Othello (character) of "The Three Apples", one of the stories narrated in the "One Thousand and One Nights" ("Arabian Nights"). Desdemona is the only named character in Cinthio's tale, his other characters being identified as the Moor, the squadron leader, the ensign, and the ensign's wife. While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthio's tale in composing "Othello", he departed from it in some details, particularly in the tale's depiction of Desdemona's death. In Cinthio, the Moor commissions his ensign to bludgeon Desdemona to death with a sand-filled stocking. In gruesome detail, Cinthio follows each blow, and, when the lady is dead, the Moor and
Filming Othello Filming Othello Filming Othello is a 1978 documentary film directed by and starring Orson Welles about the making of his award-winning 1951 production "Othello". The film, which was produced for West German television, was the last completed feature film directed by Welles. "Filming Othello" begins with Welles standing behind a moviola. He directly addresses the camera and announces: "This is to be a conversation, certainly not anything so formal as a lecture, and what we're going to talk about is "Othello", Shakespeare's play and the film I made of it." Welles initially conducts a monologue where he recalls the events