Greetings all, and welcome to the first installment of what will hopefully be a long-lasting series of discussions about Welles work on the radio. Welles' radio career usually gets short shrift compared to his film work, not surprisingly, but there is plenty to discuss within the radio arena as well. With that being said, there's no real set format to this, we'll simply throw the show of the week out there and see what comes of it. Right now, I think it's easiest to run through Welles' work chronologically, beginning with Mercury Theater on the Air, unless people have objections to that. So plan on "Treasure Island" next Monday, the 27th as the next discussion.
If you don't own a copy of the week's show and want to still participate, you can find copies of Welles' radio shows on the web in a number of places. For the Mercury Theater/Campbell Playhouse stuff, there is of course the Mercury radio site with the shows available to listen to, at unknown.nu/mercury/. Also, there are FTP sites you can sign up for if you have either a broadband connection or don't mind waiting for a download. I use http://www.oldtimeradioprograms.com/ right now, and it's a good resource of a wide variety of stuff well beyond Welles. I think that service costs about $8 for a gigabyte worth of downloads, which is quite a bit. I've had my account for at least two years and am still not even half way through that initial block of credit. As I said though, there are a variety of other such services, so shop around. There are numerous tape and CD dealers out there too, and for the quickest, cheapest way to get bunch of stuff cheap, pick up one of the compilations on eBay, which will usually gather three discs of Welles shows for under $10 in MP3 format. Quality can be dicey from show to show depending on the source material and how well it was encoded, but you get what you pay for.
Having said all that, let's start the discussion. I'm going to give the show one more listen and will be back tonight with some thoughts, but anyone who wants to get going ahead of that, feel free to do so.
The Weekly Welles Radio Show Discussion - Week 1: Dracula (July 11, 1938)
21 posts
• Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
by Glenn Anders » Mon Sep 20, 2004 8:51 pm
Right, Jeff!
I'll try to be brief because others often have more entertaining anecdotes and observations:
We know that Welles conceived the Mercury Theater on the Air (known initially as First Person Singular) as a projection of earlier work he had done on Radio, an innovation in wedding drama to story telling, and as a way of bringing good literature and the Mercury Theater to a greater, a "wider"; in other words, to a National audience. The former notion had been an ideal instilled in him as early as his student days with "Skipper" Hill and the annotated Shakespeare project.
CBS, with whom he had worked in several Columbia Radio Workshop dramas, agreed to the concept of a sustaining series, in the Summer of 1938, when the sponsored shows took an eight or ten week hiatus.
We also know that "Treasure Island," a boyhood favorite of Welles, was the first choice, but that he came to Houseman rather abruptly to say, Brom Stoker's "Dracula," another favorite, would take the place of Stevenson's boys adventure novel.
Welles and Houseman, cut and pasting from the novel itself, worked all night in an Automat to create the script.
What I remember first of the program is, of course, Bernard Herrmann's conducting of Tchaikowski's "Piano Concerto in B-flat minor," which became the theme for the entire series, the subsequent Campbell Playhouse, and was in the time period turned into a popular song, "Tonight We Love."
Then, after proclaiming CBS's purpose, the Announcer strung together critical accolades about Welles' and the Mercury Theater "lighting up the sky over Broadway," which was kept throughout the first series. He turned the program over to Welles, who explained the concept of First Person Singular, and introduced "Dracula," establishing Stoker's theatrical connections, stressing the work's place in World Literature.
The play, as we can hear, is narrated by various characters in diary and epistolary form (like the novel). Essentially, without the "Rosebud Quest," this method is the one which Welles adopted for CITIZEN KANE. We may speculate that Brom Stoker, or at least the Epistolary Novel, is the father of an important contribution to movie storytelling often attributed to Welles.
Jonathan Harker, Dr. Seward, Dr. Van Helsing, Mina Harker, among others, tell the story, augmented by sound effects of carriage wheels, coffins being hammered together, wind in a ship's rigging, etc. Hermann provides very judicious selections of music, mainly and importantly, to provide bridges between the scenes.
To me, a couple of these scenes stand out. Firstly, I shall never forget the presentation of Dracula's sea journey from Varna on the Black Sea to Whitby on the East Coast of England, where Dr. Seward resides. The narration here comes in the form of the Russian Ship Demeter's log. The First Mate (Karl Swenson -- better known as Lorenzo Jones of the longtime Soap Opera) tells of all the strange goings-on: coffins of Transylvanian earth, vampire bats, a wild dog, and the elimination of the crew, "on-n-e bwye on-n-n-n-e." The Captain, as the last human standing, lashed to the wheel, to stay awake, finishes the writing duties.
He comes to a finish, rather like Scott did in his final diary entry, marooned in the Antarctic.
And here is one of the great moments in Radio. There is a rule in the business, that a pause can last one, two, three beats. On beat four, the listener senses that something is wrong. On beat five, that sense becomes excruciating. Beyond that, people begin to fiddle with the radio, thinking that it's broken or that the station has gone off the air.
In Welles' radio production of "Dracula," it is on Beat Five of silence that a terrific SHRIEK nearly blows the speakers out!
A truly great moment.
Welles, of course, plays several characters, but most memorably, he is Count Dracula, and I would argue that, wired for sound, he may be the greatest of all Dracula's. Like the original of Stoker's masterful novel, he is a weary, obstinate man, jaded with his hundreds of years in the field of debauchery. Only when he comes up against Mina Harker does he come alive with passion and lust.
As Professor Van Helsing (Martin Gabel) shouts for her to "Strike!" -- the climactic scene between Agnes Moorhead as the slightly besotted Mina holds a stake and mallet above the heart of the confident Welles (pulling out all the stops of his organ of a voice) is also one of the grand marriages of acting, sound effects and music in the Medium of Radio.
Those are my memories and impressions. What about the rest of you?
Glenn
I'll try to be brief because others often have more entertaining anecdotes and observations:
We know that Welles conceived the Mercury Theater on the Air (known initially as First Person Singular) as a projection of earlier work he had done on Radio, an innovation in wedding drama to story telling, and as a way of bringing good literature and the Mercury Theater to a greater, a "wider"; in other words, to a National audience. The former notion had been an ideal instilled in him as early as his student days with "Skipper" Hill and the annotated Shakespeare project.
CBS, with whom he had worked in several Columbia Radio Workshop dramas, agreed to the concept of a sustaining series, in the Summer of 1938, when the sponsored shows took an eight or ten week hiatus.
We also know that "Treasure Island," a boyhood favorite of Welles, was the first choice, but that he came to Houseman rather abruptly to say, Brom Stoker's "Dracula," another favorite, would take the place of Stevenson's boys adventure novel.
Welles and Houseman, cut and pasting from the novel itself, worked all night in an Automat to create the script.
What I remember first of the program is, of course, Bernard Herrmann's conducting of Tchaikowski's "Piano Concerto in B-flat minor," which became the theme for the entire series, the subsequent Campbell Playhouse, and was in the time period turned into a popular song, "Tonight We Love."
Then, after proclaiming CBS's purpose, the Announcer strung together critical accolades about Welles' and the Mercury Theater "lighting up the sky over Broadway," which was kept throughout the first series. He turned the program over to Welles, who explained the concept of First Person Singular, and introduced "Dracula," establishing Stoker's theatrical connections, stressing the work's place in World Literature.
The play, as we can hear, is narrated by various characters in diary and epistolary form (like the novel). Essentially, without the "Rosebud Quest," this method is the one which Welles adopted for CITIZEN KANE. We may speculate that Brom Stoker, or at least the Epistolary Novel, is the father of an important contribution to movie storytelling often attributed to Welles.
Jonathan Harker, Dr. Seward, Dr. Van Helsing, Mina Harker, among others, tell the story, augmented by sound effects of carriage wheels, coffins being hammered together, wind in a ship's rigging, etc. Hermann provides very judicious selections of music, mainly and importantly, to provide bridges between the scenes.
To me, a couple of these scenes stand out. Firstly, I shall never forget the presentation of Dracula's sea journey from Varna on the Black Sea to Whitby on the East Coast of England, where Dr. Seward resides. The narration here comes in the form of the Russian Ship Demeter's log. The First Mate (Karl Swenson -- better known as Lorenzo Jones of the longtime Soap Opera) tells of all the strange goings-on: coffins of Transylvanian earth, vampire bats, a wild dog, and the elimination of the crew, "on-n-e bwye on-n-n-n-e." The Captain, as the last human standing, lashed to the wheel, to stay awake, finishes the writing duties.
He comes to a finish, rather like Scott did in his final diary entry, marooned in the Antarctic.
And here is one of the great moments in Radio. There is a rule in the business, that a pause can last one, two, three beats. On beat four, the listener senses that something is wrong. On beat five, that sense becomes excruciating. Beyond that, people begin to fiddle with the radio, thinking that it's broken or that the station has gone off the air.
In Welles' radio production of "Dracula," it is on Beat Five of silence that a terrific SHRIEK nearly blows the speakers out!
A truly great moment.
Welles, of course, plays several characters, but most memorably, he is Count Dracula, and I would argue that, wired for sound, he may be the greatest of all Dracula's. Like the original of Stoker's masterful novel, he is a weary, obstinate man, jaded with his hundreds of years in the field of debauchery. Only when he comes up against Mina Harker does he come alive with passion and lust.
As Professor Van Helsing (Martin Gabel) shouts for her to "Strike!" -- the climactic scene between Agnes Moorhead as the slightly besotted Mina holds a stake and mallet above the heart of the confident Welles (pulling out all the stops of his organ of a voice) is also one of the grand marriages of acting, sound effects and music in the Medium of Radio.
Those are my memories and impressions. What about the rest of you?
Glenn
-
Glenn Anders - Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1911
- Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:50 pm
- Location: San Francisco
by R Kadin » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:16 pm
So immersed in the medium and so intimate a connection with the listener!
Lush sound effects, sound montages, multiple viewpoints, exotic accents - so rich a mixture. Paced expertly to culminate in a final chase and elusive climax (does she strike, or doesn't she..??), the production offers a number of wonderful rewards to the audience.
By today's jaded ear, the jarring musical exclamation marks seem a bit overdone, as does some of the delivery ("buh-lud of my buh-lud..."); but the signature, urgent, overlapping dialogue is in full force, as is the concise, logical plot line, and the efficiently evocative word-pictures.
Here we have a masterful talent settling itself all the more confidently into a marvellously receptive new environment whose attributes and potential are ripe playthings for the perceptive dramatist's art. One can only imagine in 2004 what a contrast this broadcast might have been to standard fare in its day.
Lush sound effects, sound montages, multiple viewpoints, exotic accents - so rich a mixture. Paced expertly to culminate in a final chase and elusive climax (does she strike, or doesn't she..??), the production offers a number of wonderful rewards to the audience.
By today's jaded ear, the jarring musical exclamation marks seem a bit overdone, as does some of the delivery ("buh-lud of my buh-lud..."); but the signature, urgent, overlapping dialogue is in full force, as is the concise, logical plot line, and the efficiently evocative word-pictures.
Here we have a masterful talent settling itself all the more confidently into a marvellously receptive new environment whose attributes and potential are ripe playthings for the perceptive dramatist's art. One can only imagine in 2004 what a contrast this broadcast might have been to standard fare in its day.
-
R Kadin - Wellesnet Veteran
- Posts: 292
- Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2002 3:32 pm
by Glenn Anders » Tue Sep 21, 2004 7:03 pm
R Kadin: Why could I have not put it all so evocatively, so succinctly?
As one who actually heard it on that summer day, so long ago, in Ohio, I can tell you that there was nothing on the radio in the late Thirties which compared with it. The only other one, on a regular basis, was The Columbia Radio Workshop, which I mentioned in my piece. And Welles was involved with those, as were the directors who may have been an influence on him, Irving Reiz and particularly, William N. Robson.
The March of Time on the Air, with which Welles was often associated, must have been influential, too, but I can't remember having listened to it, which is strange, considering my father's strong interest in current events. It was on the air from 1931 and had a long run into the 1940's, but it was often on at 10:30 at night, a little late for me in those years. And there does not seem to be much of it in the Old Time Radio catalogues, so I can hardly judge its quality.
Nice work, R Kadin.
Glenn
As one who actually heard it on that summer day, so long ago, in Ohio, I can tell you that there was nothing on the radio in the late Thirties which compared with it. The only other one, on a regular basis, was The Columbia Radio Workshop, which I mentioned in my piece. And Welles was involved with those, as were the directors who may have been an influence on him, Irving Reiz and particularly, William N. Robson.
The March of Time on the Air, with which Welles was often associated, must have been influential, too, but I can't remember having listened to it, which is strange, considering my father's strong interest in current events. It was on the air from 1931 and had a long run into the 1940's, but it was often on at 10:30 at night, a little late for me in those years. And there does not seem to be much of it in the Old Time Radio catalogues, so I can hardly judge its quality.
Nice work, R Kadin.
Glenn
-
Glenn Anders - Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1911
- Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:50 pm
- Location: San Francisco
by Wilson » Thu Sep 23, 2004 10:29 am
Okay, I'm late in chiming in on this, but I simply haven't had a chance until now. Anyhow, some random thoughts about "Dracula" then...
- the opening, with its piling on of praise for Welles, has always been rather off-putting to me. They would have been better off having a couple lines of praise and leave off at that. As broadcast, it comes off as trying to hard to show just how magnificent Welles' career had been to that point.
- As noted above, the musical stingers have not dated well, but the music is otherwise quite good.
- Performances are likewise quite good. I suppose Welles' Dracula, in light of his other Eastern European/heavy accent performances might make people feel otherwise, but I thought it was well done.
- I did like, and I imagine it was somewhat risque for 1938, Mina's sigh of pleasure when she drinks from Dracula during the "blood of my blood" bit.
- The sequence on board the freighter is excellent, very well acted, written and paced.
- the opening, with its piling on of praise for Welles, has always been rather off-putting to me. They would have been better off having a couple lines of praise and leave off at that. As broadcast, it comes off as trying to hard to show just how magnificent Welles' career had been to that point.
- As noted above, the musical stingers have not dated well, but the music is otherwise quite good.
- Performances are likewise quite good. I suppose Welles' Dracula, in light of his other Eastern European/heavy accent performances might make people feel otherwise, but I thought it was well done.
- I did like, and I imagine it was somewhat risque for 1938, Mina's sigh of pleasure when she drinks from Dracula during the "blood of my blood" bit.
- The sequence on board the freighter is excellent, very well acted, written and paced.
-
Wilson - Site Admin
- Posts: 215
- Joined: Sun May 30, 2004 1:02 pm
by Glenn Anders » Thu Sep 23, 2004 3:58 pm
R Kadin: You seem to find Moby Dick in many things, but you are usually right about them. Certainly, here, the concept of evil hidden in living form is presented.
Jeff: Yes, to my mind, the cruise of the "Demeter" is the best thing in play. It could almost stand alone.
The journey of the boat up the Danube (or is it the Vistula) is well done, too. In fact, whenever the characters are on the move, the story works. An exception is the first carriage ride that Harker makes in Transylvania, which seems hurried to me.
I notice now that I failed to credit Ray Collins as the Captain of the sailing ship. He had been on stage and radio for years, but Welles gave him five or six years of splendid character roles in Radio and in the Movies before he subsided into stock parts.
True, Welles is hammy as Dracula, certainly hearing the performance today, but Radio Acting was rather like Silent Movie Acting. In Silent Movies, gestures, stances and facial expressions had to make up for the lack of vocal communication. In Radio, the voice was dropped to lower registers and often styled to make a visual impression, as in Mina's sigh, which you note, Jef. When done well, these exaggerations are the essence of Art; when done badly, they are ludicrous.
Colonel Haki and Gregory Arkadin were far in the future in 1938.
In the same way, for the same reasons, I rather enjoy the intro because it was part of radio style in that time. Like all devices, when they become cliches, the announcer's bombast, 20 or 30 years later, opened itself to parody (which now turns up regularly in advertising on current Radio). That fact Houseman, Welles and Mankiewicz recognized in their over-the-top "News on the March" sequence in CITIZEN KANE.
The sound bridge I like best is the one where Van Helsing says: "Like the ringing of . . . a bell."
These last two observations lead me to a question: Where are our other troopers?
Do they not realize that, in the beginning at least, the greatest innovations Welles brought to the Movies were those he had learned and perfected in the medium of Radio? The lapidary dialogue, often almost "sound bites; sound montages and metaphors, like the whirring sound and failure of the lamp to suggest the Second Mrs. Kane's burn out; distance in microphone placement to demonstrate emotion and relationships, as in the scene where Kane and Leland talk to each other from opposite ends of the editorial offices; musical bridges again, etc. In other places, I've observed that the real subject of CITIZEN KANE may be "communication," in all its forms.
How can we get other members involved in these discussions?
Glenn
Jeff: Yes, to my mind, the cruise of the "Demeter" is the best thing in play. It could almost stand alone.
The journey of the boat up the Danube (or is it the Vistula) is well done, too. In fact, whenever the characters are on the move, the story works. An exception is the first carriage ride that Harker makes in Transylvania, which seems hurried to me.
I notice now that I failed to credit Ray Collins as the Captain of the sailing ship. He had been on stage and radio for years, but Welles gave him five or six years of splendid character roles in Radio and in the Movies before he subsided into stock parts.
True, Welles is hammy as Dracula, certainly hearing the performance today, but Radio Acting was rather like Silent Movie Acting. In Silent Movies, gestures, stances and facial expressions had to make up for the lack of vocal communication. In Radio, the voice was dropped to lower registers and often styled to make a visual impression, as in Mina's sigh, which you note, Jef. When done well, these exaggerations are the essence of Art; when done badly, they are ludicrous.
Colonel Haki and Gregory Arkadin were far in the future in 1938.
In the same way, for the same reasons, I rather enjoy the intro because it was part of radio style in that time. Like all devices, when they become cliches, the announcer's bombast, 20 or 30 years later, opened itself to parody (which now turns up regularly in advertising on current Radio). That fact Houseman, Welles and Mankiewicz recognized in their over-the-top "News on the March" sequence in CITIZEN KANE.
The sound bridge I like best is the one where Van Helsing says: "Like the ringing of . . . a bell."
These last two observations lead me to a question: Where are our other troopers?
Do they not realize that, in the beginning at least, the greatest innovations Welles brought to the Movies were those he had learned and perfected in the medium of Radio? The lapidary dialogue, often almost "sound bites; sound montages and metaphors, like the whirring sound and failure of the lamp to suggest the Second Mrs. Kane's burn out; distance in microphone placement to demonstrate emotion and relationships, as in the scene where Kane and Leland talk to each other from opposite ends of the editorial offices; musical bridges again, etc. In other places, I've observed that the real subject of CITIZEN KANE may be "communication," in all its forms.
How can we get other members involved in these discussions?
Glenn
-
Glenn Anders - Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1911
- Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:50 pm
- Location: San Francisco
by marcoshark » Thu Sep 23, 2004 7:30 pm
Considering when this was done, can you imagine what it must have been like to be a kid when Dracula first aired?!?
- marcoshark
- Member
- Posts: 30
- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 8:22 pm
- Location: Florida
by Glenn Anders » Thu Sep 23, 2004 9:07 pm
Marcoshark: It was fantastic. In the Summer of 1938, I was just short of my seventh birthday. Hearing "Dracula" is why I'm on this site today. My Family continued to listen to many of the plays in the series, and three years later, I insisted that my parents take me to see CITIZEN KANE, and I must say, I immediately understood its Gothic qualities (though I was unaware of the term or the concept) which the film shared with the best of Welles' radio drama. I also immediately thought on that Sunday afternoon we saw the picture, it was the best film I had ever seen, crowding out THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON(!!), also released in 1941.
And it all started for me with "Drac-cula"!
Glenn
And it all started for me with "Drac-cula"!
Glenn
-
Glenn Anders - Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1911
- Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:50 pm
- Location: San Francisco
by R Kadin » Fri Sep 24, 2004 12:15 pm
Thanks, Glenn, for bringing a first person singular dimension to this whole discussion (pun intended). How appropriate and how humanizing. You help draw so much closer to the source those of us who are forever one or more steps removed, yet again, from the works and events being discussed, here. It's an invaluable dimension you add and one that I hope is both seen and appreciated as such.
In that vein, then, I'd like to ask the great man himself to lend his support to one of the challenges you posed, above, to this same audience:
Quoted in a 1958 Cahiers du cinéma interview with Andre Bazin, here is OW on the relationship between film editing a radio-like appreciation of sound, this after having said only moments before, "All of the eloquence of film is created in the editing room.":
So. Glenn, the straight-line correlation you have astutely drawn could hardly be better-supported. All the more reason for "the troopers" to understand how much fuller an appreciation awaits them if they give themselves over and join in the fun at this, the "radio" end of the pool.
Also, by way of filling in some further context for the Dracula broadcast, as we know, the story had already been done in various forms, including stage and screen, many times before - most enduringly in the 1931 Tod Browning version for Universal. What would have been missing seven years later, of course, was a Wellesian take on that popular work, a void OW was clearly intent on filling. By way of comparing his success with it, as opposed to Browning's, I invite visitors to have a look at this fascinating review of that famous film and contrast it with the experience of hearing the Welles-directed broadcast, since - for a large part of its original audience, I'll wager - that's precisely the kind of comparison they would have been making at the time.
In that vein, then, I'd like to ask the great man himself to lend his support to one of the challenges you posed, above, to this same audience:
Where are our other troopers?
Do they not realize that, in the beginning at least, the greatest innovations Welles brought to the Movies were those he had learned and perfected in the medium of Radio?
Quoted in a 1958 Cahiers du cinéma interview with Andre Bazin, here is OW on the relationship between film editing a radio-like appreciation of sound, this after having said only moments before, "All of the eloquence of film is created in the editing room.":
A.B. Your montages take so long because you're trying out different solutions for...
O.W. I'm looking for a precise rhythm between one frame and the next. It's a question of ear. Editing is the moment when film involves the sense of hearing.
So. Glenn, the straight-line correlation you have astutely drawn could hardly be better-supported. All the more reason for "the troopers" to understand how much fuller an appreciation awaits them if they give themselves over and join in the fun at this, the "radio" end of the pool.
Also, by way of filling in some further context for the Dracula broadcast, as we know, the story had already been done in various forms, including stage and screen, many times before - most enduringly in the 1931 Tod Browning version for Universal. What would have been missing seven years later, of course, was a Wellesian take on that popular work, a void OW was clearly intent on filling. By way of comparing his success with it, as opposed to Browning's, I invite visitors to have a look at this fascinating review of that famous film and contrast it with the experience of hearing the Welles-directed broadcast, since - for a large part of its original audience, I'll wager - that's precisely the kind of comparison they would have been making at the time.
-
R Kadin - Wellesnet Veteran
- Posts: 292
- Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2002 3:32 pm
by Glenn Anders » Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:03 pm
Thank you, R Kadin.
I shall refrain from commenting on the fine review of Todd Browning's DRACULA you reference, except to speculate that the problems Browning evidently experienced with microphone placement and sound editing were those which Welles was superbly equipt by training and artistic temperament to solve when he came to from Radio to Hollywood.
With due respect, however, I must disagree with James Berardinelli that Browning, who directed Lon Chaney, Sr., in THE UNHOLY THREE (1925), THE UNKNOWN (1927), LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927), WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1928), and WHERE EAST IS EAST (1929), may have been obviously incompetent to direct a horror film.
Hopefully, other members will have further comparisons of the picture with Welles' "Dracula" on Radio.
Glenn
I shall refrain from commenting on the fine review of Todd Browning's DRACULA you reference, except to speculate that the problems Browning evidently experienced with microphone placement and sound editing were those which Welles was superbly equipt by training and artistic temperament to solve when he came to from Radio to Hollywood.
With due respect, however, I must disagree with James Berardinelli that Browning, who directed Lon Chaney, Sr., in THE UNHOLY THREE (1925), THE UNKNOWN (1927), LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT (1927), WEST OF ZANZIBAR (1928), and WHERE EAST IS EAST (1929), may have been obviously incompetent to direct a horror film.
Hopefully, other members will have further comparisons of the picture with Welles' "Dracula" on Radio.
Glenn
-
Glenn Anders - Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1911
- Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:50 pm
- Location: San Francisco
by mteal » Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:36 pm
I also disagree with Berardinelli that Tod Browning was "out of his element during the early sound era". All you have to do is look at FREAKS (1932) and THE DEVIL DOLL (1936) to see that he could make fine horror films with sound. Given his long association with Lon Chaney, it's probable that DRACULA would have been quite different had Chaney lived and played the role. The Lugosi film is at it's weakest when it conforms most closely to the stage production on which it was based (and which Lugosi starred in). Here, Browning doesn't seem to know what to do besides create the kind of 'canned theatre' that would allow Lugosi to basically duplicate what he did on stage. Still, there are some fine set pieces here and there in the film, and the near total absence of sound is one of the reasons why they're so creepy (and which is why Phillip Glass' attempt to add a music score to the film a few years ago was such a joke).
I think the best tribute I can pay to Welles and the Mercury's radio production of DRACULA is that, if you listen to it late at night by yourself, it's genuinely pretty scary. The idea of human being being transformed into vampire is chillingly conveyed by Welles as Dracula intoning "You shall be flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, guilt of my guilt, death of my death". Welles seems to have been fascinated by stories of Svengali-like psychological domination. In fact Svengali was the character he made his debut as a professional actor/director playing (at the 1934 Woodstock festival). In addition to Dracula, Franz Kindler and Cagliostro, Charles Foster Kane is another Svengali figure, especially towards Susan Alexander (a "cross section of the American public"). BTW, Cagliostro in BLACK MAGIC (1948) is a role Welles apparently stole from Bela Lugosi, who was supposed to make his big comeback in the role. Lugosi never made a comeback and, as most of us know, ended his career making Ed Wood pictures while strung out on heroin. I wonder if Welles ever gave any thought to that.
I think the best tribute I can pay to Welles and the Mercury's radio production of DRACULA is that, if you listen to it late at night by yourself, it's genuinely pretty scary. The idea of human being being transformed into vampire is chillingly conveyed by Welles as Dracula intoning "You shall be flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, guilt of my guilt, death of my death". Welles seems to have been fascinated by stories of Svengali-like psychological domination. In fact Svengali was the character he made his debut as a professional actor/director playing (at the 1934 Woodstock festival). In addition to Dracula, Franz Kindler and Cagliostro, Charles Foster Kane is another Svengali figure, especially towards Susan Alexander (a "cross section of the American public"). BTW, Cagliostro in BLACK MAGIC (1948) is a role Welles apparently stole from Bela Lugosi, who was supposed to make his big comeback in the role. Lugosi never made a comeback and, as most of us know, ended his career making Ed Wood pictures while strung out on heroin. I wonder if Welles ever gave any thought to that.
-
mteal - Site Admin
- Posts: 1178
- Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2001 11:31 pm
by R Kadin » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:12 am
mteal, as always, you manage to extend the scope and depth, here, even to unearth a little-known intersection between Welles and Lugosi.
I'm not saying I agreed or disagreed with the review myself, simply that I found it offered a most interesting point of view and some fascinating information. For instance, would I be the only it makes curious to see that Spanish Dracula??
I'm not saying I agreed or disagreed with the review myself, simply that I found it offered a most interesting point of view and some fascinating information. For instance, would I be the only it makes curious to see that Spanish Dracula??
-
R Kadin - Wellesnet Veteran
- Posts: 292
- Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2002 3:32 pm
by mteal » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:55 am
Thanks R. Kadin. Expanding the scope and depth of Welles appreciation is to me the only reason to have a Welles discussion board in the first place, so I'm glad to be able to contribute what I can.
The Spanish Dracula didn't make that much of an impression on me, so I also disagree with Berardenelli on that. The guy that played Dracula was not particularly memorable. The Spanish and Lugosi versions were recently released together on a multi-DVD Dracula package as part of a promotion for the recent VAN HELSING film. Can't vouch for the quality of the package, but I've heard it's pretty good. The Welles/Mercury Dracula is available, in very good sound, on Radio Spirits' BEST OF ORSON WELLES CD-set.
Most of the versions of Dracula that I've seen have good things in them, but my favorite is probably the 1958 Christopher Lee version (known in America as HORROR OF DRACULA). Too bad Welles didn't appear in a Hammer horror film instead of the atrocious NECROMANCY. BTW, I recently came across a brief mention of an X-rated (!) director's cut of Necromancy if anyone has any further info on this.
The Spanish Dracula didn't make that much of an impression on me, so I also disagree with Berardenelli on that. The guy that played Dracula was not particularly memorable. The Spanish and Lugosi versions were recently released together on a multi-DVD Dracula package as part of a promotion for the recent VAN HELSING film. Can't vouch for the quality of the package, but I've heard it's pretty good. The Welles/Mercury Dracula is available, in very good sound, on Radio Spirits' BEST OF ORSON WELLES CD-set.
Most of the versions of Dracula that I've seen have good things in them, but my favorite is probably the 1958 Christopher Lee version (known in America as HORROR OF DRACULA). Too bad Welles didn't appear in a Hammer horror film instead of the atrocious NECROMANCY. BTW, I recently came across a brief mention of an X-rated (!) director's cut of Necromancy if anyone has any further info on this.
-
mteal - Site Admin
- Posts: 1178
- Joined: Mon Jun 04, 2001 11:31 pm
by Glenn Anders » Wed Sep 29, 2004 4:13 pm
Yes, mteal, I've wondered why Welles did not sign for work in Horror Films, given this production of "Dracula," his title role in The Shadow, and his boyish interest in gothic tales and melodrama. Perhaps, he did not want to limit himself in a different medium, early in his career. The type-casting of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, John Carradine and other fine actors may have been a warning.
I hope that "Treasure Island" has not been cancelled. I was trying to dig out a copy of it, or at least, pull together my memories of the show. Given attitudes of the time, my guess is that "Treasure Island" went over better and gave the series more of a boost than "Dracula" did.
No doubt, others will give that famous story of treasure hunting a sendoff next week.
Glenn
I hope that "Treasure Island" has not been cancelled. I was trying to dig out a copy of it, or at least, pull together my memories of the show. Given attitudes of the time, my guess is that "Treasure Island" went over better and gave the series more of a boost than "Dracula" did.
No doubt, others will give that famous story of treasure hunting a sendoff next week.
Glenn
-
Glenn Anders - Wellesnet Legend
- Posts: 1911
- Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:50 pm
- Location: San Francisco
21 posts
• Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests