"Have you the stomach for greatness..?" - Orson Welles

The great Orson Welles in one of his finest roles as the amoral Renaissance prince Cesare Borgia, in the 1949 film Prince of Foxes, in a scene about the power of seduction and the seductions of power.

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• Orson
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• Foxes
• Cesare
• Borgia
• Renaissance
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• Machiavelli

[Idjitz]

Machiavelli, of course, had Cesare Borgia in mind when he wrote "The Prince."

[Orsley]

Wonderful... a good example of how fine Welles the actor could be; although one can only imagine how visually superior the scene would have been had Welles also directed it! Failing that, there are the films he did direct, esp. Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil and Chimes at Midnight, which contain great and fully-realized Welles performances in the context of his own vastly imaginative directorial vision... which this film does not remotely approach.

[Idjitz]

There are those who say that Welles probably did have a hand in the direction of this film, as many of the show-offy, low-angle shots in Prince of Foxes are pretty Wellesian. Not to detract from Henry King's fine direction in this instance, however. Some critics still say that The Third Man was more Welles than Carol Reed in its direction, even to this day.

[Idjitz]

Nice synergy between him and Orson too. They repeated it the following year in The Black Rose.

[GOLDENCALA]

He was not only a great actor, but also a great director, writer and intellectual.

[califgirl101]

@Idjitz I had The Black Rose on pre-recorded vhs although I had to break the whole movie into three parts and three different videos I hope soon that I can get the whole movie on dvd soon!

[acerb45666555]

the beards to thin, and the hairs too short. Cesare Borja was a fashionable fellow! moderately but very well dressed in his paintings. he liked hats!

[althesmith]

@dishwasherman83 : And let us not forget, after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, they had the Ottomans for neighbours. And as main trade partners, so they had to be very- shall we say, diplomatic. One had to support The Mother Church, of course, but not to the point of getting too enthusiastic for any crusading against the Moslems.

[dishwasherman83]

@starnjuy

It was just mafioso. If you look at the more modern Mafias, these guys were the Renaissance mafias. They will wield power as they please via assassinations, marriages etc.... Either ways, the amount of opponents that have in Renaissance Italy, is numerous. Too numerous to bother controlling and subjugating the masses.

The Italians were kind of hemmed in by major powers like France/Spain and the HRE. A lot of foreign manipulation in Italy by the continental powers as well.

[starnjuy]

@dishwasherman83 his was suspected to murder his brother but the investigation didnt found a murder and the second one was very common in that era is like condemning parents who arrenged marriages of their children in the same era

[dishwasherman83]

@starnjuy

Cesare murdered his own brother to ascend as Captain General of the Papal armeis (as accused). Had a henchman that killed his rivals, only to have the henchman executed and had his body cut up into pieces and placed at the centre of the Piazza for public viewing.

He was always at war. This man is a cruel man.

[starnjuy]

@dishwasherman83 i dont see cesare as a "tyrant" his family is covered in the dark lies of the enemy families

[dishwasherman83]

Wow, the legend Orson Welles playing the tyrant Cesare Borgia.

He's too suave for that role. Cesare was a very unscrupulous and cunning leader with a lot of drive to succeed.

[encinostalgia]

Orson and Tyrone Power were close friends and their chemistry is apparent in this scene.  Welles no doubt also re-worked his dialouge as he typically did in his films.

[ismaeeeeeeel]

Orson Welles was perfect for Vito Corleone roll.