File talk:Orson Welles.jpg

Mislabelled year?

I'm 99% sure that the year given is wrong. The tag mentions the filming of Mr. Arkadin in Madrid in 1954, and a caption to this photo on the Orson Welles article gives it as being taken during the filming of Arkadin in 1956 (which is definitely wrong - Arkadin finished filming in '54, and was released in '55).

I'm pretty sure that it was taken sometime between 1965 and 1969 - Welles's weight and grey hair are consistent with those dates (he wasn't anywhere near as fat in '54 or '56, and didn't start greying until the mid-60s, while he grew a beard in '69/'70, which he kept for the rest of his life, so it's not post-'69). I don't doubt it was taken in Madrid - he had a house just outside the city, and it was his main home in the late 60s, which is consistent with his appearance here.

Perhaps amend the caption to mention the late 1960s? Debonairchap (talk) 16:55, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

I disagree. As indicated on the file page, the source of the photo is this post on Flickr by Iberia Airlines. Iberia Airlines titled the photo "Orson Welles (1954)" and the caption reads, "Actor/director Orson Welles arriving in Madrid February 27, 1954." This is the airline's own promotional photo, and they would know. — WFinch (talk) 18:59, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

I disagree that Iberia Airlines would know. Having looked again at this, I'm now absolutely convinced that the caption is wrong - after all, they're an airline, not an archive.

Look at the full-size image at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Orson_Welles.jpg and zoom in on Welles's face. Now compare that image to http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/images/3350orso.jpg which is a photo taken from "Orson Welles's Sketchbook", which was filmed in February 1955. This image is definitely of an older, greyer, MUCH heavier man, with a receding hairline - at least ten years older. Welles was 38 in February 1954. This picture shows a man in his fifties.

Seriously, look up any Welles biography and compare this photo to him in the 50s and him in the 60s. It was definitely taken in the mid-late 1960s.

Another clue is the all-black clothing. He didn't start wearing all black (to conceal his weight) until the early 60s - it's something his partner Oja Kodar first suggested, and they didn't even meet until 1962.

Furthermore, the guy standing behind him is wearing a thin tie, of the kind that wasn't in fashion until the early 60s.

And look at other photos from the same Iberia Airlines photostream. There's another picture from 1954, of Errol Flynn (and that sounds right - Flynn was dead by 1959!) It's at http://www.flickr.com/photos/iberialineasaereas/5811714666/in/photostream/ The single-stripe paint job on the Iberia Airlines plane behind Flynn doesn't match the double-stripe paint job on the plane in the Welles photo. This is clearly a mislabelled photo from the 1960s - I can post more links to contemporary photos of Welles if you want more comparisons!Debonairchap (talk) 03:35, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

In fact, to prove my point, this photo here was taken in January 1955 (from the filming of Three Cases of Murder), and this photo here is from September 1955, during the shooting of Around the World With Orson Welles. Both show a younger, slimmer Welles. Now compare to this picture from 1966, taken from the Maysle Brothers' documentary on Welles in Spain, and you can see that the photo's definitely from the 60s.Debonairchap (talk) 04:03, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

The source of this photo states that the year is 1954. It is their photo. If you feel that is in dispute, remove the image from the article. — WFinch (talk) 14:01, 21 February 2013 (UTC)