Return to Glennascaul

Travelling through Dublin by car, Orson Welles (playing himself) gives a lift to a stranded man, who recounts a similar but strange occurrence of his own. Not particularly gripping as a ghost story; however, the detail is quite nice…and Mr. Welles' genial presence entirely welcome. Even so, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences thought it enough of a novelty at the time to deem it worthy of an Oscar nomination in the "Best Two-Reel Short Subject" category in 1953 – one that was eventually won by an obscure Walt Disney 'True-Life Adventure' documentary, BEAR COUNTRY! What is interesting to modern audiences in general and Welles scholars in particular is that the short under review was literally shot when the great man was taking a break from the filming of OTHELLO (1952) – an event which is captured in its very opening scenes! In fact, it was co-produced by Micheal MacLiammoir and writer/director Edwards who, were not only portraying Iago and Brabantio in Welles' exceptional filming of Shakespeare's tragedy, but had been Welles' theatrical cohorts in the late 1930s when he was just starting out. The restored version of the short – retitled ORSON WELLES' GHOST STORY – was overseen by genre producer Richard Gordon and introduced by the ubiquitous Peter Bogdanovich.

It's a short and quite simple but it's well done and has the right amount of atmosphere to work. Wish Orson had directed it, but it's still fun.

Interesting little short subject has Welles playing himself during a break from his tortuous shooting of "Othello". While driving thru Dublin on a stormy night, Welles offers a lift to a man with car trouble, who then recounts to him a supernatural experiance he'd had on the same stretch of road years ago.

A very measured short subject {seasoned quite well by the always welcome timbre of Welles' narration} keeps you interested thru the climax of the passenger's flashback which is genuinely chilling.

Listen quickly for Welles inside joke on the trouble with distributors...mechanical and otherwise.

This short little ghost story feels just like that, a story someone might tell during a long drive or over a campfire. The details are obscure enough to make you wonder and the reaction of Orson Welles to the story told him here is priceless to witness. A short little film which manages to tell an haunting story in a very short amount of time.

Return to Glennascaul (1953)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Orson Welles is on a break from filming OTHELLO and driving through the Dublin countryside. He picks up a man (Michael Laurence) who then tells him about a strange experience he had on the road the previous year. The man tells Welles about a couple women he picked up and the strange aftermath.

RETURN TO GLENNASCAUL isn't the most successful two-reeler ever made but somehow it ended up getting an Oscar-nomination. That's rather strange considering the film really isn't all that great plus the fact that Welles himself was often overlooked. The film is basically a ghost story but there's just nothing overly original about the story and the twist is certainly seen a mile ahead of when it actually happens. There's a little bit of an atmosphere but the short is really lacking any creepiness. The film is certainly watchable since it lasts under thirty-minutes but there's no question that it really isn't anything special. The most interesting thing about it is Welles and how there are a few jokes aimed at some of his various issues with the OTHELLO production.