Othello (Orson Welles stage production) Desdemona - or Shakespeare, according to which newspaper you read." Othello (Orson Welles stage production) Othello was a 1951 production of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, which was produced, directed by and starring Orson Welles in his first appearance on the London stage. In 1948, Orson Welles began work on a self-financed film of "Othello", which was not completed until 1952. Filming was sporadic, and he frequently stopped the production to take on other acting jobs (including "The Third Man") to raise more funds. In 1951, Welles had completed principal photography, but was still trying to raise money
Filming Othello at Boston Symphony Hall.) Some of Welles' "The Other Side of the Wind" crew—Gary Graver, Michael Stringer and Larry Jackson—worked on "Filming Othello". "Filming Othello" uses clips from "Othello", but the footage is not accompanied by the film's dialogue track. "Filming Othello" was first shown at the 1978 Berlin Film Festival. It was first screened in the U.S. in 1979 at the Public Theater in New York, where it played on a double bill with "Othello". However, the film's presentation did not receive newspaper reviews. "Filming Othello" had no further U.S. screenings until it returned to New York in 1987