Opening tracking shot time-line

Warning - SPOILERS of film opening.

I just watched this for the first time. I was a year old when it was made, so it was long overdue. As to the film itself, I will simply say I enjoyed it, with certain reservations.
The opening shot really grabbed me - the 'when will it go off' tension was great, as well as the amazing tracking shot.

Having read various threads about who planted the bomb, I went back to view the opening sequence again, looking for shadows of a large man with a cane that turned out to be non existent. While viewing, I was obviously paying close attention to everything.

And so to the point:
The very opening frames show a close up of the assassin setting a crude timer on the bomb to what looks like a little over 3 minutes. I thought to myself, nah - that seemed a lot longer, and films rarely stick to real time. But then I thought, hang on, it was one long shot, so it should match.

Soooo, being the a***y retentive sort that I am, I timed it. From the moment the bomb timer was set, I clocked it in real time with a stop watch and, sure enough, the explosion happens at 3 mins 12 seconds in.

I know, total trivia, but I thought it might be of interest in that perhaps it shows Orson Welles's attention to detail - knowing how long the shot was, give or take a few seconds, he had the bomber set the timer accordingly?


There can be no true beauty without decay.