Orson Welles' High School Teacher Wrote A Letter To Cornell Calling Him A 'Genius'

It's one thing to call Orson Welles a genius after the fact, but Welles' high school teacher Roger Hill was sensitive enough to spot the signs early on. Letters of Note recently acquired an image from Cornell College of a letter Hill wrote to a Cornell professor about Welles' "genius." Hill hoped to secure admission for Welles, who he believed to be destined for great things. Cornell bit, but Welles turned the admission -- and more famously, one from Harvard -- down, opting to go abroad instead. Of course, he succeeded anyway. Hill meanwhile sounds like one of those teachers we make movies about.

Read the full text at Letters of Note, and an excerpt below:

You may have heard of him. Nearly everyone connected with the arts, the opera, or the stage in Chicago, knows him and they have all done their best to spoil him, but I think he is very sound and very sensible, although he is definitely talented to the point of genius... I am enclosing my most recent letter from him and also a copy of our school catalog. Every word of this book was either written or edited by him. The only "cheating" I did in this was to make him cut out some of his best bits of writing as they were too completely mature. We can very honestly give him credit for three years high school work, work done in the class room with the proper number of hours. Of course, actually his education in all cultural subjects is now beyond that of the ordinary college graduate. I rather doubt if he could pass a college board examination in Algebra, although he passed this course with us. He is rather weak in mathematics.

(via Letters of Note)

WATCH Smartie Orson being a little bit of a smart-ass about "War of the Worlds":

Comments

[yopeac]

02:24 PM on 09/15/2011

...rosebud...

[boilinabag]

03:18 PM on 09/14/2011

and after kane, hollywood and the hearst family did their best to ruin him. but orson was also his worst enemy, drinking wise.... kane is still the most amazing flick.

[Dogma]

03:10 PM on 09/14/2011

"Nearly everyone connected with the arts, the opera, or the stage in Chicago, knows him..." and yet this was supposed to be a prophetic announcement by his teacher calling him genius? Sounds like the teacher was just stating what everyone already knew...

[AlexNYC]

03:04 PM on 09/14/2011

Orson Welles was one of the few people I would always try to watch when they were guests on talk shows. Always informative, entertaining and with an endless array of anecdotes to share.

[darquelourd]

02:19 PM on 09/14/2011

Please watch "Touch of Evil" if you haven't already. One of the greatest American films of all time despite the campiness of Charlton Heston as a Mexican and Marlene Dietrich as the "old flame".

[kerriberri]

02:17 PM on 09/14/2011

Two of my favorite Welles quotes:

"I started at the top and worked my way down."

---AND---

"Gluttony is not a secret vice."

What a genius he was; he just, unfortunately, picked the wrong media mogul to wrangle with, causing a lifetime of obstructionism to his career path [yes, I mean Hearst].

Too bad most people only remember him (if they do at all) as the fat guy who did the wine commercials "we sell no wine before its time...."

[F Doyle Dreadnaught]

01:59 PM on 09/14/2011

If you've never seen it, check out his last masterpiece - F for Fake. Lovely film.

[mburgh]

02:52 PM on 10/01/2011

I believe it's on Netflix Instant play.

[mrnationalist]

01:50 PM on 09/14/2011

Listening to Wells and company via the medium of radio only increased my appreciation for the depth and extent of his creativity.

[Montcalms Revenge]

01:37 PM on 09/14/2011

Genius?: Yes! but she forgot to mention his HUGE appetite! Orson never met a pint of ice cream he didn't like... ;-)

[AlexNYC]

03:01 PM on 09/14/2011

A pint? More like a quart or two.

[nete peedham]

06:46 AM on 09/15/2011

Meow! Fffffttt!

[Keo]

01:28 PM on 09/14/2011

"Genius" is a term which gets a bit over-used. But, I think, in Welles' case, it fits.
"Citizen Kane" was for decades, and may still be, considered the greatest American film. It was certainly groundbreaking, changed film-making for all time, and is a work of artistic genius.
"War of the Worlds" is still considered the greatest of all radio plays in history.
And, prior to those accomplishments, Welles had staged what were widely considered the greatest theatrical productions of Shakespeare ever seen in America.
No other artist in the twentieth century achieved such heights in three different media.

As a child, Welles was considered to have prodigious talent for the violin, as well.
And he was a great actor. His performance in "Touch of Evil" is still astonishing.

Unfortunately, his life was, ultimately, a tragedy. Hearst set out to destroy him after "Kane" was released, and Hollywood never again gave him the chance to make a film which reflected his unique vision. He spent the last forty years of his life an outsider, scrambling to raise money to make films, taking on silly roles--like those infamous Paul Masson wine ads--just to make a buck, getting almost obscenely bloated, showing up at ridiculous celebrity events, prostituting himself on the Tonight show, etc.

I would also like to acknowledge that Welles made one of the most--if not THE most--original documentary films ever made--"F is for Fake"--for which he's never received much recognition.

Genius.

[Montcalms Revenge]

01:40 PM on 09/14/2011

If you haven't done so already: check out Welles' version of "Othello". BRILLIANT!! ;-)

[kerriberri]

02:19 PM on 09/14/2011

Netflix!!!

[bigshotprof]

01:24 PM on 09/14/2011

Bad at math? Okay so there were 40 Steps! Who counts the floor as a step?

[darquelourd]

02:14 PM on 09/14/2011

wasn't the "39 Steps" Hitchcock?

[champagne charlie]

02:23 PM on 09/14/2011

Yup.

[bigshotprof]

02:32 PM on 09/14/2011

Yeah, I got confused with the 3rd man. Well, no letter from MY ex-teacher!

[Fonsini]

01:07 PM on 09/14/2011

Summary - can act, write, and sings a bit, but terrible at math and algebra and didn't complete his formal High School education for which we will have to give him credit to get him into college. Also has strange fascination with word "Rosebud".

[nete peedham]

12:29 PM on 09/14/2011

Good! The Ivy League didn't get a chance to ruin him.

[OneFish]

12:40 PM on 09/14/2011

Uh, Cornell College is not part of the Ivy League. Your anti-intellectual bias is showing.

[jackstpaul]

12:52 PM on 09/14/2011

I'm betting it's a typo and that the reporter meant Cornell University. Doubtful that such a well-recognized and accomplished "genius" who applied to Harvard would also apply to Cornell College.

[nete peedham]

06:42 AM on 09/15/2011

I stand corrected about Cornell; I assumed it meant the University.
Anti-intellectual? No. I made the snotty comment because Harvard was mentioned.
Alan Israel-Can-Do-No-Wrong Dershowitz?
Michael Ignatieff? Who was pro-Iraq war?
President "Look Forward Not Backward" Obama?
These three Harvard alumni have given Harvard a bad name.

[pc51]

01:13 PM on 09/14/2011

He would have never created anything of significance once he went through one of those conformity grinders. Probably would have made a lot more money though.

[Duffy Sinclair]

12:24 PM on 09/14/2011

In my opinion, the one thing that gets overlooked, concerning Citizen Kane, is Welles' acting performance in the film. It's hard to believe that he's only 24 when you see him playing Kane as an old man. Of course, once you realize that he also directed, it becomes clear that he truly was a genius. I know there is a critical backlash to this film, since many consider it the best film of all time, but if you know anything about filmmaking it's clear that this really is a masterpiece and deserves every accolade it's gotten.

[RuthieBabe]

01:27 PM on 09/14/2011

I used to watch him when he was a guest on the "Tonight" show with Johnny Carson. Really enjoyed hearing the varied things he liked to talk about. Never was dull when he was on. Sometimes, I wishe they would just give over the whole hour to him. . .

[Fritzwood]

12:20 PM on 09/14/2011

He would drink no wine.....before it's time...

[darquelourd]

02:16 PM on 09/14/2011

ah, the Gallo daze!

I remember Orson on the Tonight Show in the 70's. Pure class!