When Disney+ launches on November 12, a seldom-seen movie with Orson Welles will be among its initial offerings, the streaming service announced today.
The 1940 version of Swiss Family Robinson was Welles’ first Hollywood project, released a year before his landmark directorial debut in Citizen Kane.
Welles served as the uncredited narrator for the RKO Pictures release, which featured Thomas Mitchell, Edna Best and future The Magnificent Ambersons star Tim Holt.
Based on the Johann David Wyss novel and directed by Edward Ludwig, the 108-minute feature was described as a “good adventure yarn” by Variety, but it posted a $180,000 loss at the box office.
Decades later, Walt Disney acquired the rights to the RKO film in an effort to suppress its possible re-release and comparisons to its own 1960 version starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire and James MacArthur.
Disney included 20 minutes worth of scenes from the RKO version in the “Vault Disney” DVD release of its own Swiss Family Robinson.
Later, a 92-minute version of the RKO version of Swiss Family Robinson was issued as a manufactured-on-demand DVD-R release.
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