'' Chimes at Midnight '' premiered to a positive audience reception at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival . However , after '' New York Times '' critic Bosley Crowther 's unfavorable advance review , American distributor Harry Saltzman decided to give the film little publicity and minimal distribution when it was released in the U.S. the next year . Critical reception on its first release was mostly negative ; the film was not regarded as one of Welles ' best until years later . Crowther criticized the film 's poor audio track and called it " a confusing patchwork of scenes and characters ... designed to give major exposure to Jack Falstaff . " Welles ' performance , he said , was " a dissolute , bumbling street-corner Santa Claus . " Penelope Houston called it " a film which seems to turn its back on brilliance . " A '' Time '' review also criticized Welles , stating that " he is probably the first actor in the history of the theater to appear too fat for the role ... he takes command of scenes less with spoken English than with body English " , but that he is " never entirely bad . " Judith Crist praised the film as " stark , simple , concentrating on word and performance , serv ing as a reminder of where the substance of the play lies . " Pauline Kael also criticized the poor sound , but gave a favorable review overall , singling out the film 's casting and calling Welles ' performance " very rich , very full . " She said the Battle of Shrewsbury sequence was " unlike any battle scene done on the screen before . " '' Cahiers du Cinema '' critic Serge Daney also praised both the film and Welles ' ability to make great films on the subject of power . Welles was disappointed with the film 's reception , complaining that " almost nobody has seen it in America , and that drives me nuts . " Welles held '' Chimes at Midnight '' in high regard . " It 's my favorite picture , yes , " he told interviewer Leslie Megahey in a 1982 interview for '' BBC Arena '' : If I wanted to get into heaven on the basis of one movie , that 's the one I would offer up . I think it 's because it is to me the least flawed ; let me put it that way . It is the most successful for what I tried to do . I succeeded more completely in my view with that than with anything else . He also considered it to be his most personal film , along with '' The Magnificent Ambersons '' . Many critics , including Peter Bogdanovich and Jonathan Rosenbaum , also consider '' Chimes at Midnight '' to be Welles ' finest work . Several years after its initial release , film critic Vincent Canby of '' The New York Times '' wrote that '' Chimes at Midnight '' " may be the greatest Shakespearean film ever made , bar none . " Joseph McBride has called it " Welles ' masterpiece , the fullest , most completely realized expression of everything he had been working towards since '' Citizen Kane '' . " In 2006 , Roger Ebert praised the film as " a magnificent film , clearly among Welles ' greatest work . " The Battle of Shrewsbury sequence has been particularly admired , and inspired later movies , including '' Braveheart '' and '' Saving Private Ryan '' . Film critics have compared it to the Odessa Steps sequence in '' Battleship Potemkin '' and the Battle on the Ice sequence in '' Alexander Nevsky '' , both directed by Sergei Eisenstein . Kenneth Branagh 's '' Henry V '' used Welles ' Battle of Shrewsbury sequence as an inspiration for the Battle of Agincourt , and depicted Prince Hal 's rejection of Falstaff in a way that was more influenced by '' Chimes at Midnight '' than from more traditional interpretations of the scene . In 1988 , director Patrick Garland staged a version of '' Chimes at Midnight '' starring Simon Callow as Falstaff at the Chichester Festival Theatre . Michael Anderegg said that '' Chimes at Midnight '' s use of wide angle lenses , low-key lighting and costumes , and its focus on the relationship between Falstaff and Prince Hal influenced '' My Own Private Idaho '' Gus Van Sant 's 1991 loose adaptation of '' Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 ''
1966 Cannes Film Festival
1966 Cannes Film Festival
Chimes at Midnight