Lilly Library to restore 14 Lady Esther shows

[Wellesnet]

Great news:
http://www.wellesnet.com/lilly-library- ... gs-online/

http://news.indiana.edu/releases/iu/201 ... rant.shtml

[Wich2]

It is good news -

- but would that they'd give such treatment to the heftier Welles radio, like the best of the one-hours.

They do hold disc originals on some, but have not given them the restoration possible.

-Craig

[Le Chiffre]

Yes, if they have funds left over, that would be nice. I'd like to see them give a thought to making the never-broadcast Eversharp series available for listening too. Right now it's only available at Lilly on reel-to-reel tape...and they didn't have a reel-to-reel player last time I was there. i don't know if they have any original discs for that.

A website sounds very exciting.

Here's how things stand in terms of the nineteen programs of the Lady Esther "Orson Welles Show". Six complete shows and parts of two others are available for listening at Archive.org
https://archive.org/details/1941OrsonWe ... ladyEsther:

9/15/1941 – Shredni Vashtar; An Irishman & a Jew
Complete show at Archive.org

9/22/1941 – Golden Honeymoon; Murder in the Bank; The Right Side; The Sexes
Lost

9/29/1941 – The Interlopers; Song of Solomon; I'm a Fool
Complete show at Archive.org

10/6/1941 – The Black Pearl; Annabel Lee; There's a Full Moon Tonight
Two minutes available at Archive.org; complete show is at Lilly

10/13/1941 – If In Years to Come; Noah Webster's Library; Dorothy Parker Poetry
Complete show at Archive.org

10/20/1941 – Romance; Kublai Khan; The Prisoner of Assiout
Complete show at Lilly

11/3/1941 –Wild Oranges<
Complete show at Lilly

11/10/1941 – That's Why I Left You; Maysville Minstrel
Complete show at Lilly

11/17/1941 – The Hitchhiker; Sonnet from the Portugese
Lost

11/24/1941 – A Farewell to Arms
Lost

12/1/4191 – Wilbur Brown-Habitat Brooklyn; Something's Going to Happen to Henry
Wilbur Brown available at Archive.org. Complete show at Lilly

12/8/1941 – Symptoms of Being 35; Leaves of Grass
Complete show at Lilly

12/22/1941 – The Happy Prince
Complete show at Archive.org

12/29/1941 – There are Frenchmen and Frenchmen
Complete show at Lilly

1/5/1942 – Garden of Allah
Complete show at Lilly

1/12/1942 – The Apple Tree
Complete show at Archive.org

1/19/1942 – My Little Boy
Complete show at Archive.org

1/26/1942 – The Happy Hypocrite
Lost

2/2/1942 – Between Americans
Lost

[Wich2]

I visited the Lilly years ago, and also paid for some cassette copies of some of their early Mercury shows. Alas, though a good deal pricier than the copies otherwise available from collectors, they were of no better quality.

That should not be the case, when they hold original discs.

I know someone involved back when they transferred the shows to tape, and I know that they spurned his advice about a more high-quality procedure then. Since mastering and restoration technology is even better now, I hope that attitude has truly changed.

Anyone who has heard such work done really right, from entities like the First Generation Radio Archives, knows how good a sound can be retrieved when care is taken.

-Craig

[Le Chiffre]

Well, if this preview is an indication of the sound quality we can expect, I think we're in for a treat:
https://media.dlib.indiana.edu/media_ob ... lon:210190

[Wich2]

Indeed, Chief!

We live in hope; I was just expressing mine in this case, which is that the TLC does go well beyond LADY ESTHER.

(In the case of that CEILING episode, do we know if it was a part of the current restoration project? Or, is it just the happy case of a previously existing transfer of a good-quality original disc?)

Best,
-Craig

[Jeff Wilson]

The Lilly press release specifies that this goes beyond just the Lady Esther series: "the grant will assist digitization experts as they embark upon the preservation of 324 master sound recordings in the form of lacquer discs."

[Wich2]

Yep.

I dug deeper online, and found some other press material confirming a wider project.

Now, if the "preservation" cited is broad enough to include the restoration and sharing of all of that material, such as seen with the CEILING show, we've GOT something here!

(For one thing, I'd dearly love to see Welles' battered AMBERSONS discs get the digital TLC they so sorely need.)

-Craig

[Le Chiffre]

327 discs, Amazing! Yes, it'll be interesting to see what the latest technology can do for Ambersons, and some of the other battered ones too, like Jane Eyre. Lilly should also consider buying the only known copy of the Campbell "A Farewell to Arms" broadcast from the Library of Congress.

Meanwhile, here are a few loose notes on some of the stories presented on the Lady Esther series. Almost like a window on an (even then!) forgotten world of literature:

Something’s Going to Happen to Henry (Wilma Shore)
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/shore-wilma
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Pro ... ry-1975326

Wilbur Brown: Habitat Brooklyn (Arthur Stander)
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Pro ... er-1975344

If in Years to Come (Edna St. Vincent Millay):
http://www.poetrynook.com/poem/if-years ... uld-recall

The Prisoner of Assiout (Grant Allen, 1899?):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Allen
https://books.google.com/books?id=ZckkA ... ut&f=false

Golden Honeymoon (Ring Lardner, 1922)
http://www.eldritchpress.org/rl/goldhm.htm

Wild Oranges (King Vidor, 1924?):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Oranges

The Interlopers (Saki, 1904)
Two tribal chiefs have a confrontation in an Arctic wilderness.

Shredni Vashtar (Saki, 1911)
A young sickly boy worships a weasel.
http://faculty.tnstate.edu/lpowers/Shor ... Window.pdf

The Black Pearl (Nancy Mann Waddell, 1912):
Description of the 1928 movie version: “A pearl stolen from an Indian idol results in nothing but trouble for its owner. After he receives death threats by note pinned to a dagger, he decides to gather his relatives in his old mansion for a reading of his will. Unfortunately, the family members are being mysteriously bumped off one by one. The butler and an heiress set out to discover what's going on.”
http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2 ... addel.html

The Hitchhiker (Lucille Fletcher, 1942)
The premiere performance of this work, which was written especially for Welles.

A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway, 1925)

The Maysville Minstrel (Ring Lardner, 1924)
A bookkeeper/bill collector for a gas company dreams of being a poet, and is too soft-hearted to collect money from poor people.
http://www.aaoldbooks.com/en-uk-us/Old_ ... _p_003.asp

Symptoms of Being 35 (Ring Lardner, 1921):
https://books.google.com/books?id=QN_Ed ... ng&f=false

There are Frenchmen and Frenchmen (Author unknown):
Represents the first meeting between Welles and future wife Rita Hayworth.

The Happy Hypocrite (Max Beerbohm, 1897):
Said to be a lighter, more humorous variation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGlfRcZJX7Q

The Happy Prince (Oscar Wilde, 1888):
A sparrow befriends a statue of a prince. Music by Bernard Hermann.

My Little Boy (Carl Ewald, 1899):
A young boy learns about life from his father. Said to be the most popular of all the Lady Esther shows.
http://www.archive.org/stream/mylittleb ... a_djvu.txt

The Garden of Allah (Robert Smythe Hichens, 1904):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smythe_Hichens

[Wellesnet]

Here is an article with more detail on the Lilly Library's project to digitize their collection of Welles radio programs:
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2016 ... 305219999/

Work will start on the discs this summer with hopes of debuting the website in August 2017. The website will give wider access to the Lilly collection and will also include better information. Dowell said meta data on the website will include information about the recordings including actors, score writers and more.

[NoFake]

The only one that's new to me is "The Doorway to Life." Would appreciate any information on it. Thanks.

[Wich2]

Also, the HELLO AMERICANS eps in circulation are of mixed quality, some very poor; it's such a fun series, and so close to Welles' heart.

I hope the nearly 40 years these discs have aged while in the Lilly's hands, without restoration, have not wrought irreparable harm to some.

-Craig

[Wellesnet]

"Doorway to Life" was a William Alland-produced radio show about parenthood from the late 40's. I don't know that Welles had anything to do with it.
https://www.otrcat.com/p/doorway-to-life

[Roger Ryan]

"Doorway to Life" was a William Alland-produced radio show about parenthood from the late 40's. I don't know that Welles had anything to do with it.
https://www.otrcat.com/p/doorway-to-life

Alland would have been working with Welles on Macbeth just prior to this radio show debuting; is it possible that Welles made a guest appearance?

[Wich2]

>"Doorway to Life" was a William Alland-produced radio show<

Hmmm... where was that sourced? The "bible," John Dunning's encyclopedia, lists radio vet William N. Robson as creator-producer-director.

Alland IS listed as one of the show's writers. Of course Orson had worked with both Alland and Robson before so it fits that he'd drop in - and happily score a check from the CBS!

-Craig