What' da expect, Chimes?

For the second time in 40 years I attempted to watch Orson Welles' attack on Shakespeare's histories, Chimes at Midnight. The sound, or lack of it, defeats me. The actor's voices emerge from a void. No room-tone, no presence, few sound effects. Considering his background in radio, where sound sells the scene, I would think he would not ignore that important aspect of his movie. I realize he had a tight budget, but couldn't he afford a dialogue editor? Couldn't he afford a Nigra sync recorder? I suspect he shot with a unblimped camera, perhaps with production recording as only a guide track. The dialogue is out of sync.

 All of his non Hollywood films suffer from this misfortune. It distracting, it detracts from the words. It looks amateurish. The deaf and blind "film critic" TCM hired to introduce Chimes declared it to be Welles' masterpiece, his best film; contrary to the usual declaration that Citizen Kane is his best film.