It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Wells (1993)

Documentary on one of director Orson Wells earliest unfinished projects. ‘It’s All True’ was to have been a compilation film of three segments, all directed by Wells, and produced in accordance with Franklin Roosevelt ‘Good Neighbor Policy’. That policy was an attempt to foster closer ties, culturally and otherwise, with the nations of South America, to avoid losing them as allies to Fascist (and later Communist) forces beginning at the outset of World War II.

Wells had been asked to travel to Brazil for the project by Nelson Rockefeller, a major stock holder of the director’s then base studio RKO. The film was never expected or intended to be a big financial hit, but was meant to further US policy aims of cultivating a closer relationship with that country, then under the control of a somewhat benign dictatorship. Wells was given a million dollar budget for the project.

The three segments of the film were to have been as follows: 1) A fictional story about a boy and his friendship with a bull (something like this was later done by Disney as a cartoon). 2) A documentary on the festival ‘Carnaval,’ that evolved somewhat to focus on the somba and widespread opposition to the governments razing of a popular plaza. 3) The final segment was about a group of native fisherman who embarked on a sea voyage of many hundreds of miles in a rickety and improvised boat, in an ultimently successful effort to lobby the government for increased local sovereignty. Only the last segment was largely completed, though it sat in a vault till the early 1980's. That mini-feature is included as part of the documentary.

Unfortunetly ‘It’s All True’ would set a precedent for many of Wells future unfinished projects, when financing was pulled mid-way through production. A new ‘regime’ had come to power at RKO and pulled the plug, in addition to cutting 40 minutes out of Orson’s now classic ‘The Magnificent Ambrosens’, which the director had been forced to leave unedited when tasked with the project in South America.

It is disappointing that such occurrences became so common in regards to Wells directing ventures. He left a number of films uncompleted for a variety of reasons, often funding, but once including the death of a pictures antagonist (Robert Shaw) more then 2/3's through shooting. There is even a completed (save final editing) Wells film from the early 1970's that has never been released do to a money dispute with its Japanese backers, I hope I live to see that potential gem liberated. I am however thankful for ‘It’s All True’ and what I was able to see of Wells first, great unfinished project.