Important and humorous TLS signed "Orson," two pages, 6.5 x 9, August 8, 1964. Letter to columnist Leonard Lyons, an important theatre/dance critic. In part: "I was writing to thank you for sending the book and to acknowledge your letter about the Gleason deal…I expect to keep shooting Falstaff very soon…Here's why I need the book-because of the fairly shaky financial structure of the Falstaff deal here in Spain, I've been trying to cover my bets and, pretty much in despair, have been negotiating with de Laurentiis to direct one of three episodes for Soraya. I didn't want to do this, but the dough would have been good, and a job is a job is a job. Having got the book you sent me from America, and prepared a treatment for Her Majesty's approval, de Laurentiis suddenly signed another director (with another book!). D'you remember my long and impassioned defense of de Laurentiis to you in a Rome restaurant a couple of years ago? As usual, I didn't know what I was talking about…About three weeks ago, in one of your columns, you mentioned that some aspiring torero from America is billing himself as 'El Americano.' I should sue him…that was my professional name as a bullfighter." Under his signature, Welles adds a lengthy postscript which reads, in part: "My TV series on Spain is the hit of the year on Italian TV. My fear now…is that I will receive a decoration from Franco. How could I accept it? If I refused, I'd have to move from our favorite country-Another problem: I'm growing a beard for Falstaff. It comes out pepper and salt, with the emphasis on the salt to turn me into another Ersatz Hemingway." In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. Welles had a long-standing mutual appreciation for Jackie Gleason, and they would often meet when he passed through New York to discuss collaborating on projects. It was Welles who first nicknamed Gleason 'The Great One.' A year prior to this letter, Dino de Laurentiis convinced Welles to direct an episode of his epic The Bible: In the Beginning, with Welles accepting mainly for the $200,000 paycheck. His version far differed from de Laurentiis's idea, and he was replaced by John Huston. Welles's television program, In the Land of Don Quixote, was a travelogue of Spain done for Italian television. The director's insistence to narrate the show himself in Italian was rebuffed by the network, and the release was delayed until 1964, with the network adding its own narration.
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