By RAY KELLY “This is Orson Welles, ladies and gentlemen, out of character to assure you that “The War of The Worlds” has no further significance than as the holiday offering it was intended to be. The Mercury Theatre’s own radio version of dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush and […]
From the AT&T Archives comes this six-minute short: retired switchboard operators recall the hysteria surrounding Orson Welles radio dramatization of “The War of the Worlds” on October 30, 1938. (Video introduction runs through 1:20)
By RAY KELLY It was one year ago today we lost Norman Corwin, the poet laureate of radio, at the age of 101. During a career that spanned more than 80 years, Corwin wrote, produced and directed for radio, television, film and the stage. He won two Peabody Medals, an Emmy, and was nominated for […]
From PR NEWSWIRE “War of the Worlds:The True Story,” a new movie, will play one night only in select theaters across America this October 30th, Tuesday, the night before Halloween, on the 74th anniversary of the famed Orson Welles 1938 radio broadcast. “War of the Worlds:The True Story,” based on the most beloved alien invasion […]
Richard Linklater and Christian McKay talked about their new film Me and Orson Welles for nearly an hour after a preview screening in San Francisco on December 2. In the excerpt below they recall some details of Welles’s production of Julius Caesar, related to them by the only two cast members of the play who […]
Richard France, who Wellesnet readers will know as the author of two excellent books on Welles, The Theater of Orson Welles and Orson Welles on Shakespeare (that contains the text for Welles’s playscripts of Macbeth, Julius Caesar and Five Kings), has sent along this letter he recently wrote in response to the Time Magazine cover […]
**************************** THE ORSON WELLES LIBRARY 1. Wakefield by Nathaniel Hawthorne 2. The Red Room by H. G. Wells (with intro by OW) 3. The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad 4. The Secret Sharer (part two) Sredni Vashtar by Saki (with intro by OW) 5. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe The Way Through the […]
When you ask me if there is a movie I want to make, I have to answer in a very general way; I want to make movies —Orson Welles From a rare 1979 Yugoslavian TV Interview at The Orson Welles Museum ____________________ The Wellesnet Media audio page has now been transferred to it’s own site, […]
Wellesnet veteran Glenn Anders (aka Alex Fraser) is quite possibly the only member who actually heard that famed Martian broadcast .
There are pictures of me made about three hours after the broadcast looking as much as I could like an early Christian saint. As if I didn’t know what I was doing… but I’m afraid it was about as hypocritical as anyone could possibly get! —Orson Welles (to Tom Snyder – 1975) ************************************************* Press conference […]
The N. Y. Daily News has posted their complete original coverage from 1938 on the panic caused by the broadcast of The War of the Worlds. There is also a wonderful gallery of pictures featuring Welles in the studio, along with a Martian’s eye viewpoint of Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Here are some excerpts and […]
Early in June, 1970 Orson Welles appeared as a guest on The David Frost Show and gave the comments below to Sir David about his 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast. Later that same month, Welles was a guest host on the Frost Show and talked to (among others) these famous luminaries: Duke ELLINGTON, Louis […]
Here is Wellesnet member Ray Kelly’s article recalling The War of the Worlds radio broadcast, from the Springfield, Mass. Republican. There are additional pictures and sound clips at this link: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/70_years_ago_war_of_the_worlds.html To introduce Ray’s piece, here is Welles’s famous closing speech from the broadcast: _______________________________________ ORSON WELLES: This is Orson Welles, ladies and gentlemen, out […]
October 30th, 2008 marks the 70th Anniversary of Orson Welles famed CBS radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds, and to celebrate, Wellesnet will be reprinting or providing links to some of the best of the anniversary articles that will be appearing around the nation and world this week. However, to begin our coverage, […]
Public radio station KQED in California is presenting a radio show looking at the history of the infamous “War of the Worlds” episode of The Mercury Theater on the Air. The show will be presented twice, once tomorrow (2/16) at 1 PM, and on 2/20 at 8 PM (these are Pacific times, by the way). […]
The Free Company presents HIS HONOR THE MAYOR A radio play by ORSON WELLES http://www.box.net/shared/xky7hn4uxk As originally broadcast on April 6, 1941 on CBS _______________ For what avail the plow or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail. —Ralph Waldo Emerson JAMES BOYD: Today our theme is an ancient and fundamental democratic right, which […]
Here is a complete transcript of the radio script Orson Welles wrote for what is essentially the first draft of Mr. Arkadin. It was heard as part of the Harry Alan Towers produced radio show The Lives of Harry Lime.
Many thanks to Store Hadji for providing the link to Orson Welles brilliant broadcast of Hamlet on CBS radio in September and November, 1936. Here are the links to listen to this amazing broadcast: Part one: http://www.box.net/shared/kx46fg2h9i Part two: http://www.box.net/shared/sj7seahtem _______________________ I had never heard this one-hour adaptation before, (done in two parts), which is one of Welles earliest known […]
Note: This was originally published on the site in December 2004, but in part of an ongoing effort to streamline the site, it is being republished through the News page in order to make it easier to find. Other “classic” Wellesnet items will be posted this way in the coming days and weeks. -Jeff W […]
Here are some musical gems:Nine rare tracks from the Mercury Jazz Combo available for listening from the Louisiana Digital Library – see the link below. 1. Orson Welles: Introduction to the Mercury Jazz Combo 2. High Society 3. Orson Welles on real Jazz/Carolina in the Morning 4. Orson Welles elegy to Jimmie Noone/Jimmies Blues 5. […]
