It’s a rarely seen, lost classic from the genius that was Orson Welles and now, as part of the ongoing celebrations marking the centenary of the maverick multi-hyphenate, The Immortal Story, Welles’ penultimate film as a director, a film described as a “sumptuous experience” (Time Out) has now been given a sumptuous, high definition transfer courtesy of Mr Bongo Films, with the Blu-ray due on 2 November 2015 marking its first HD release in any territory.
The year is 1860 in the Portuguese colony of Macao, Mr. Clay (Welles) is an aging, rich merchant, who is the subject of town gossip. He likes his clerk Levinsky (Roger Coggio), to read to him to help him relax in the evenings and one night he recounts a tale about a rich man who paid a poor sailor five guineas to father a child with his beautiful young wife. Mr. Clay has no wife and no heir to his fortune and resolves to make the story true...Levinsky approaches Virginie Ducrot (Moreau), another clerk's mistress, and strikes a bargain for 300 guineas. Now to find the sailor...
