THE 39 STEPS - THE REHEARSALS

Obssessed_with_Orson · Sat Feb 23, 2002 7:19 pm

i'm listening to the rehearsal of 39 steps right now. has a quite a few changes and Orson's making a few mistakes. poor thing. but in Julius Caesar rehearsal, was saying, "come on, come on, where are you. you've been given youre cues."

kind of like bloopers on tv.

came to the end of it. where he's supposed to talk out of character. he said "I have nothing to say."

he's funny. even when supposed to be dramatic.

Le Chiffre · Post by **Le Chiffre** » Mon Feb 25, 2002 9:38 pm

I love those rehearsal recordings of Welles and the Mercury. That JULIUS CEASAR rehearsal is priceless because the actual broadcast is now believed lost. My favorite rehearsal recording is for THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY because it's nearly 25 minutes longer then the actual broadcast, so it gives a better, fuller idea of how Welles would have approached the adaptation of Chesterton's story for radio...if he had more then 1 hour to work with. That is a problem I have with some of the Welles/Mercury programs: they seem TOO condensed, too crammed into the 1-hour format. Some of the stories just don't have enough room to breathe.

That IS funny when Welles says at the end, "I have nothing to say". Imagine if he'd done that on the air.

Obssessed_with_Orson · Wed Feb 27, 2002 3:23 pm

It would have been nice for him to have longer. Because some of the radio shows didn't even end with the correct endings. Like Vanessa. It ends with her letter to him, while she was dying. I've got the book, and there's still of 50-100 pages to go. I think it should have been called Benjie.
And The Citadel. Oh, man. What an ending the books got. If you've heard the show, but haven't read the book, you are missing out.
I haven't heard Arrowsmith yet. I wonder how much of that is gonna be missing. I read the book already. And the one called Come and Get It. Very good.
I figured, since I know I won't get to hear them, I may as well read them. And then pick out which character fits him.

You're right on that Julius Caesar show, mteal. There is no original, so the rehearsal is priceless.

Bye now.

Le Chiffre · Post by **Le Chiffre** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 11:19 am

O-W-O,
That's an extremely good idea about reading the original book to compare it to Welles' own adaptations. I can't tell you how many great books I've read mainly because of my interest in Orson Welles, whether it was an adapted radio play, or a film, or a screenplay that never became a film, or just a simple desire on his part to make a film. For example, I read in Leaming's book that he badly wanted to make a film of Joseph Heller's CATCH 22, but couldn't. So, I read the book - imagining it as a Welles film - and was blown away by it. Ditto for Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE, CARMEN, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY, Dickens' THE PICKWICK PAPERS, Dashiel Hammet's THE GLASS KEY, Twain's HUCKLEBERRY FINN, Tarkington's AMBERSONS and SEVENTEEN, Agatha Christie's MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, THE MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY, stories by Dineson, Conrad, John Collier, and many others. These are all great books that I would probably never have bothered to read had they not been connected to Welles in some way, but I'm sure glad I did.

I haven't read the two you mentioned, although I saw the film of COME AND GET IT with Frances Farmer, and I always thought THE CITADEL was one of the better programs in the Campbell series. Maybe I'll check them out sometime. If you're interested, there's a good list of Welles' unrealized projects at

www.geocities.com/orsonwelleslives/

If that doesn't work, just do a Google search on "Unseen Orson Welles".

Welles Fan · Post by **Welles Fan** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 10:17 pm

mteal: where did you find the rehearsal for The Man Who Was Thursday?

Jeff Wilson · Post by **Jeff Wilson** » Thu Feb 28, 2002 10:52 pm

While we're talking about books that the Mercury made broadcasts from, I'd recommend Rabble in Arms, by Kenneth Roberts. It's a Revolutionary War novel with Benedict Arnold as a major character. An excellent book. Still waiting for my copy of the show to arrive, though...

Welles Fan · Post by **Welles Fan** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 9:58 am

I loved those Kenneth Roberts adventure novels. I particularly liked Arundel, which also featured Arnold, this time leading the ill-fated exbedition to Quebec. I also like the earlier Northwest Passage. I think the most thrilling part of Rabble in Arms was when Arnold leads the charge (against orders) at Saratoga. I cannot imagine a less than one hour version of the story, so let us know how you like it.

Aside: Has anyone ever figured out, satisfactorily, the enigma of Arnold? The Roberts books really do not exaggerate his courage, brilliance, dedication and tenacity. How does a guy go from being possibly the greatest hero of the war to the greatest villain? Maybe he was a sort of Coriolanus-type figure?

Le Chiffre · Post by **Le Chiffre** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 7:26 pm

Nice look, O_W_O!

Welles Fan,
I got my copy of the Man Who Was Thursday rehearsal from a Connecticut-based outfit called Video Yesteryear, now-defunct. Registered for ebay, anybody? I made a copy of it with other Welles rarities on VHS if anyone's interested in trading. On ebay there's a cassette of two Lady Esther radio programs for a starting bid of $4.95. Auction ends tommorrow, but of course, there's good stuff on ebay all the time.

Welles Fan · Post by **Welles Fan** » Fri Mar 01, 2002 9:21 pm

I remember Video Yesteryear. I bought a couple of silent films from them, but they had mastered them at so-called "correct projection speed", which meant they were slowed down to the speed of today's sound films! I wrote to them to try to show them the error of their ways, and even copied some pages of Walter Kerr's "The Silent Clowns", in which he explained why silent films had to move a bit faster, but they never saw things my way.

Obssessed_with_Orson · Wed Mar 06, 2002 2:14 pm

Okay, I have another question. Actually concerning all radio shows, but shows more in 39 Steps.

The radio time limit on the air was only an hour. How was then Orson Welles able to get in an extra part, and still make most of the chapters? In the 39 steps, there is the part where he is getting on the train, along with conductor and all the passengers. I went through the book, and couldn't find anything about that in it. It was a good part.

But I just can't figure out how he was able to get in the extra part with that story. While most of the other stories he did there was barely enough time to get in most. I guess it depends on the length of the book. Huh!

Never mind, guys. I just answered my own question. I think.

Bye now!