Rich Phoenix, president of the New Jersey Radio Museum, will discuss “The War of the Worlds” radio broadcast at the Wyckoff Free Public Library in New Jersey next week. “The Radio Broadcast That Terrorized America,” Orson Welles’ radio dramatization of H. G. Wells’ science fiction novel “War of the Worlds,” will be the subject of […]
By RAY KELLY Wellesnet.com is now home to more than 30 radio shows featuring Orson Welles. The new radio pages span his career from “Les Misérables” in 1937 for the Mutual Network to “The Adventures of Harry Lime” in 1952 on BBC. The programs selected for inclusion are a mix of dramatic presentations, variety shows, […]
By RAY KELLY Filmmaker Henry Jaglom, whose recorded conversations with Orson Welles form the basis of an upcoming book, graciously agreed to field a few questions about his late, great friend. Jaglom’s relationship with Welles dates back to his freshman 1971 film “A Safe Place.” In the interview, he discussed those legendary lunches with Welles […]
“What does ‘Rosebud’ mean in ‘Citizen Kane’?” It is perhaps the question most often fielded by Wellesnet. The most detailed answer given by Orson Welles was contained in a press statement released by RKO Radio Pictures prior the film’s release in May 1941.
Orson Welles attended the Todd School for Boys from 1926 to 1931. He formed a lasting friendship with his mentor, headmaster Roger “Skipper” Hill. His 95-year-old daughter, Joanne Hill Tarbox Styles, has written an essay on Welles’ time in Woodstock, Illinois. Styles was married for than 50 years to Welles’ childhood rival, Hascy Tarbox. Wellesnet […]
By RAY KELLY It is a poorly kept secret that Wellesnet.com is smitten with Woodstock Celebrates Inc., a non-profit Illinois group organizing major events to mark the 80th anniversary next year of the 1934 Todd Theatre Festival at the historic Woodstock Opera House, as well as the 100th anniversary in 2015 of Orson Welles’ birth. […]
By MIKE TEAL The Illinois stage where a 19-year-old Orson Welles launched his professional theatrical career was dedicated in his honor on Sunday, February 10. About 40 people, including members of Woodstock Celebrates Inc., attended the afternoon dedication of the Orson Welles Stage at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois. Woodstock Celebrates, which spearheaded […]
By RAY KELLY Orson Welles author-confidant-filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich returns to the big-screen at the helm of a new Jennifer Aniston film. Bogdanovich will direct Aniston, Cybill Shepherd, Brie Larson and Owen Wilson in “She’s Funny That Way,” from a screenplay he wrote with his ex-wife, Louise Stratten. The comedy, earlier titled “Squirrel to the Nuts,” […]
By RAY KELLY Recently, we looked at the impressive Library of Congress online collection related to the Federal Theatre Project. However, it is not the only government website that allows us to revisit Orson Welles’ work in the 1930s. The National Archives offers online visitors a glimpse into two of the more than 600 letters […]
By RAY KELLY The Library of Congress American Memory website contains a vast collection of scripts, internal documents and memorabilia related to the Federal Theatre Project and the works of a young Orson Welles. The website has a treasure trove of items from Welles’ 1936 production of “Voodoo” Macbeth and his 1937 staging of The […]
Milan Records will release a digitally remastered edition of the score for Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles on February 5. According the label, “The pioneering original musical score, composed by Viennese musician Anton Karas, was only performed on the zither. The harrowing sound perfectly complementing this dark classic.” Karas’ […]
By RAY KELLY Nearly 75 years later, the “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast continues to inspire. Last year, the faux documentary “War of the Worlds: The True Story” was released to movie theaters. Now, a one-act play based on the 1938 broadcast has won an Oregon competition for playwrights. “We Interrupt This Program,” by […]
An opposition Iranian satellite channel based in London aired “Genocide,” the acclaimed Academy Award-winning documentary on the Holocaust produced by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. It was broadcast with Farsi subtitles on January 25. The Wiesenthal Center coordinated the showing to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. Welles, along with Elizabeth Taylor, narrated […]
By RAY KELLY The book “My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles,” which Wellesnet reported on back in October, will also be released as an unabridged audio book on July 9. Presumably the audio book will utilize the recordings made by Jaglom during Welles’ final years. While the hardcover book will […]
By RAY KELLY Interviews with Orson Welles’ longtime love and collaborator Oja Kodar are rare to come by, but the Hungarian website mozinet.hu recently spoke with the Croatian actress-writer. Sadly, none of the six questions asked of Kodar delved into the status of “The Other Side of the Wind” or any of Welles’ unfinished film […]
In response to a reader question, Playbill.com recently offered a condensed history of The Mercury Theatre on Broadway. Worth checking out for those unfamiliar with young Orson Welles’ pre-Hollywood career, the article chronicles his partnership with John Houseman from their days with the Federal Theatre Project, as well as the fate of the Manhattan building […]
By RAY KELLY The stage of the Woodstock Opera House will be dedicated in honor of Orson Welles next month. The ceremony will take place on February 10 at 2 p.m., according to Woodstock Celebrates, Inc., which is planning events to honor Welles in 2014 and 2015. The nonprofit group spearheaded the dedication effort. The […]
“War of the Worlds: The True Story,” filmmaker Timothy Hines’ ambitious faux documentary about a Martian invasion, has drawn opposing views from two prominent West Coast critics. The film opened in select theaters on October 30, but has only recently gained notices from the Hollywood press as the Pendragon Pictures release now plays in Los […]
The East Village’s latest bar is the kind of watering hole where would-be Holly Martins can order up a Harry Lime while zither music plays in their head. Located at 116 Avenue C near 7th Street in the Big Apple, The Third Man takes its name from the classic 1949 Carol Reed thriller starring Orson […]
“An Adventure Shared By Desperate Men (That Finally Came to Nothing)” will be published in winter 2013 by St. Martin’s Press.
