Vérités et mensonges (1974)

Director:

Orson Welles

Writer:

Orson Welles (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

12 March 1975 (France)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A documentary about fraud and fakery.

Plot Keywords:

Forgery | Fake Documentary | Mock Documentary | Writer | Train Station

Cast

Orson Welles	...	Himself
Oja Kodar	...	The Girl
Joseph Cotten	...	Special Participant
François Reichenbach	...	Special Participant
Richard Wilson	...	Special Participant
Paul Stewart	...	Special Participant
Alexander Welles	...	Special Participant (as Sasa Devcic)
Gary Graver	...	Special Participant
Andrés Vicente Gómez	...	Special Participant (as Andres Vincente Gomez)
Julio Palinkas	...	Special Participant
Christian Odasso	...	Special Participant
Françoise Widhoff	...	Special Participant (as Françoise Widoff)
Peter Bogdanovich	...	Special Participant (voice)
William Alland	...	Special Participant (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Pierre Aumont	...	Himself (uncredited)
Elmyr de Hory	...	Himself (uncredited)
Laurence Harvey	...	Himself (uncredited)
Clifford Irving	...	Himself (uncredited)
Nina Van Pallandt	...	Herself (uncredited)

Directed by
Orson Welles

Writing credits
Orson Welles		writer &
Oja Kodar		uncredited

Produced by
François Reichenbach	....	executive producer
Dominique Antoine	....	producer (uncredited)
Richard Drewitt	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Michel Legrand

Cinematography by
François Reichenbach

Film Editing by
Marie-Sophie Dubus
Dominique Engerer
Orson Welles		(uncredited)

Sound Department
Paul Bertault	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Gary Graver	....	photographer: USA and Toussaint
Christian Odasso	....	photographer: France and Ibiza
Georges Pierre	....	still photographer (uncredited)
R. Michael Stringer	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Dominique Boischot	....	assistant editor
Anne-Marie Engerer	....	assistant editor
Elisabeth Moulinier	....	assistant editor

Production Companies

• Janus Film
• Les Films de l'Astrophore
• SACI

Distributors

• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Ripley's Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Auditel  sound recording
• LAX Lab.  titles
• S.I.S.  sound recording

Also Known As:

?: About Fakes (USA)
F for Fake (USA) (promotional title)
F wie Fälschung (West Germany)
Truths and Lies (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

USA:85 min

Country:

France | Iran | West Germany

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, France

Company:

Janus Film

Trivia:

An excerpt of Welles' 1930s War of the Worlds broadcast was recreated for this film, however none of the dialogue heard in the film actually matches what was originally broadcast.

Quotes:

Orson Welles: I started at the top and have been working my way down ever since.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Orson Welles: The One-Man Band (1995)

Incredible

Excellent pseudo-documentary about the art of fakery. Elmyr D'Hory the art forger and Clifford Irving, his biographer are profiled, as well as Welles' own career as a faker. Irving apparently perpetrated a scam to collect money for a check written, supposedly, by Howard Hughes as a deposit on a biography they would write together. I've listened carefully and I believe it really IS Hughes' voice on the telephone saying that Irving is a faker and that he had never heard of him before. Anyway, 100% editing genius makes a fake movie out of a TV special (made for French public Tv, as I understand it) by tacking on 40 minutes of inspired nonsense by Welles himself, proving that he truly is a magician for the masses.