Orson Welles' Sketch Book - Season 1

1. The Early Days

Aired: 4/24/1955

Welles discusses a timely earthquake, first-night audiences at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, and how he came to be an actor.

2. Critics

Aired: 5/8/1955

Welles talks about a Boston performance of Five Kings, the consequences of Percy Hammond's negative review of the Voodoo Macbeth, and a curse placed on the film It's All True.

3. The Police

Aired: 5/22/1955

Welles relates the story of Isaac Woodard, a decorated black World War II veteran who was blinded in a brutal 1946 beating by South Carolina police.

4. Houdini/John Barrymore/Voodoo Story/The People I Missed

Aired: 6/5/1955

Prompts used by actors and others; remembering Harry Houdini; observations on gender differences in the appreciation of magic tricks; John Barrymore.

5. The War Of The Worlds

Aired: 6/19/1955

The famous 1938 Mercury Theatre broadcast mistaken by many listeners for a real Martian invasion, and the consequent skepticism during the presentation of Norman Corwin's Between Americans on December 7, 1941; and the opening night of the Mercury stage flop, Danton's Death.

6. Bullfighting

Aired: 7/3/1955

Welles tells the true story of Bonito the bull. Robert Flaherty's story was partially filmed in 1942 for Welles's unfinished film, It's All True.

7. Postscript

Aired: 5/7/1955