Like many fans of classic films, I look back on the stars of Hollywood's golden age, from the 1930s to the early 1950s, with a wistful twinkle. This wasn't just a time of experimentation with narrative and technique, but a time that produced genuine characters, who managed to face the world, warts and all, without the assistance of an army of PR managers.

I had thought that I would never be able to revisit their classic appearances. Then, on a whim, I typed “Orson Welles” into a search engine, and an entire, giant personality came back to life. As you are doubtless aware, Welles burst into the spotlight by instilling mass panic with his 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds, which was so convincing that Americans streamed out on to the street, believing the aliens had landed. At tinyurl.com/6cr4ds you can hear the original broadcast.

My own memories of Welles, though, are mainly from the 1970s, when he kept himself in cigars and brandy on a seemingly endless round of chat shows and TV commercial voiceovers. His skill as a raconteur was remarkable. Just take a look at this tale of how Winston Churchill helped him to finance a film project: tinyurl.com/6anud8.

Not that, in his declining years, Welles was always so affable. At tinyurl.com/64ext5 you can hear him critiquing the script for a Bird's Eye frozen foods campaign, to a series of awe-struck producers. In another classic clip, at tinyurl.com/5h2xzg, Welles has evidently consumed about three gallons of the wine he is supposed to be advertising before the cameras even started to roll. If you have ever wondered what a mixture of awe, shock, sympathy and deep irritation might look like, take a look at the other actors' faces.

Best, perhaps, to remember Orson in his acid pomp. At tinyurl.com/ 5z5y3q there he is, surrounded by the brightest stars of the day, at a tribute evening for Dean Martin. His dissection of the lyrics to That's Amore brings a tear to the eye. Like a big pizza pie.

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