Orson Welles: The Narrator
Quotes
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The Narrator : Paris, France, 1789. Thirty years later, under the reign of Louis XVI, longstanding grievances between aristocrat and peasant were about to boil over. The pot in which these troubles boiled was kindled with the firewood of oppression and injustice and heated by the flames that sucked the air from gasping peasants. Would the pot cool off, would it merely simmer, or would it boil over in the kitchen of France - to stain the floor of history forever?
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The Narrator : The Summer Palace, 1789: King Louis, whose tinkering with time pieces did not tell him that his own time was running out; Queen Marie, who tinkered with everything but time pieces - she didn't care what time it was; but the Duke d'Escargot knew what time it was - his tinkering was well-timed. For the time was 1789!
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The Narrator : In Paris, outraged rebels aroused themselves to attack the King's convoys. Most of these aroused rebels were brave, courageous, freedom-loving citizens. Others were more - realistic.
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The Narrator : Did you know that the entire French Revolution could have been avoided? It's true. No one knows what took place there. Its an event of such importance that men of integrity, and I must say of considerable resources, made a film on the subject. Its a color film - which I am not in.
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[repeated line]
The Narrator : Seventeen eighty-nine.
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[first lines]
The Narrator : [to the camera] Hello, I'm Orson Welles.
The Narrator : [pointing to the palace behind him] Lovely, isn't it? The summer palace of Louis the Sixteenth. You know, historians who've recently discovered a previously unknown fact concerning this palace, an event which almost changed the entire history of Western Europe. Did you know that the entire French Revolution could have been avoided? It's true. No one knows what took place there. It's an event of such importance that men of integrity and may I say considerable resources made a film on the subject. It's a color film, which I am not in.
[the scene switches to the opening title and credits which are presented in black-and-white Sepiatone]
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[last lines]
[it's present day in front of King Louis XVI's Summer Palace]
The Narrator : [reading out of the discovered book] Listen to this. "This incredible meeting was to write a glittering new page in history. For you see..."
[the Narrator is shot dead by a Descendant of Pierre]
Descendant of Pierre : [to a Descendant of Charles after they both appear in the distance] Now no one will know the secret.
[as the Descendant of Charles grabs the book dropped to the ground by the Narrator, he is shot dead by a Descendant of Philippe, who subsequently shoots dead the Descendant of Pierre]
Descendant of Claude : [to the Descendant of Philippe as they both appear from behind the bushes] Did you have to shoot them? I didn't know you were going to shoot them.
Descendant of Philippe : Bring me that book.
[the Descendant of Claude picks up the book and hands it to the Descendant of Philippe, who opens it in preparing to read it]
Descendant of Claude : You didn't have to shoot them. We've could have talked things over.
Descendant of Philippe : Talk? Is that what you want: talk?
Descendant of Claude : [as he nods positively] Well, you didn't have to...
[the Descendant of Philippe shoots the Descendant of Claude]
Descendant of Claude : [just before he falls to the ground dead] ... shoot them.
Descendant of Claude : [to the camera as he opens the book and starts to read aloud] "This incredible meeting was to write a glittering new page in history. For you see..."
[a Descendant of the Man in the Iron Mask shoots the Descendant of Philippe dead]
Descendant of the Man in the Iron Mask : [yelling as he starts to run away] Free! Free!
