff inside and out and was truly passionate about it. Of course Welles could talk insightfully at length on almost any topic, but I hadn't seen O'Toole talking seriously about his work before
Welles always strikes me as extremely affected. He doesn’t argue here so much as proclaim, and he is so pleased with his proclamations and pronouncements that he usually repeats them verbatim immediately. He also repeatedly shouts down Ernest Milton’s very reasonable and considered opinions while Peter O’Toole piles on. It’s nice that Peter O’Toole has done a bit of homework and is willing to share it with us, but that’s all I can really say in his favor.
@jeffburns4219 imo O'Toole was the only one who was talking from knowledge. Milton was mainly talking personal perceptions and spirituality - nothing wrong with that except it being not particularly informative or insightful unless you're invested in knowing about Milton the man himself. If only Welles had allowed the other two to finish their sentences once in a while. But I do think O'Toole had the correct approach to the inquiries (using contemporary discourses to aid the textual analysis whilst aware of the historical impliations of there being various quartos etc) they touched upon even though he hadn't been right all the time, and him and Milton would have perhaps been able to hold an actual conversation without someone with 10X volume constantly shouting down and piling on.
Absolutely marvellous conversation just shows how dumbed down television and audiences are today! Cant stop playing it back.
Yes, I have watched it six or seven times.
Get over yourself
Yeah, I have a hard time imagining this conversation on modern TV, even on PBS.
Oh, lord. Have you seen the Dagwood movies? There was PLENTY of crap back then - and always. Just as there’s plenty of highbrow stuff now.
You can't stop playing this back? 😂 😂 😂 Get Netflix fast.
Can anyone imagine having this on the bbc today? How far we’ve fallen.
Indeed
Probably would be considered problematic and far-right.
@@emilinebelle7811 that made you sound exactly like an angry clinical psychopath and Nazi
@@emilinebelle7811 STOP BEING MAD AT IMAGINARY PEOPLE
@@Lircking
Um, take your meds.
6:27 Seeing Orson Welles laugh always makes me feel good about living.
I don't know why i often return to the video to see him laugh out loud. So satisfying non scripted spontaneous reaction!
Yes
Personally, I was more taken with the twinkle in another man's eye - (and the gentle exasperation) as OW was guffawing in reaction to one of Peter's many elegant slam-downs.
Especially when they cut to the other guy who refuses to participate in such low brow humor lmao and then back to welles' contorted face.
Could someone exlain please what he laughs at?
what a wonderful insight analysis on HAMLET ... THANK YOU FOR UP-LOADING THIS JEWEL ..
i've always admired and revered orson welles, but am captivated by o'toole's intellect as highlighted in this excerpt. what a freaking genius he was - and what a delight this video is to watch!
cynicalgirl67 - Yes. Until the booze took its toll! What a pity!
@@wiseonwords
Intellectuals and alcohol always go together and hand in hand.
OW was probably very jealous of PO.
It is not true that others follow the same path as you, Mylady
Lovely Peter o Toole with spectacles,,, ❤️
What I like about this is that it is not overly moderated but feels like a real and spontaneous conversation. Today moderators impose themselves too much in seeking to guide conversation, hand out parcels of speaking time to each speaker, et . But in real every day life we don't have moderated conversations and that is what helps the flow of ideas. Here are four people talking.
This is literally a meeting of the minds, captured on film. The way Orson & O'Toole discover they agree with eachother, those aha! moments when each one hears their own thoughts put into words by the other. It's lovely, the conversation really blossoms when they discover they're kindred spirits about certain elements of Hamlet. That it's documented on film is just one of the everyday miracles of modernity.
Isn't this video?
hysterical laughter.... drops to straight face, "Indeed."
Travis Rios hahahahahahaha thats hilerious
6:35 for reference
@@Herodollus I'm sorry I have a bad English I can't understand what peter o'toole said before orson laughed. Can you please tell me?
Actors are insane .. all of them
@@SLASHzoneYEAH raving Swedish lesbian! I had to look it up too!
This is a verbal ballet. I love it.
i.e. "I think everybody in the play is mad; Hamlet's the only sane one in it." 5:06
Thanks for the lovely image I now have in my head of Orson Welles in a pink tutu and points...
Isn't this just wonderful; isn't it just the best!!!! What a moment in time captured forever!!!
I find it self indulgent and cringey.
Elegant way of speech, fascinating conversations, and THESE TWO PEOPLE IN THE SAME ROOM?!!!! Thank you internet for this...for a way I can live in a beautiful past.
I have listened to this many times, watched or read Hamlet, and watched this again. What a rare and superb nugget to have survived on film and made it to the electronic archives. These two are probably the premier Shakespearean actors of their time (yes, I really believe so), and their observations helped my really understand Hamlet for the first time.
How can you watch and read Hamlet without understanding what it means. Ridiculous
There comes a time in every man's life when he encounters the stark realisation that he will never be as cultured and articulate as Orson Welles
It's hard to believe that he's from the midwest in U.S.
I could listen to them speak about this for days and never get tired of it.
Wow! I am almost spell bound by these intelligent, loquacious, mellifluous and eloquent orators. People spoke beautiful in those days, even OW mid Atlantic English
I can listen this over and over.
"He must have been a great actor.... He must have been a great actor" The look on Peter's face - Truly brilliant!
Peter O'Toole was a genuine scholar! He didn't come off that way at all on Carson, etc. And, Welles was a real class act (In social settings ... check out videos of him directing. As you might expect, quite focused and a perfectionist.)
Thanks so much for posting.
How amazingly O'Tool talks about passion and human instinct and passion, how beautifully expressed and joy gets completed when Wells just talks with that tenor voice!
Wow! How gratifying to see 4 very smart men (2 of whom may have been geniuses) discuss a complex and obtuse series of Shakespearean passages with such insight. They don't have TV like this anymore.
Paul Wardle - I think you chose the wrong word to describe the Shakespearean passages. Shakespeare was not "obtuse" and he didn't write obtusely. Perhaps you meant to write "obscure."
.
it's just so satisfying how Peter and Orson are so in sync....they really enjoy each others company and it's almost like the other 2 are school professors and their the bad students.
Thank you so much for this wonderful fragment. The loss of Peter O'Toole is the one that saddens me most.
What a treat to listen to two of my favorite actors discuss with such aplomb and humor about a great play like Hamlet. How brilliant they were.
APLOMB? dont even try
I feel so privelaged listening to this conversation. This is so special to hear these giants among men talk with one another nonchalantly.
Shakespeare has a line to sum up every mood. My favourite is, “ When sorrow comes, they come not as single spies but in battalions.” Hamlet.
What good fortune to come across this film. The finesse of these two then young actors - two geniuses with their langourous-like charm and tremendous spontaneity/passion and cheek/humour. This is a real discussion and very enriching. The two old fogeys are out of their depth in terms of personality. Who's like these two today I wonder ?
Can you imagine a round table with Robert DiNiro, Lee Marvin, Warren Oats and Andy Warhol (he was a movie director)? I have seen them all on TV separately. Excruciating.
I'm pretty sure a round table with those four would be anything but excruciating - on the right day.
Goodness that hard break at the end was painful. What a delightful discussion. Thank you.
It's wonderful to see how brilliant Peter O'Toole could be when he wasn't drunk. So marvellous to see and hear this conversation.
He didn't drink for more than the last thirty years of his life so I'm not sure what you mean.
@@garymitchell5899 Orson Welles looked young in this and so did Peter O'Toole, and at that time he really did drink very heavily, as he was the first to admit. He honestly looked very different when he was older, poor man, as he suffered from some very serious health problems. From the appearance of both men, I took this conversation to have taken place a long time ago.
Oh, I'm sure he's a bit drunk here...Welles probably was too. They're just not "blotto" or anything...
One of the best discussions about Shakespeare and Hamlet ever. Peter O'Toole is on fire. Orson Welles is a great foil.
At 6:10, O'Toole comments on Garbo's Queen Christina - don't know what's funnier, Orson Welles' breaking up or Ernest Milton's silent glare!
Steven segal
57buickcentury. 7
I love them all together: Orson Welles busting out laughing, Milton's unamused stare, and Peter O'Toole looking around like, "C'mon, give it to me! Give it to me!"
Peter wasn't a homophobe was he?
It would certainly surprise me if I discovered he was.
@@quincycampbell9828 I think in this case his use of the words "dyke" is more endearing than it is meant as an insult. They are after all talking about a fellow actor(Greta Garbo), whom they no doubt, in reality, respected.
Some temporal context for this intellectual and cultural feast:
At the time of this airing, Johnny Carson had helmed the "Tonight" show, over here in the States, for almost exactly a year; O'Toole had become an international superstar in "Lawrence of Arabia," one year earlier; Welles had done the same thing with "Citizen Kane," 22 years earlier; and the Beatles were due to take America (and, by extension, the world) by storm in four short months.
I love the delight with which O'Toole and Welles enjoy each others' observations about "Hamlet" and Shakespeare... did they ever work together? What I would give to see that...
To my knowledge, I have neither heard of, nor seen, the work of Ernest Milton, but based on his contributions here, I must assume that, as an actor, he was marvelous.
Thank you for this. Yes, it would've been great to see a collaboration between the two great talents.
Excellent perspectives on a delightful conversation.
As far as I can find, they never worked together on a film or play and our world is poorer for it, without doubt. However, they had a healthy stable of mutual friends (Anthony Quinn, John Huston, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and John Gielgud being among the more notable) and so the two likely shared a dinner table more than once. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for those conversations, especially after a bottle of wine (or two, or three). Hopefully, the two are in the great theatre in the sky, splitting a humidor of fine cigars and whiling away eternity with the Bard himself.
Ernest Milton, by the way, was an Anglo-American actor who played Hamlet regularly on the London stage from the 1920s to the 1940s, and in his day was considered one of the finest interpreters of the Danish Prince. The list of actors who could have made a better third triumvir for this discussion is remarkably short; in their day, it might have only included John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, and were it possible, perhaps the ghost of Edwin Booth (conjuring a spirit to discuss Hamlet seems doubly fitting).
Without resorting to gross sentimentalism, I wish modern television featured more stirring discourses like this. Look at the popularity of podcasts; clearly a market exists for fine conversation and expert discussion. And yet all our networks seem to produce is trite, sensationalized sludge. Thank goodness for TH-cam, preserving the thoughts of these masters for the interested and erudition-starved.
One minor thing I'd to add about the posting mentioning Johnny Carson. In The Best.of Johnny Carson 1970s-1980s, tape 2, halfway through, we.have "Huckster Hamlet" Johnny doing the To Be or Not To Be, constantly stopping to try and sell stuff. He says To sleep no.more... and pulls out over the counter sleeping aids! "The shocks that flesh is heir too..If you are having trouble with your shocks... and he pulls.out a card for car repairs..It's really not to be missed for fans of Hamlet.
What a flowering of popular culture that time was. Middle-brow culture at its height, and I don't mean "middle-brow" to be an insult in the slightest. It's a missing aspect of today's culture, where everything is either so supposedly "high" that it no longer has need for beauty, or is in the gutter, where beauty is mocked as something unattainable and therefore elitist and necessary to tear down.
Thank you for posting this treat. It's great to see a conversation with Peter O'Toole and Orson Welles.
Wow, this is wonderful; I had no idea this existed. A true gem to watch and hear these legends.
Enjoyed that thoroughly. Made me consider Hamlet in an entirely new way. O'Toole was such a brilliant man. I would have loved to have seen Richard Burton seated at that table. He too had a deep appreciation for Shakespeare.
wouldve been friction between him and Welles, Welles didn't like him one bit
Richard Burton would have loved this debate...
Burton? no way, I would love to have had Shakespeare himself there to clarify what these guys are talking about cus I don't have a
clue.
Too bad for you.
This is such a WONDERFUL archive treasure - look how relaxed and yet so engaged they are! And how informed, how well-opinionated and informed. It is a pity that we do not have the equivalent format today.
This is like watching an interview with Shakespeare himself. There is no better authority or interpreter of the Bard than Saint Peter of O’Toole or Sir Orson Falstaff Welles. Thank you for this clip.
What a gift to look at now that Peter is gone.
And Welles.
Adonis O'toole
Damn, Peter O'Toole was cool.
I'd give a lot to get hold of this whole program.
Fascinating discussion, and so painfully cut short at the end.
My *god* this is glorious.
+Jake Mabe Spot on.
This is nonsense! 3 drunks.
They never became drinkers until much later my dear. It is clear that, at this point (Oct. '63), they are bright, and their memories are functioning wonderfully in their primes. The stress and drinking that ravaged all of the great actors during this period, was just a ways off.
@@lynnmiller3937 Your envy is showing, my dear.
They are completely immersed in the flow of thought. What delightful brilliant men!
Please, we need entire interview, all of it. Please
They all talk so proper. No one talks like that any more... shame.
and they worked on some amazingly kick4ss, brilliant film projects btw ;-)
That's because no one talks about Hamlet on television anymore.
KenKen3593 I don't think the reason they speak so clearly is because of the pressure of appearing on TV or anything associated with it for that manner. I think it's more to do with appealing to the common denominator in TV and dumbing everything down, instead of speaking to your audience as if they had some understanding of what you were saying.
Especially when O'Toole called Greta Garbo a "raving Svenska dyke".
zipher123 I think the modern problem of TV you are describing is the incessant need for laughs brought about by the 'Late night' comedic host, which has infiltrated all TV interviewing and talk shows. It is about narcissistic promotion and forced comedy, which is why we can't have nice things like this. Actors roundtable comes rather close though, as does one on one director interviews.
There just aren't any personalities like Welles anymore. Shame. Thank God for TH-cam.
I have viewed this video numerous times. Brilliant.
These were the days when people wanted to be actors, not movies stars. And there is a big difference.
Spot on. Actors. Movie stars are incidental.
Great point and brilliant considering one of O'Toole's greatest lines from "My Favorite Year" is "I am not an actor! I'm a movie star!"
The greatest actors are movie stars too. Star quality is charisma.
Not true.
Actors pretend to be somebody
Movies stars pretend that somebody is them.
Masters of the screen and stage, great conversation!!
They uncover some real jewels of thinking about the play as they discuss. A great find. Thanks for posting.
2 of my favorite geniuses: Peter O'Toole and Orson Wells. I love youtube for this kind of thing.
Thank you for this treasure! Genius at work!!!
At times Welles does overdominate the conversation but he certianly seems to like and appreciate O'Toole's thoughts.
Yes Orson is a beast of knowledge and domination. I agree he likes O'Toole's thoughts and company; that's an achievement, as Orson had zero tolerance for the weak minded.
Paul Baran The Orson can have a powerful influence on the weak-minded
well you could look at him in this way. The 'War of the Wars' was definitely a case of that. He was a control freak and perfectionist that influenced stanley Kubrick with that tendency, a monomania.
He's freakin' Orson Welles, pal
TheBritomart I'm a fan of Orson Welles.He is the greatest motion picture director of all time...
"This discussion is going to wallow in agreement." It certainly did, and is all the more wonderful and revelatory for it.
Orson was a raconteur. There are few of any like him alive today.
He was truly the most interesting man in the world and we have nothing remotely equal to his greatness today, much to our detriment.
A Jewell! Milton' vs Otoole and Welles in the middle, lighting the fire of conflict. Great!
Incredible conversation! Breathtaking! I wish there another hour of this!
The talent in that room would keep the lights on alone. Giant talent and men in control of their profession like no other. Where oh where are such actors now... 24.18 minutes of pure gold!!
I love the fact that Wells sees the essence of Hamlet as a genius. It feels like a “tell”, when we see the things about which we obsess. Wonderful clip all around, thank you for this.
Welles had the best voice of them all rip
This is a magnificent piece and a great find. 👏 Following the discussion of these superb intellects, provides me with new insights to an already complex and brilliant play.
Mind you, i could listen to Welles readings aloud a restaurant menu and be utterly captivated.
Much more like this please!
Just found this! An American of fierce intelligence and love of Shakespeare , an Anglo/Irish actor of equally dedicated love, an Anglo/American actor with a life spent in the glory of the Bard. Bliss!
Was O'Toole Anglo-irish? Think he was simply Irish. Carson once said to him "You're English" (what an idiot) and Peter had to correct him!
@@linshanhsiang Well his mother was Scottish, his father was Irish but he was born in Leeds in England. So yes, Anglo/Irish. (Whatever yarn he span Carson).
@@pedelibero Being born on English soil does not make you English. And "Anglo Irish" has a precise meaning, that is, a descendant of English settlers on Irish soil who did not intermarry with native Irish. Look it up. And could a name be more Irish than "O'Toole"?
@@linshanhsiang'Anglo Irish’ does not just mean 'a descendant of English settlers on Irish soil'. The trouble with people like you is you look something up on Wikipedia and think you’ve done the research. Unlike you I am Irish and I get very tired of English people like O’Toole claiming they are Irish born when they’re not. To quote a headline in the Irish Independent ‘O'Toole's claims of Irish roots are blarney’. If you don’t know what ‘blarney’ means, look it up. PS having an Irish surname doesn’t make you Irish, that’s a fantasy indulged in by Yanks.
@@pedelibero "People like me"? You assume I base my remarks on Wikipedia, when they are actually based on years of reading about the Anglo-irish. Dictionaries support my contention that "Anglo-Irish" as a noun refers to descendants of English settled in Ireland. Second meaning is adjectival, referring to a treaty between the countries.
Additionally, there is no reason to doubt that O'Tooles father was from Ireland. His mother may have been Scottish but archeologists tell us that the Irish settled Scotland in ancient times, eventually intermarrying with the native Picts, so Scots have the right to claim they are of Irish descent.
You seem to support your opinion on a newspaper article. Well, we all know how much they are worth. Mostly good for lining the birdcage.
Exquisite discussion. Thank you.
Extremely enjoyable and educational. Many thanks for posting.
Love those great interviews with those great minds- rare to find anything like that today.
fascinating: the range of thought that's in the play, the character, the varied interpretations.
What a gem!
The collective attributes of the gentleman in this presentation are phenomenal and irreplaceable... bravo!
Seeing O'toole so young, sharp, piercing, is... He was a very different young man before all those years of living.
To be able to witness this recording in 2017 is astounding. Thanks so much for this upload.
6:25 Orson Welles' laugh... gets me everytime.
Thank you for uploading this "gem" imperfections and all. Truly a gift.
This should become a national treasure
thank you for sharing this, just delightful to hear them talk about a play they were clearly so passionate about.
A must for school students doing Hamlet. Also, I didn’t know The Ghost was originally played by WS himself!
Love these old luvvies
Orson, Peter, I love you!
Tragically the ending is missing.
I cannot thank you enough for posting this !
Thank you so much for posting this. It's a true jewel and an example of what the medium of television could be again, if anyone were paying attention. O'Toole has been my beloved favorite since my teens and I'm so grateful for this first-rate material by which to remember him.
I enjoy watching this conversation a couple times a year
Find the end......fascinating insight and exquisite use of a long forgotten language, English.
might be the best video on TH-cam.
Thank you so much for posting this! It's absolutely wonderful to see. My teacher told me to look this up - wish I could see the whole thing but thankful to have this morsel. How absolutely brilliant. xox
How remarkable! I'm so glad that this conversation still exist.
Wow. Peter O'Toole and Orson Welles giggling. Beautiful Bromance.
This is wonderful! Where are actors like these today? Where are conversations like this today?