Peabody Award |
What made Welles such a pivotal figure in the pantheon of the all time great filmmakers was not his pioneering of new techniques but combining different techniques still in their infancy in a pioneering way. That's what made CITIZEN KANE such an instant classic ahead of its time and that's what makes this 30 minute made-for-TV short endlessly watchable.
Orson's first attempt at a Alfred Hitchcock style show was not succesful.However, his later attempt in the 70's(Orson Welles Great Mysteries) proved to be a little more succesful,lasting for a few episodes.
These anthology shows, like Alfred Hitchcock presents, Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, and so on, are always about the stories told, and not so often about how you tell them. Orson Welles' attempt at such a show, shows a heavy involvement from his side into the production.
Television has had a few flashes of true genius: My World And Welcome To It, The Ernie Kovacs Show, the first few seasons of The Twilight Zone, The Fabulous Fifties, large chunks of Omnibus,Twin Peaks, the first five seasons of Lost and about half a dozen others. I would submit that I love Lucy was another flash of genius ( at least before it started to parody himself,) because Desi Arnaz was brilliant enough to use multiple cameras.
Orson Welles' sole directorial foray into TV-land was filmed for, of all people, Desilu Productions; this episode was to have been the first of a proposed series but it was never actually transmitted and the show was unceremoniously cancelled! Consequently, it has become the rarest of Welles' completed works and I only happened across it via a battered print with occasional combing issues!
This minor, virtually unseen entry in Orson Welles' filmography really deserves more exposure. It's a sly little morality play very reminiscent of an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", but done with far more flair & skill.
In 1958, the same year that he turned a B-movie thriller into one of film noir's greatest entries, Orson Welles was offered the opportunity to venture into television productions. He really was the perfect candidate for such a position; having kick-started his entertainment career hosting the radio programme "Mercury Theatre on the Air," he had already had much experience presenting classic works of literature in hour-long time-slots, demonstrating a keen capacity for unique and innovative storytelling {his October 30, 1938 broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" is now legendary}.
This is a brilliant half-hour TV Episode that Welles did to prove he could do television. He uses narration, stills, live-action and minimal sets to great advantage...
Just watched this Orson Welles rarity on YouTube. It was a pilot for a proposed anthology series hosted by Welles in which he narrates with still pictures of the leading characters of a particular episode being displayed before the story proper begins.
