On 10 December 1939, Orson Welles's production of "Vanessa" was broadcast on "The Campbell Playhouse," CBS-Radio. The final part of Hugh Walpole's four-book "Herries" series, which traces an English family through several generations. It's said to be one of the best of the series, and some have compared it to Wuthering Heights. The series itself is forgotten for the most part now, but in it's day it was compared to Galsworthy's The Forsythe Saga.
The First of the series, "Rogue Herries", set in the late 1700's, was mentioned in Monty Python's famous "Cheese Shop" skit: "Well, I was, uh, sitting in the public library on Thurmon Street just now, skimming through Rogue Herries by Hugh Walpole, and I suddenly came over all peckish."
Helen Hayes, who had co-starred with Robert Montgomery in David Selznick's 1935 film version ("Vanessa: Her Love Story"), was the guest. She later said it was her favorite of her eight appearances of the Campbell Playhouse.
Vanessa
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Wellesnet
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Re: Vanessa
Available, in good sound, at the new IU/Lilly website, along with the original script:
https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu/items/s ... 741%2C3278
https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu/items/s ... 741%2C3278
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Le Chiffre
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Re: Vanessa
Helen Hayes said her favorite show with the Mercury was Vanessa? To me, it's probably the most insipid show she did with Welles. The main problem with it I think is that the book (which I read a long time ago, but don't remember much of) was part of a 4-book chronicle, tracing a family history through late 19th/20th century Britain. The story here seems pretty dull and pointless by itself, separated from the other three stories. In it's day, the 4-book Herries saga was compared to Galsworthy's Forsythe Saga, but today, none of Walpole's books has it's own Wikipedia entry, so his oeuvre has apparently not dated well.
It should be noted that it was right around this time that Welles's second proposal to RKO, THE SMILER WITH THE KNIFE, was, like HEART OF DARKNESS a couple of months before it, rejected by the studio, which put the Mercury under the gun in terms of coming up with a viable film project. VANESSA was probably easy to adapt from Hayes's film four years earlier, and one can guess that she may have had as much control over this broadcast, if not more, than Welles did.
It should be noted that it was right around this time that Welles's second proposal to RKO, THE SMILER WITH THE KNIFE, was, like HEART OF DARKNESS a couple of months before it, rejected by the studio, which put the Mercury under the gun in terms of coming up with a viable film project. VANESSA was probably easy to adapt from Hayes's film four years earlier, and one can guess that she may have had as much control over this broadcast, if not more, than Welles did.