Orson Welles's The Little Prince - screenplay published in Italian?

[GM]

Found this while playing around on the web. Someone put it on a website dedicated to their very large collection of Little Prince memorabilia. Does anyone know anything more about it?

[I]

[Eve_h]

something I found, but probably you know about it already ...
It seems that the book was published in 1995 (85p.) and contained only a translation of the screenplay (taken from the Lilly Library) with an afterword by Enrico Ghezzi.

Here's a small excerpt from the translated screenplay ...
Saint Exupéry e Welles

[GM]

No, I didn't know about it, thanks for the info. I wonder how "Bompiani" got the rights to publish it, or whether they even needed the rights over in Europe. I wouldn't be surprised if the Welles estate has something to do with it not being published in English. Or maybe there simply isn't enough of a market for it. I'd buy a copy, but I don't know how many others would.

[catbuglah]

I'd love to read that - Welles was pretty good to pick up on that soon after it came out - I remember reading that it was a clash of egos with Walt Disney that curtailed the project. Amazing the amount of screenplays he wrote... I guess there's a Little Prince radio episode that one can listen to...

Cordially,

Mark

[GM]

I've never heard of a Welles radio adaptation of "The Little Prince", but it would be great if there was one. I just reread the Little Prince section from Barbra Leaming's book, and it appears Welles wanted it to be his third film, after Kane and Ambersons. He wanted Disney to produce it because he envisioned the film using real actors against animated backgrounds. So he contacted one of Rockefeller's men, Jack Leighter, who had worked with both Welles and Disney on Rockefeller's Good Neighbor Policy, to set up a meeting with Disney. During the meeting, while Welles was in the middle of his presentation, Disney and Leighter were both called away. Welles found out later that Disney had an aide call them both out so he could scream at Leighter, "Don't you know there's only room for one genius on this lot?!", or something like that. Funny story, although I have no idea how accurate it is.

Disney himself would later use the "live actors/animated backgrounds" technique on films like "Song of the South", and "Mary Poppins", but one has to wonder, wistfully, what Welles would have done with it if he had the chance. At least we still have the screenplay.

[catbuglah]

I think my memory is a little fuzzy there on the Little Prince radio show - I think I remember seeing something by St-X done by Welles either before or after the Little Prince...

Cheers,

Mark

[catbuglah]

November 30, 1942 - Ceiling Unlimited (Brief-span CBS Radio Program) - Wind, Sand and Stars - Saint-Exupery adapted by OW

I don't know if a recording of this has survived... A few of those shows have I believe...

[Wilson]

That episode survives; it guest-starred Burgess Meredith, and it's an excellent episode.

[catbuglah]

Ah but that's wonderful news, Jeff, thanks for passing that along.

By becoming aware of our role, even the most humble one, only then will we be happy. Only then can we live in peace, for what gives meaning to life, gives meaning to death.
Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand, and Stars, VIII,3

[Orson&Jazz]

I had just recently read the book, "The Little Prince". Of course I had read it knowing that Welles had plans for it, thus the reason for my interest. But, after reading it I was pleased with the book itself. It is a very charming little tale, and it can be enjoyed by adults as much as children.

I was wondering though, what was Welles thoughts of the book? Did he know the author personally? I would like to know what the book that is shown here contains. Did any one here get a chance to take a peek inside? I'd like to read the link that was provided here, but I do not understand the language. Any help here in transcribing what it says would be appreciated. I'd like to here the radio show that Welles had done. Is it easily obtained, or is it an obscure show that is not easily available to the public?

I'd appreciate furthur discussion on this topic. It intrigues me.

[catbuglah]

It's technically possible for them to have met as St-X was in the US at the beginning of French occupation, I think. New York mainly, although I don't think his english was very strong. I believe Jean Renoir actually was an associate of his at that time. Leaming gives a vivid 2 pages on the Little Prince project (pp. 270-72).

Stacy Schiff's biography on St-X is helluva impressive, by the way.

[Orson&Jazz]

I have Barbara Leaming's book right in front of me. I had read it once already, but for some reason "The Little Prince" and Welles together did not click right away. It totally slipped my mind. Thank you for the refresher! I take it from the excerpt that Welles really favoured the book.

"Orson proceeded to read aloud, from beginning to end and with great passion, Antoine de St.-Exupéry's The Little Prince."

What I wouldn't give to be in the room right at that moment...

[catbuglah]

[quote]I take it from the excerpt that Welles really favoured the book.

That was my assumption - St-X has a really poetic prose style, with a patriarchal outlook (with a romantic, sentimental side) which I would think appealed to Welles...

"Orson proceeded to read aloud, from beginning to end and with great passion, Antoine de St.-Exupéry's The Little Prince."

What I wouldn't give to be in the room right at that moment...

Yeah, really ... :;): [quote]

[mteal]

Welles wrote Five drafts of the LITTLE PRINCE screenplay, and the Lilly Library has all five of them. The drafts are only about 50 pages, so it would have been a fairly short film.

Alternatively, Rachel Portman's opera of it is a nice work, with a beautiful score, and the child singer who plays the prince is remarkable. It's well under 2 hours too, so it doesn't wear out it's welcome like most operas. It came out on DVD recently. Anyone interested could probably get it through inter-library loan.

[dkovacev]

Here's an excerpt from a 1973 interview with animation pioneer Hugh Harman, about his collaboration with Welles on "The Little Prince". The whole interview has been posted today at Michael Barrier's web site. There's no mention of Walt Disney's involvement in project.

I've often wished that we had gotten Orson Welles into this business. What a find he would have been! What the business has needed is minds. With all respect for Walt and his vast achievements—he was the world's greatest promoter—to me he never had ideas for stories as, say, Chaplin did. I can imagine what Orson would have done. I had occasion to work with him for quite a few months at our studio. He and I went into partnership on a deal to make [Antoine de Saint Exupéry's] The Little Prince in 1943, '44. I developed the greatest respect and regard for that guy; he wasn't, as the film business had him, a temperamental type, he wasn't that way at all.

He was going to play the lead in it, the aviator, and we were going to get a boy for the Little Prince. Our sets would have been a combination of drawn and live. There would have been animated characters within the scope of the picture playing with these live people. We studied and studied and studied that book, and I'm eager now to see the picture that is now being made , to see whether they have viewed the thing as we would have. We didn't take it in its transparency; we took it for its deeper meanings. We read Wind, Sand and Stars, another one of the author's creations (it's a thing of such magnificent beauty) and after reading that I thought I knew what The Little Prince was about. It is juvenile fiction, and yet there is a depth to it that is amazing.

We had it all set and were ready to go when Orson became tremendously ill. We couldn't say a word about it, but he nearly died. He had a bad liver at the time; he went to Florida to recover and was gone for months. We didn't revive it after that and we lost the whole deal.