Trivia / Othello (1951)

• Doing It for the Art: On the first day of shooting, the Italian producer announced that he was bankrupt. So Orson Welles financed the movie out of his own pocket.
• The Other Marty: The lengthy shoot meant that some roles had to be recast, and scenes re-shot:
  • Suzanne Cloutier replaced Lea Padovani, who had replaced Cecile Aubry.
  • Michael MacLiammoir replaced Everett Sloane.
• Prop Recycling: When Orson Welles acted in The Black Rose, he insisted that the coat his character wore be lined with mink, even though it would not be visible. Despite the expense, the producers agreed to his request. At the end of filming, the coat disappeared, but could subsequently be seen here with the fur lining exposed.
• Romance on the Set: Between Michael MacLiammoir (Iago) and Hilton Edwards (Brabantio)
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: Roderigo's murder in a Turkish bath was devised in that manner because the costumes had been impounded due to non-payment.
• Troubled Production: The film marked the first instance of a recurring theme for Orson Welles productions: shoots that dragged on for years as Welles kept having to shut down production until he could raise the money to continue.
  • Just after he began shooting in 1949, one of the film's Italian producers announced that he was bankrupt, and filming shut down. Welles had to fund the film out of pocket, and the shoot (as documented in Put Money in Thy Purse by Irish stage actor Micheál MacLiammóir, who played Iago in what became his only screen appearance) lasted three years as Welles shot whatever scenes he could with whatever cast, crew, and money were available. The delays meant several roles, including that of female lead Desdemona, had to be recast when the original performers had to honour other commitments, and the scenes involving the now departed actors had to be reshot.
  • To raise money for Othello, Welles agreed to take supporting roles in an assortment of films including The Third Man and The Black Rose; on the latter film, he insisted his character's robe be lined with mink even though it would not show up on the film, and when shooting wrapped, the coat vanished - Welles had taken it to wear in Othello. When Black Rose director Henry Hathaway complained about Welles' theft of costumes and cameras to his boss at 20th Century Fox, Darryl F. Zanuck, the studio mogul, an old friend of Welles, simply laughed it off. Welles was not so lucky with the costumes for the first scene of Act V, in which Iago and Roderigo make a failed attempt on Cassio's life that leaves Roderigo dead; the costumes intended for the scene were impounded, and with no money to get them out, they had to re-stage the scene in a Turkish bath with almost no dialogue.

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