The Columbia Workshop

[Terry]

Welles in Hamlet and The Fall of the City. Ray Collins in Air Raid.


http://www.archive.org/details/OrsonWel ... iaWorkshop

[Le Chiffre]

The sound here of HAMLET parts 1 & 2 is OK, but I'm hoping that a better quality recording of this important Welles radio work comes along sometime. It is, after all, the only time he ever played Hamlet in any medium, although there is a brief speech in one of the OW Almanac shows. AIR RAID is a show that Welles was not part of, although it may possibly have been an influence on WAR OF THE WORLDS. The same goes for the eerie FALL OF THE CITY, which is also available at Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01AEIQHXWpQ

The writeup on this indicates that Burgess Meredith is also among the cast, which is something I didn't know before. One of the speakers definitely sounds like him, which gives a good idea of what his Prince Hal in FIVE KINGS must have been like. My guess is that Welles got the idea of casting him as Hal from this show.

[Wellesnet]

On 11 April 1937, Orson Welles appeared as Announcer in "The Fall of the City," Columbia Workshop, CBS-Radio.

From "Archibald Macliesh: Reflections":

The theme of "The Fall of the City" is the proneness of men to accept their own conqueror and accept the loss of their rights because it will in some way solve all their problems and simplify their lives - that theme had been projected in terms of (the Nazi takeover of) Austria. It is also taken from one of the great Aztec myths…the myth was that, just before the Spaniards came, a woman who had been buried in a grave at the edge of the Zocalo had risen from the dead and had spoken…In my play, of course, she says, “The city of masterless men will take a master.”

Everyone knows now, thanks to the courage of the Soviet dissidents, that the modern police state is the bloodiest, most brutal instrument of human oppression ever devised, but not everyone remembers how the police state comes to power. That’s really the point. That’s what it is, and that of course, is what "The Fall of the City" is all about. It was written in ’36 during the events which led to the Austrian surrender to Hitler, without a battle fought. It’s scene is Tenochtitlan, the Aztec city of Mexico, which permitted the peaceful entrance of it’s destroyer Cortes and his Conquistadors. Which is all ancient history, of course, or would be except that even ancient history repeats itself with us.

[Obssessed_with_Orson]

thank you for the link Store Hadji Hamlet sounds so much better from this site than the one i got it from.

[Wellesnet]

One of the best-sounding recordings of "Fall of the City" we've heard:
https://soundcloud.com/thewallbreakers/ ... sez4tyN1nM

[Wich2]

FYI, the producer of that webcast, James Scully, is an energetic member of "the next generation" of classic radio scholarship/fandom, well worth following in general.

- Craig

[Wich2]

And, through the good graces of Classic Radio gentleman and scholar Jerry Haendiges, here's an even crisper FALL ~

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code ... LEphudx4NI

Enjoy,
- Craig

[Wich2]

(Hope interested folks grab the file I linked above before it's taken down - it really IS the best I've heard of this show.)

[Wellesnet]

That link is not working, Craig. Is the show still up?

[Wich2]

Just tried it again this sec, boss ~

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code ... LEphudx4NI

~ and it played fine from here.

- Craig

[Le Chiffre]

You're right; real nice sound, Craig. Thanks for the link.

[Wich2]

You're welcome, Chief.

Yes, it's a real pleasure when an iconic piece that has always been see or heard in problematic shape, is revealed more fittingly.

And again, Jerry H. is one of the gold-standard guys in "Old Time Radio." (Though I hate that cutesy-poo term; it's like calling classic films "The Flickers"!)

- Craig