This year marks the 10th anniversary of the world premiere of the Too Much Johnson silent film footage, which was shot by Orson Welles in 1938 for inclusion in a failed Mercury Theatre stage production and long presumed lost.
The print was uncovered in a warehouse in Pordenone, Italy, and the footage shown on October 9, 2013, at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. To mark the anniversary, Cinemazero of Pordenone, the film club that discovered the reels of Too Much Johnson, has participated in an Italian language, multi-episode podcast, Too Much… Orson Welles.
The podcast was produced for the international Pordenone Docs Festival. It was created by Irene Tommasi, who structured the episodes based on the Massimiliano Studer book, Alle origini di Quarto potere. Too Much Johnson: il film perduto di Orson Welles (At the Origins of Citizen Kane Too Much Johnson: The Lost Movie of Orson Welles).
More details on the Italian-language podcast (with some English quotes interspersed) can found at pordenonedocsfest.it/too-much-orson-welles. Below are the titles and summaries of the five episodes:
Episode 1 – Il film scomparso – An unknown film is discovered in a wooden crate in the Cinemazero warehouse. Nothing recognizable is written on the cans except an indication that has something mysterious: sender Orson Welles.The beginning of a journey to discover Too Much Johnson, a silent film shot in 1938. Riccardo Burei’s voice can be heard as he opens, for the first time several cans, that contain the reels found in Pordenone.
Episode 2 – L’enfant prodige – The biographical twists that led Orson Welles to meet his theatrical partner John Houseman.
Episode 3 – Orson… will rock – From the Federal Theater, through Project 891 to the Mercury Theater. Welles’ progressive political views are examined.
Episode 4 – One man show – The last days of Mercury, movie directing Too Much Johnson, The War of Worlds radio broadcast, and Hollywood!
Episode 5 – Il viaggio di una pellicola – An interview with Massimiliano Studer, author of the only book devoted to Too Much Johnson.
The podcast can be streamed at storielibere.fm/too-much-orson-welles. It is also available on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Spotify.
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