Rosebud...

Orson Welles is one of the most inventive, influential, and tragic heros of the 20th century. His genius was unchallenged from his teens until his 20s, and by the time he was 24 RKO Pictures gave him the most progressive- trusting in the vision of the artist instead of the members of the board- contract Hollywood had yet to see. With this power and influence, and unchecked vision, Welles made Citizen Kane (did I say he was 24!?).

But the poor bastard was called a Communist and blacklisted from Hollywood. He grew fat and drunk, and eventually made a living doing voice-overs for scotch and frozen peas. Ah, the frozen peas. A legend in its time. Orson's famous voice-over for a british based advertising agency is one of the finest moments of comedy resulting from genius vs. underlings. Orson belittles the producers and writers and eventually becomes so frustrated with the writing and direction that he walks out of the recording session. As mean spirited as it... becomes... I can't help but sympathize. How lonely he must be in this land of refined perceptions. Some of my favorite moments:

That doesn't make any sense. Sorry. There's no known way of saying an English sentence in which you begin a sentence with "in" and emphasize it. Get me a jury and show me how you can say "In July" and I'll go down on you. That's just idiotic, if you'll forgive me by saying so. That's just stupid... "In July"; I'd love to know how you emphasize "In" in "In July". Impossible! Meaningless!

You don't know what I'm up against. Because it's full of, of, of things that are only correct because they're grammatical, but they're tough on the ear, you see. This is a very wearying one. It's unpleasant to read. Unrewarding. "Because Findus freeze the cod at sea, and then add a crumb-crisp" Ooh, "crumb-crisp coating." Ahh, that's tough, "crumb-crisp coating." I think, no, because of the way it's written, you need to break it up, because it's not, it's not as conversationally written.

I spend... twenty times more for you people than any other commercial I've ever made. You are such pests! Now what is it you want? In your... depths of your ignorance, what is it you want? Whatever it is you want, I can't deliver, 'cause I just don't see it.

It wasn't until I heard this clip that I realized Orson Welles was the inspiration for the voice of The Brain from Pinky and The Brain. Wow... that makes it even more entertaining... BTW, what crap are people watching now that Anamaniacs are off the air?

You can listen to the whole clip here.