Ah, Wilderness!

[Wellesnet]

On 17 September 1939, Orson Welles's production of Eugene O'Neill's comedy "Ah, Wilderness!" was broadcast on "The Campbell Playhouse," CBS-Radio. A turn-of-the-century coming of age tale, fairly similar in some ways to Ambersons.

[Wich2]

A fun show. Stolen - as many were! - by the great Ray Collins.

-Craig

[Le Chiffre]

https://archive.org/details/otr_campbellplayhouse
Collins was definitely his right-hand-man throughout the series, but I like Welles’s whiny teenager here as well, a voice which he used again in his two Tarkington adaptations for radio as well (AMBERSONS and SEVENTEEN). It was probably a refreshing change of pace for Welles, who was used to playing power figures, both good and bad. The whiny teenager might be seen as a related to the “innocent dupe” mode that Welles also used as a diversion from his norm in films like THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, and, late in his career, HOT MONEY.

Interesting that Welles never touched on any of the masterpieces of Eugene O’Neill, like THE ICEMAN COMETH or LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, but he chose this uncharacteristically light work instead. According to Frank Brady’s book, he also considered O’Neill’s obscure, failed play THE FOUNTAIN as a followup to CITIZEN KANE. Depicting Ponce De Leon’s search for the fabled Fountain of Youth, it had bombed on Broadway in 1921, with Walter Huston in the lead role.

[Wich2]

Chief, I agree that Orson's characterization (as you imply, actually closer to his own real age and roots!) works very nicely here and in the radio AMBERSONS.

But I'm glad he passed George to Tim Holt in the film. He's terrific.

-Craig

[Le Chiffre]

I agree Holt is terrific in the film, and Welles wisely passed up playing George himself, contrary to what some Welles scholars have said. As Callow notes, radio allowed Welles to play roles he would never have gotten away with playing on film or stage.

[tonyw]

Yes, because he plays a character one is not supposed to identify with as in a typical Hollywood film. Ford also used Tim to good effect in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE and STAGECOACH as did Huston in THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE. But he was a working actor and made "bread and butter" B. Westerns instead.

[Le Chiffre]

1945 Theater Guild radio production with Walter Huston as the newspaper editor father:
https://jheroes.com/2018/08/24/fatherly ... an-poetry/

[Terry]

Interesting site. So Towers had his Harry Lime scripts rewritten and aired as Europe Confidential? I wonder if any of the scripts attributed to Welles were adapted. https://archive.org/details/EuropeConfidential

Regarding the O'Neill, I suppose we could find alternate adaptions of many of the books and plays the Mercury presented, and that's probably a valid point of research: how both Welles and other dramatists tackled the same source material. I don't believe I've seen that done anywhere.

[Wich2]

Well, here's another for you, Terry ~

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/d ... -our-town-

[Terry]

Awesome. Thank you, Craig.

[Wich2]

'Welcome, Terry.

Even among "OTR fans," the One-Hour Drama gets short-shrift. There was some VERY good work done there, and not just by the Merc. here's another alternate:

https://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/e/columbia-shakespeare-cycle-july-26-1937/

P.S. - Of course I may be biased, as I still plow that field: