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"If I wanted to get into heaven on the basis of one movie, that's the one I would offer up" – Orson Welles, on Chimes at Midnight

Centring his narrative on Shakespeare's recurring character of Sir John Falstaff – a giant man of mirth and endearing deception – Welles drew primarily from the two Henry IV plays, supplementing them with scenes and snippets of dialogue from Richard II, Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor. The film itself is a mix of warm comedy and high tragedy; a treatise on the corrupting nature of power, both grand and intimate in scale. Welles gives perhaps his greatest performance as Falstaff, a character with whom he shared an intensely personal affinity. He is ably supported by Keith Baxter as the young Prince Hal and John Gielgud as the dying King Henry IV. The film is further notable for its mighty Battle of Shrewsbury sequence – a monumental clash of armies that remains one of the most spectacular battles committed to celluloid.

For too long, Chimes at Midnight dwindled in obscurity. Almost completely unavailable on home video, the film's legacy was largely overshadowed by the same tales of production woe that beset so many of Welles's later films. In recent years, however, the newly restored film has recaptured its deserved reputation as one of the great director's true masterpieces.

Ages 15+