The top bidder at a spring auction of Orson Welles’ personal mementos was none other than talk radio’s Glenn Beck.
The libertarian commentator picked up Welles’ 16mm Bell & Howell movie camera, magic props, The War of the Worlds scrapbook he owned and several of Welles’ copies of scripts for his films.
Not that this comes as a total surprise given the 50-year-old Beck’s long-standing fascination with Welles.
Beck launched his Mercury Radio Arts in 2002, naming it after Welles’ legendary Mercury Theatre. Last month, Beck’s television and digital media company, TheBlaze, announced it would move to 1065 Avenue of the Americas, a 38-story Manhattan skyscraper that includes the 110 West 41st Street address of the former Mercury Theatre. The Glenn Beck Program is syndicated to more than 400 radio stations nationwide, while TheBlaze.com has 25 million unique monthly visitors.
Beck graciously fielded some non-political questions about his admiration for Welles and his radio work.
Do you remember your first exposure to Orson Welles? How did you get hooked?
My mother gave me a set of records called The Golden Years of Radio for my 8th birthday. I think I wore the grooves out. The Shadow, Mercury Theatre and War of the Worlds. Brilliant. He and Paul Harvey taught me how the spoken word is much more powerful than anything on film or television. You are a partner with the spoken word artist.
Welles worked on stage, radio, television and film. Which of his works are among your most favorite and why?
Probably not the most popular answer, but his “lost” Shylock monologue from Merchant of Venice is one of the most powerful 3 minutes of film I have seen. I love the fact that he, later in life, would pull his car over the side of the road and shoot scenes on his camera. His “off the cuff” was more brilliant than what people do after preparing a lifetime.
What radio techniques have you learned from Welles, regarding voice and use of the medium?
Preparation for one. The way he prepared for his first week of shooting Citizen Kane was brilliant. He knew exactly what he was planning to do in great detail. He knew if he got behind schedule that first week, he would have the studio in his work the entire movie. Under promise, over deliver and prepare.
Second was the attitude of never giving up. Any man that says “can I take an ambulance to beat traffic so I can do yet another job” is the kind of hard working dreamer I relate to.
Third was his willingness to underplay a scene while the shot would seem to call for something to be played huge.
May 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of Welles’ birth. There are events planned in his birthplace and adopted hometown. Do you have any plans to mark his 100th birthday ?
Why? Will there be cake? I haven’t thought about it honestly, but I may put some of his scripts, cameras and magic on display at the Mercury Studios. I have talked with Penn Gillette about poring over his “magic box” which includes his favorite magic for TV as well as something I would love to have Penn and Teller work on as a special for TheBlaze TV.
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