Radio Shows

[tonyw]

Roger, Thanks for the info. Where do you find the source for the voices of the actors? I presume Indiana?

[Roger Ryan]

Where do you find the source for the voices of the actors? I presume Indiana?

Actually, the quote I was paraphrasing can be found right here on this site ("Movies Directed By Orson Welles" - "The Magnificent Ambersons" - "The Memos, Part V"): "Orson Welles to Jack Moss: March 27th, 1942 - ...Then play boarding house scene through as in present version. Only change necessary here is comic record. Norman sounds too legitimate. Get Ray to play straight man, who should sound like tight voiced vaudevillian."

I can't recall where I read that Joseph Cotten did the comic voice (probably in the archives somewhere) but, given his Virginian drawl, one can easily imagine him doing a Southern manservant caricature.

After a little on-line research, I've discovered that the routine Welles used for the comic record heard playing in the boarding house was originally written by Nat M. Wills in 1908. The routine is called "No News" and is also known as "What Killed The Dog". Here's a link to a vintage recording of it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTrkF1jDgeA

It's likely that Welles referred to the record as being in the "Two Black Crows" style since Mack & Moran had such a high profile during Welles' teen years. In fact, Mack & Moran's popularity wouldn't rise until the 1920s so using one of their routines in AMBERSONS would have been anachronistic. Being first performed in 1908, the Nat M. Wills' "No News" routine would be a perfect fit since the closing boarding house scene takes place circa 1910.

[Le Chiffre]

Great find, Roger. I wonder why Welles didn't just use one of these vintage recordings of "Who Killed the Dog?" instead of trying to recreate one of his own? I suppose he wanted the challenge of doing it himself. We'll probably never hear his version, but it's good that we can at least hear others'.

[tonyw]

For those interested, here is a 1932 film starring Mack and Moran on special offer until next weekend.

http://www.grapevinevideo.com/hypnotized.html