Vidor Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Few things have made me literally laugh until I cried, but the outakes of this commercial were one of them. https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/orson-welles-drunk-wine-commercial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LornaHansonForbes Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I was driving just a few days ago and passed where someone had sat a bunch of cardboard boxes out by the curb for recycling and one of them was for PAUL MASSON And I had to imitate that wonderful bizarre pathetic drunken laugh of Orsons and say out loud to myself: “aHaHa HaHAHAHaHa!!! PAUL MASSON: the finest Califormian champagne!!!” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millenniumman Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 The other actors deserve an Emmy for those outake performances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txfilmfan Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Nice to get the full story. I had seen the outtakes a few years ago, and I just presumed he was drunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Det Jim McLeod Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 The funniest one I heard about Orson Welles was when he went off on a recording engineer who told him he had to do the scene again due to some background noise. Welles roared "WHY? I JUST DID IT RIGHT!! I TAKE DIRECTION FROM ONLY ONE PERSON, UNDER PROTEST!!!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LornaHansonForbes Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vidor Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 6 hours ago, txfilmfan said: Nice to get the full story. I had seen the outtakes a few years ago, and I just presumed he was drunk. Oh I'm pretty sure he was drunk and just making excuses to the poor guy who wrote the article above. Anyway, those outtakes manage to be both hysterical and depressing, as one can't watch them and not think about how poor Orson couldn't get better work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 He's obviously sloshed, but it puts a new spin on some of his other paycheck work in the 70's-- It's hard, for example, to not see a bit of tipple in his rambling classic-film intros for PBS: 🍹 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogie56 Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 You will find this first hand account on Wellesnet. Director recalls drunken Orson Welles wine commercial March 23, 2021 Orson Welles fans cringe — and YouTube users snicker — when they see a TV commercial outtake of the seemingly drunken actor-director hustling for Paul Masson. The embarrassing footage, originally passed around for years on VHS tapes, went viral in the digital age and has inspired numerous “Ah, the French” memes. But veteran British commercial producer and director Peter Shillingford, who was the assistant director on the infamous shoot, offered a compassionate account of the incident in a recent interview with Mel magazine‘s Brian VanHooker. Shillingford recalled how Welles had a contentious relationship with the ad agency men because he insisted on rewriting the copy. Welles appreciated how Shillingford kept them at arm’s length during the shoot. “I never saw an outburst from him, but there were confrontations between him and the agency, even though he always changed their dialogue for the better.” Welles shot eight commercials between between 1978 and 1981, always proclaiming “Paul Masson will sell no wine before its time.” He was credited with boosting sales for the California winery by 30 percent. (The “French champagne” commercial was the the fifth in the ad series and debuted in early 1980.) Shillingford described working with Welles during those commercial shoots as a “bundle of laughs.” “I’d stay with him at lunchtime too. I’ve read that he’d demand these huge meals, but he never ate lunch on the shoots I did with him. I’d sit with him and have a snack and he’d tell stories of old Hollywood and they were outrageous,” Shillingford said. “Those were magic times.” On the day of the “French champagne” shoot, Welles’ limousine arrived two hours late for the 10 a.m. shoot at a Los Angeles mansion, Shillingford recalled. He was beckoned to the limo by Welles, who appeared to be drunk, sleepy and mumbling. “I’m in trouble, Shillingford,” Welles told him. “Last night I was filming in Las Vegas. We had camera problems so the shoot went late — to dawn! I have not slept at all!” He explained that he had taken a sleeping pill when he left Las Vegas to sleep in the limo, but it had only just begun kicking in and his speech was beginning to slur. Welles attempted three takes to poor results and the dismay of the ad agency reps. Shillingford arranged for Welles to take a nap in one of the mansion bedrooms for a few hours in hopes of salvaging the shoot. “By 3 p.m. he’d been seated, and he delivered the lines perfectly. We were done by five, getting everything we needed without overtime. I remember him grinning at the furious agency guys as he walked away from the set.” Schillingford added, “On the way to the limo, he thanked me and said, ‘Lunch tomorrow, Shillingford, Ma Maison! One o’clock?’” “Of course I accepted. How could I refuse?” * * * The finished TV commercial for Paul Masson’s champagne: The three aborted takes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millenniumman Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 Am I the only one who thinks Orson Welles looks like John Candy in the Liberace Christmas Special ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 On 3/26/2021 at 3:51 AM, Vidor said: Few things have made me literally laugh until I cried, but the outakes of this commercial were one of them. https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/orson-welles-drunk-wine-commercial Sorry, but a few seconds in a box took over my PC screen requesting the entry of my e-mail address I assume in order for someone to send me some more of the SPAM they were trying to pester people with. So I didn't get to read all the text or see any outtakes. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txfilmfan Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 30 minutes ago, Sepiatone said: Sorry, but a few seconds in a box took over my PC screen requesting the entry of my e-mail address I assume in order for someone to send me some more of the SPAM they were trying to pester people with. So I didn't get to read all the text or see any outtakes. Sepiatone Scroll up a bit. Bogie56 posted a story that covers the same ground as the linked article. Also, I just "x"ed out of the email address request to read the original article. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Well, a second try got better results. But initially, I couldn't "x" out of the e-mail request box. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vidor Posted March 28, 2021 Author Share Posted March 28, 2021 I would not link to a story that was hidden behind a pay wall, and I too was able to X out the pop up. Poor Orson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts