Filmed as a classical tragedy, Orson Welles' Othello is a tale of passion, jealousy and murder. Welles used his earnings from several performances (including Carol Reed's classic The Third Man) to finance the production, which was shot over several years across multiple locations including Italy and Morocco. The footage was well matched photographically, resulting in an artistically brave compression of a great play. In the title role, Welles shows us a man who has fought many wars but still maintains a princely disposition. As Desdemona, Suzanne Cloutier is guileless but strong enough to have wanted and pursued the Moor. She alone is accused of pretending to be what she is not, and her openness makes her suspect in a world where few appear to be as they are. In a rare filmed role, Micheál MacLiammór excels as the diabolical Iago, a master of manipulating appearances and devoid of any motive save pure evil. MacLiammór shows how a hint can be greater than a howl, executing a series of deceptions (whose victims include Roderigo, Brabantio, and Cassio) that culminate in the symbolic destruction of Desdemona. The financial constraints appear to have ignited an even higher level of creativity within Welles, who never takes the expected angle and directs the film with a vertiginous, exhibitionist energy. Though Roderigo's death scene was filmed in a Moroccan steam bath because the costumes had not arrived, it is refreshing to see a Shakespeare film in which the cast doesn't look like it's on its way to a Beverly Hills costume party with an Elizabethan theme. The allegorical journey between heaven and hell concludes with the exposure of both Iago's scheme and the tragedy of Othello, who ultimately could not believe in the purity of his wife. This Othello won the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes in April 1952. --Kevin Mulhall
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