Orson Welles On The Air

Between the period that he became a groundbreaking theater director and the period when he became a groundbreaking film director, Orson Welles was a groundbreaking radio director. Actually, these periods all overlapped in the mad days of the 1930s when Welles seemed to be everywhere, doing just about everything. His film work has, of course, seized the attention of the most people, if for no other reason than it is the work that's been most readily available to the public. His theater works, as all theater works, live on mostly in reports and stories and legends. (God, I'm pining for someone to put out a new exhaustive exploration of his theater work spanning from the 30s to the 60s.) For those interested in his radio work, however, there is wonderful news from Indiana University.

The Lily Library in Bloomington, the guardian of the largest collection of Welles's papers and archival materials, has a magnificent new resource available to the public.

Orson Welles On The Air collects much of Welles's prolific radio work as a director, actor, political commentator, and master of ceremonies. Included are the series' FIRST PERSON SINGULAR, MERCURY THEATER ON THE AIR, CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE, THE ORSON WELLES SHOW, HELLO AMERICANS, ORSON WELLES COMMENTARIES, and more. Much more. It's fascinating to see Welles alternate between his roles as an entertainer (mounting a thrilling version of "Dracula" or his famous panic-inducing take on "War of the Worlds") to his work as a social critic (including his five episode campaign on ORSON WELLES COMMENTARIES calling for an investigation into the 1945 beating and blinding of an African American serviceman named Issac Woodard in South Carolina). 

Welles is back on the air where he belongs. Go check it out.

Frank Lovejoy and NIGHT BEAT

It's Frank Lovejoy week at the Night Editor.  Lately, I've done a lot of work on the great unheralded everyman, and in a happy coincidence, it's all coming to press at the same time.

In the new issue of NOIR CITY, I have a couple of pieces about Frank. The first is called "What Shows And What Doesn't: Frank Lovejoy and The Crisis of Masculinity" which takes an extensive look at the actor's life and career, especially his contributions to film noir in the fifties in films like IN A LONELY PLACE, THE SOUND OF FURY, THE HITCH-HIKER and FINGER MAN.
The second is called "A Voice In The Dark: Frank Lovejoy's Journeys into Radio Noir" an overview of Frank's decades-long career in radio. To read these articles--along with the usual assortment of great film writing from folks like Vince Keenan, Carl Steward and more--subscribe to NOIR CITY.

Lovejoy's great accomplishment on the radio was the terrific show NIGHT BEAT, in which he plays the dusk-til-dawn reporter Randy Stone. I have a new piece on the show over at Criminal Element. Check it out. I've also posted a link over there to a place where you can stream episodes of NIGHT BEAT.