Professor McBride Discusses Legacy of Orson Welles, Who Is Depicted in New Film 'Mank'

GOLD DERBY -- Joseph McBride, the veteran film historian, biographer, screenwriter and professor at the Cinema Department at San Francisco State University, has written three critical studies on Orson Welles including “What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career” (2006). He knew the legendary filmmaker and even appears as a young film critic in “The Other Side of the Wind,” Welles’ infamous unfinished film, which was completed and released in 2018.

“The portrait of Welles [in David Fincher’s new film ‘Mank’] is the typical, over-credit stealing monster kind of character that is familiar in other films. Not every film, but most films,” McBride said.