Most people are familiar with Orson Welles’ Mercury/Campbell radio shows but I never knew of the existence of this one until reading Simon Callow’s book of the same name. It was a propaganda show about the American continent and ran for 12 episodes.
Welles isn’t that good on propaganda – as Callow pointed out his populism was always self-conscious. (eg Ep 1 person going “you don’t need to tell me how to be American”, Ep 2 the quiz show, the ranting of the final ep) But when he lets his imagination cut loose he’s marvellous - there is some terrific radio here.
First episode is about Brazil, with emphasis on the samba – Welles using his material from It’s All True; Carmen Miranda’s in it too. Great music and knowledge. Part 2 focuses around the Andes with a detour into South America’s bloody history – the conquistadors, independence movements, Bolivar, etc. Vivid and atmospheric. There is a brilliant segment on Haiti, particularly the reign of Henri Christophe (a period familiar to Welles from his MacBeth) a harrowing one on slavery. I enjoyed the one on Mexico too.
It's not all great. There is a weird segment about food, which is very avant garde. Plus a not-particularly-interesting episode about an obnoxious American traveller (he’s not nearly obnoxious enough). Also Welles doesn’t appear in Ep 8 or 11 due to illness. But overall this is very entertaining, and will be of particular interest to those interested in It's All True or depictions of South America during the war.
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