The University of Tulsa Special Collections has acquired Orson Welles’ story outline for his never-filmed Heart of Darkness.
Dated Sept. 1, 1939 and based on the Joseph Conrad novel, it was an early step toward what would have been Welles initial project for RKO Pictures, according to Melissa Kunz, Tulsa’s Special Collections Librarian.
Welles wrote a full screenplay in the weeks that followed, but RKO executives thought the project would be too expensive to produce.
After RKO president George Schaefer rejected Heart of Darkness, Welles went on to co-write, star and direct the landmark Citizen Kane.
Actor contracts for Heart of Darkness, referred to as Welles #1, will be going on the auction block later this month.
The unrevised script of Nov. 30, 1939 can be read in its entirety at the Wellesnet script page.
The audio of an abridged This Is My Best radio production of Heart of Darkness starring Welles and broadcast on March 13, 1945 can be heard on our Radio Years page.
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