Chimes at Midnight (1965)

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Chimes at Midnight (1965) – O. Welles

The culmination of Orson Welles’ re-visioning of Shakespeare’s plays, after his filming of MacBeth (1948) and Othello (1951) and his many staged versions, including Julius Caesar and something called “Five Kings (Part One)” which was the forerunner for this production. Chimes at Midnight extracts bits and pieces from several of the Bard’s history plays (principally Henry IV, Parts One and Two) in order to focus on the relationship between Sir John Falstaff (played merrily by Welles himself) and Prince Hal (later to be crowned Henry V). And although he filmed in Europe on a low budget, the result is never less than magnificent, with beautiful black and white cinematography, perfect sets and costumes, and fine acting from Welles himself, Sir John Gielgud (Henry IV) and Keith Baxter (Hal) with Margaret Rutherford (Mistress Quickly), Jeanne Moreau (Doll Tearsheet), and Fernando Rey (Worcester) in support, along with a large number of quirky character actors.  If Welles cut-and-paste from footage shot in different times and places (and dubbed his own voice in for others) you can’t really tell (his magic works). As with Othello, existing locations were utilised (including for Henry IV’s stone castle) but a set was built to represent the Inn where Falstaff resides, idling away his time on “sack” (booze) and women and occasionally engaging in highway robbery.  This is where Prince Hal also slums it, to his father’s chagrin.  The centrepiece to the film is an astounding battle sequence, with men in suits of armour hacking away at each other (and Falstaff hiding on the fringes or playing dead).  This is the first glimpse we get of Hal taking on his royal role, as he assists his father to stave off a rebellion by Henry (Hotspur) Percy.  Of course, later, when Henry IV is dead and Hal ascends the throne, the relationship with Falstaff is necessarily quashed, making for a melancholy (but not unexpected) finale.  Welles is perfect in the role, perhaps his best; he hears the chimes indeed.