Orson Welles - Artist with Pen and Words

"The people were looking very eagerly, waiting for the finish, because they knew that although the story was very boring, it must be boring for a purpose..."

Most people who know Orson Welles at all, likely know him as the director and star of Citizen Kane or as the progenitor and star of the legendary Mercury Theater broadcast of "The War of the Worlds". Thankfully we're likely past the time when most people will say "Isn't he the guy that does those wine commercials?" Welles is rightfully considered a genius and perhaps one of the most truly brilliant creative minds of the modern era.

Of course, like most truly creative people, Welles tried many different things throughout his lifetime and his career, and while his triumphs were huge and praised still today, his failures were often just as legendary. His attempt to create a low-budget film version of Shakespeare's MacBeth, for instance, which turned out to be as much of a tragedy as the bard's play itself is but one example, another being his multiple aborted attempts to adapt Don Quixote to film. (One has to wonder, in light of the quite legendary struggles of Terry Gilliam to create his own version, just what it is about that novel that leads such otherwise incredibly talented directors astray.)

In between these monumental and well-chronicled efforts, however, were numerous smaller projects which have, over time, seemingly fallen through the cracks. One of these is a series of six 15 minute television shows which Welles created for the BBC in 1955 entitled Orson Welles' Sketch Book.

The concept of the show is very simple - as Welles explains in the first episode, the sketchbook is merely a prop, something he can use to illustrate the stories he is telling and to keep his mind on track. Mostly, however, the episodes simply consist of Welles looking into the camera and reminiscing, talking about getting his start in Hollywood, people he met during his storied career, and basically whatever else happens to be on his mind.

In the first episode, for instance, Welles, explains why a beginning actor is like a cartoon character not realising he's run out of cliff, discusses the invisible man who goes around on the opening nights of plays gluing swords into scabbards and otherwise creating mischief, thanks a fifth-row heckler, and elucidates on how a fall on his head made him into a professional actor, all in a seemingly impromptu style that reminds the viewer of just what a consummate storyteller the man could be.

The show was not just about his own career, however. Welles also takes the opportunity to expand his talks to social commentary, as in episode three where he discusses police abuse. Here's an excerpt:

...during that time, of course, I had occasion to speak on a great variety of subjects. And of all those subjects, one of the most interesting stories, one that sticks most vividly in my memory, had to do with a Negro soldier.

Here he is. The boy had seen service in the South Pacific, and he was on his way home. Home was in one of the southern states, and he was on a bus, on the way fell ill, and he asked the bus driver to let him off. The bus driver refused, abusively, there was an argument, at the end of which a policeman was called in, who dragged the boy out of the bus, took him behind a building and beat him viciously.

And when he was unconscious, poured gin over him, put him jail, charged him with drunkenness and assault. When the boy regained consciousness, he discovered he was blind. The policeman had literally beaten out his eyes. Now… of course that sort of policeman is the exception. That sort of a policeman is a criminal in uniform. I had the satisfaction of being instrumental in bringing that particular policeman to justice. The case was brought to my attention, and I brought it to the attention of the radio public and we did finally manage to locate this man and bring him into a court of law.

But there is another sort of police abuse. You know, I think we all suffer more or less. And we suffer at the hands of good policemen. Decent policemen. Policemen doing their duty. These are all the little petty annoyances; don't seem very important, but add up to an invasion of our privacy and an assault against our dignity as human beings...

In some ways, this simple setting allows Welles a freedom that he was rarely afforded in other venues. Certainly at times he is self-indulgent, at others he seems overly self-deprecating, but through it all, he is, as always, a master showman, proving once again why no matter what the medium, he mast always be considered one of the modern era's true artists.

Five of the six episodes are currently online at youtube, and I'm sure, unless there is interference from the BBC, the sixth will be soon. I've embedded the first below, and highly recommend you check out the others as well. For those wanting more information on the program, there is an excellent article on them from the UK newspaper The Guardian here. Also, transcripts of all but the first show can be found at the incredible Orson Welles resource Wellesnet. For those interested in checking out some of Orson's other radio and TV projects, I highly recommend The Museum of Orson Welles.