Read online: several Welles books on Archive.org

[Terry]

A well-balanced collection in my mind, by both his defenders and detractors:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=su ... 15-1985%22

[Le Chiffre]

Great find, Terry. Haven't seen the first Higham book in a couple of decades (there was one library in my area that had a copy, but they got rid of it years ago). This is like getting a dozen Welles books for the price of an email address!

[Terry]

That was the first Welles book I bought, for a few bucks at a used book store, when I was a fresh fanboy in my early 20s. Now I'm a bitter, old... what is it fanboys become as they age? Jaded?

I really didn't understand the tone of the text, which was less than flattering as I recall, and I was driven to anxiety by all the pictures of the Welles films I didn't think I'd ever see; very few of them were available on VHS or shown on cable TV in those days.

[Le Chiffre]

The Leaming book was the first one I bought, back in 1986, and it's still one of my go-to books on Welles. Unfortunately, this is the first edition, without the "Thorne Room" epilogue added later, but it's still nice to have it online. My old copy is so beat up it's held together by rubber band.

Am I correct that only one person can read each of these books at a time? You'd think Archive might have several copies of each, but they do seem to survive on donations, so maybe they can't afford the extra bandwidth. Just a guess.

[Terry]

That's like when a website lists a digital download as being "out of stock."

Yes, one digital copy per title, so try the "join waitlist" option.

I've been reading the Callow: he covers the End of the World in Brazil pretty thoroughly, be he misses entirely the dissolution of the original Mercury Theatre. I'm still wondering if they all left for their own careers while Welles was away, or after he returned but had no lucrative prime-time radio drama or next film for them.

[Le Chiffre]

Many of them, like Cotten, Morehead, and Ray Collins, continued to work occasionally with Welles in radio, but formed their own careers in Hollywood as well, undoubtedly recognizing that Welles no longer had the clout he had once had.