The Merchant of Venice (partially found Orson Welles film; 1969): Difference between revisions

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File:Orson Welles Shylock.jpg
Orson Welles in a still from the film.

The Merchant of Venice was an unreleased made-for-TV adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare produced, directed and starring Orson Welles. It co-starred Charles Gray and Irina Maleeva. The project was filmed in 1969  in Italy and Yugoslavia during a break from another ill-fated project, The Deep. It was intended to have been aired as part of a 90-minute special called Orson's Bag. However, as the project was close to completion, CBS withdrew their funding due to Welles' tax disputes with the U.S., forcing him to complete the project with his own money. However, after a screening of the film, the second and third reels of the workprint were stolen, leaving only the original negatives, which were silent.

Because of these problems, the film has never been released, all that has been shown are several clips as part of the documentary, Orson Welles: One Man Band.