'Chimes At Midnight'

I must admit, I did not watch this in its entirety. It was by no choice of myself. The disc suddenly became damaged, inexplicably really, and about nine-tenths through the film, it ceased to work.

Considering it's been rarely released over the past 60 years, I figured I'm pretty well off with what I've seen.

It's a slendid film. Taken from five of Shakespear's plays -- Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, Richard II, Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

It stars director Orson Welles as the rouge Falstaff as he watches his friend Hal go from ale-swilling roustabout to the jolly ol' king of England.

Welles, frankly, is fantastic. It's good having the girth to really make Falstaff the large character that makes him such a treat on the printed page. "Larger than life" was probably more of a play on words for Falstaff than it is for other people.

Welles, dolled up in that ridiculous suit of armor, hiding behind the bush during the ball against Hotspur was as funny as anything Monty Python would produce a decade later. In fact, it would shock me to know that the Pythons didn't watch this film and find it extremely inspiring.

Most, including Welles, agrees with my thoughts. He is known to have said that if producing a film got one into heaven, Chimes at Midnight would be the one he'd show.