Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight) is a 1966 period comedy drama film directed by and starring Orson Welles. The Spanish-Swiss co-production was released in the United States as Chimes at Midnight and in most of Europe as Falstaff. The film’s plot centres on Shakespeare’s recurring character Sir John Falstaff and the father-son relationship he has with Prince Hal, who must choose between loyalty to his father, King Henry IV, or Falstaff.
Welles said that the core of the film’s story was “the betrayal of friendship.” It stars Welles as Falstaff, Keith Baxter as Prince Hal, John Gielgud as Henry IV, Jeanne Moreau as Doll Tearsheet and Margaret Rutherford as Mistress Quickly. The script contains text from five of Shakespeare’s plays; primarily Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2, but also Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Ralph Richardson’s narration is taken from the works of chronicler Raphael Holinshed.
Welles had previously produced a Broadway stage adaptation of nine Shakespeare plays called Five Kings in 1939. In 1960, he revived this project in Ireland as Chimes at Midnight, which was his final on-stage performance. Neither of these plays was successful, but Welles considered portraying Falstaff to be his life’s ambition and turned the project into a film. In order to get initial financing, Welles lied to producer Emiliano Piedra about intending to make a version of Treasure Island keeping the film funded during its production was a constant struggle. Welles shot Chimes at Midnight throughout Spain between 1964 and 1965; it premiered at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, winning two awards there.
Initially dismissed by most film critics, Chimes at Midnight is now regarded as one of Welles’ highest achievements, and Welles himself called it his best work. Welles felt a strong connection to the character of Falstaff and called him “Shakespeare’s greatest creation”. Some film scholars and Welles’ collaborators have made comparisons between Falstaff and Welles, while others see a resemblance between Falstaff and Welles’ father. Disputes over the ownership of Chimes at Midnight made it difficult to view the film legally until recently. It was released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray in 2015. A new restoration by Janus Films and The Criterion Colection was screened at the Film Forum in New York January 2016. The Criterion Collection released the film on Blu-ray and DVD in August 2016.
