Orson Welles rounded off his US radio career with this greatest hits compilation (with a few new ones thrown in) he did in the summer of 1946, partly to promote his Broadway production of Around the World in 80 Days. It was an interesting way for him to go full circle - Welles never got the chance to go full circle with his film career, so it's nice to have him do it here. I think he achieved all he wanted to achieve in radio by this time - superhero, master dramatist, media sensation, Shakespeare, sitcom star, politician. What other mountains did he have to climb?
Episodes
1) “Around the World in 80 Days” *** - rich stew, fascinating. Dreadful songs. Passporteaut is turned into American, it's hard to recognise Welles' voice as Detective Fix (he’s very good incidentally). The basic story keeps things pumping along. I would have liked to have seen the stage show, even if you get the impression it would have been too much and given you a headache.
2) "Count of Monte Cristo" - I didn't get to listen to this.
3) “The Hitchhiker” - *** - Welles reprises a popular Lucille Fletcher Suspense story he did; still pretty good.
4) “Jane Eyre” – *** - Decent condensation of one of his most famous roles.
5) “Passenger to Bali” – **1/2 - not bad version of this tale - was it worth revising? Maybe it was popular.
6) “Search for Henri L” – *** - adapted from story by Lucille Fletcher, done previously on Suspense - good story, a bit more energy than others.
7) “Life with Adam” - **1/2 – Welles decided to pull a revival of Treasure Island for this, a Canadian radio play he heard from Fletcher Markle, about a Welles-like genius who romances a woman. The part of Welles is played by Markle (apparently – it could be Welles himself, so effective is the copying), although Welles pops in continually from time to time to remind people he’s in on the joke (see! I am self-deprecating!) Story seems to lack a subplot – the Welles character up to something else or an antagonist, something more like The Man Who Came to Dinner (which Welles refers to in his introduction.)
8) “Moat Farm Murder” ***1/2 – excellent confession of a killer, well played by Welles despite having to essay a rural English accent. This is spooky and well directed; Welles really trying to make an effort with a new piece of material.
9) “Golden Honeymoon” ** - Two items strung together – a boring adaptation of a Ring Lardner story about two old people on a honeymoon together (cue Orson Welles aw-shucks-acting, along with Mercedes McCambridge) – more Welles Americana, and dull. The second one is an extract from Romeo and Juliet – Romeo’s death bed speech. Interesting to hear him perform the role but he sounds far too old and bombastic for it.
10) “Hell on Ice” *** - still good but not as good when it was longer
11) “Abendego” **Not as effective as in Hello Americans.
12) “Two Stories” **/**** - Welles does “I Thanks a Fool” and is as miscast as ever – but then redeems himself with a wonderful version of Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” complete with great thumping heart sounds. (This would make a great short film.) Welles didn’t make enough horror movies.
13) “Moby Dick” *** – Welles calls this the best novel in history, and he’d return to it throughout his career (doing a famous stage production in the 50s). Thirty minutes wasn’t long enough for this story, there’s no room for subplots, just Ahab to rant away. Welles hams it up as Ahab, if truth be told – but I still enjoyed listening to it a lot.
14) “The Apple Tree” *** sweet John Galsworthy tale about a college student who falls for a hot 17 year old farm girl while on holiday but ends up dumping her. This was later filmed as Summer Story – how did they get a feature out of it, Welles can’t even make the full half hour (he pads out the running time with another story)?
15) "Scenes from King Lear" **** - a chance to hear Welles take on a play he was very attached to, and came close to filming towards the end of this life. Some excellent acting, including Welles and Agnes Moorehead.
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