Othello 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, with his few other characters identified only as the "Moor", the "Squadron Leader", the "Ensign", and the "Ensign's Wife" (corresponding to the play's Othello, Cassio, Iago and Emilia). Cinthio drew a moral (which he placed in the mouth of Desdemona) that it is unwise for European women to marry the temperamental men of other nations. Cinthio's tale has been described as a "partly racist warning" about the dangers of miscegenation. While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthio's
Filming Othello for an engagement at the Film Forum, a nonprofit cinema, and that presentation was acknowledged by Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" as "entertaining and revealing" and "full of priceless anecdotes." "Filming Othello" was released on home video for the first time on 10 October 2017 by The Criterion Collection. It was included in DVD and Blu-ray sets featuring newly restored 4K digital transfers of both the 1952 European and 1955 U.S. versions of "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".