Othello is a 1952 drama film based on the Shakespearean play, made by Mercury Productions Inc. and Les Films Marceau and distributed by United Artists (1955). It was directed and produced by Orson Welles, who also played the title role (in blackface makeup). The screenplay was adapted by Welles and an uncredited Jean Sacha. The film was shot on location in Morocco, Venice, Tuscany and Rome and at the Scalera Studios in Rome. Welles trimmed the th...
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Othello is a 1952 drama film based on the Shakespearean play, made by Mercury Productions Inc. and Les Films Marceau and distributed by United Artists (1955). It was directed and produced by Orson Welles, who also played the title role (in blackface makeup). The screenplay was adapted by Welles and an uncredited Jean Sacha. The film was shot on location in Morocco, Venice, Tuscany and Rome and at the Scalera Studios in Rome. Welles trimmed the three-hour Shakespeare play to 91 minutes for the film.
In addition to Orson Welles, the cast consisted of Micheál MacLiammóir as Iago, Robert Coote as Roderigo, Suzanne Cloutier as Desdemona, Michael Laurence as Cassio, Fay Compton as Emilia and Doris Dowling as Bianca. Joseph Cotten and Joan Fontaine also appear, uncredited.
One of Welles's more complicated shoots, Othello was filmed erratically over three years. Shooting began in 1949, but was forced to shut down when finance dried up. The film's completion was hampered by its Italian backer...
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