Watch: The Complete 1955 BBC Series 'Orson Welles' Sketch Book'

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by Charlie Schmidlin
March 19, 2013 10:45 AM
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Scattered throughout Orson Welles’ storied career are lost fragments of TV appearances: insightful outtakes mixed with revealing audio fragments. He was a deft raconteur on any subject -- as the BBC series “Around the World with Orson Welles” and “Orson Welles’ Sketch Book” show -- but while the former found release on DVD a while ago, the latter has just popped up online.

Written and directed by Welles, “Orson Welles' Sketch Book” totaled six short episodes for the BBC in 1955, and features him recalling personal anecdotes and interesting stories to the camera in his inimitable style. The first installment, “The Early Days,” finds Welles describing his start in theater, while the last, “Bullfighting,” follows the true story of Benito the Bull -- a subject the director later used as part of his unfinished film, “It’s All True.”

As with most everything Welles touched, the six commentaries are endlessly entertaining and charming, while also sporting some great lines as well. Check out the episodes below, and get your required fill of Welles, which -- as he says -- “ought to come as a nice break in the horrid monotony.” [via The Seventh Art]