Screening

About Too Much Johnson

Year Released:

1938

Genres:

Comedy

Metadata:

Directed by Orson Welles

One of Welles’ earliest films, this pastiche of silent-era comedy was intended to be shown in three parts, as introductions to the three acts of his 1938 staging of the 1894 William Gillette farce, Too Much Johnson. Because of technical problems in the theater, the film was never shown and was thought to be lost. In 2013, a print was discovered in Pordenone, Italy. Although incompletely edited, it’s a delight—a witty combination of Harold Lloyd and the European avant-garde, but also quite Wellesian, with deep-focus compositions that foreshadow Citizen Kane. (35mm presentation)

A representative from the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation/George Eastman House will provide live commentary.