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Dracula: A Radio Drama with Orson Welles
This work was first broadcast in 1938 and the premier broadcast by the Mercury Theatre on the Air. Orson Welles, who both stars in and directed the production proclaimed at the time; 'We're starting out tonight with the best story of its kind ever written, you will find it in every representative library of classic English narrative. It is Bram Stoker's "Dracula".' Orson Welles and John Houseman, founder of the Mercury Theatre, believed this to be one of their finet productions ever made, and Welles later remarked to interviewer Peter Bogdanovich; 'I did it on the radio; oh God, it was wonderful! It's the most hair-raising, marvelous book in the world! It's told by four people, and must be done with four narrations, as we did it on the radio.'
Cast:
Orson Welles (Dr. John Seward, Count Dracula),
Elizabeth Fuller (Lucy Westenra).
George Coulouris (Jonathan Harker),
Agnes Moorehead (Mina Harker),
Martin Gabel (Dr. Van Helsing),
Ray Collins (Russian Captain),
Karl Swenson (Mate)
Cast:
Orson Welles (Dr. John Seward, Count Dracula),
Elizabeth Fuller (Lucy Westenra).
George Coulouris (Jonathan Harker),
Agnes Moorehead (Mina Harker),
Martin Gabel (Dr. Van Helsing),
Ray Collins (Russian Captain),
Karl Swenson (Mate)
- GenresHorror
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2006
18 people want to read
About the author
Orson Welles
130Ìýbooks196ÌýfollowersGeorge Orson Welles, best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well as his distinctive voice and personality,
Welles is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, especially for his significant and influential early work—despite his notoriously contentious relationship with Hollywood. His distinctive directorial style featured layered, nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unique camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes.
Welles's long career in film is noted for his struggle for artistic control in the face of pressure from studios. Many of his films were heavily edited and others left unreleased. He has been praised as a major creative force and as "the ultimate auteur."
After directing a number of high-profile theatrical productions in his early twenties, including an innovative adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock, Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was occurring. Although these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to instant notoriety.
Citizen Kane (1941), his first film with RKO, in which he starred in the role of Charles Foster Kane, is often considered the greatest film ever made. Several of his other films, including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Touch of Evil (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1965), and F for Fake (1974), are also widely considered to be masterpieces.
In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two separate British Film Institute polls among directors and critics, and a wide survey of critical consensus, best-of lists, and historical retrospectives calls him the most acclaimed director of all time. Well known for his baritone voice, Welles was also an extremely well regarded actor and was voted number 16 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the greatest American film actors of all time. He was also a celebrated Shakespearean stage actor and an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety shows in the war years.
Welles is widely acknowledged as one of the most accomplished dramatic artists of the twentieth century, especially for his significant and influential early work—despite his notoriously contentious relationship with Hollywood. His distinctive directorial style featured layered, nonlinear narrative forms, innovative uses of lighting such as chiaroscuro, unique camera angles, sound techniques borrowed from radio, deep focus shots, and long takes.
Welles's long career in film is noted for his struggle for artistic control in the face of pressure from studios. Many of his films were heavily edited and others left unreleased. He has been praised as a major creative force and as "the ultimate auteur."
After directing a number of high-profile theatrical productions in his early twenties, including an innovative adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock, Welles found national and international fame as the director and narrator of a 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds performed for the radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was reported to have caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was occurring. Although these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to instant notoriety.
Citizen Kane (1941), his first film with RKO, in which he starred in the role of Charles Foster Kane, is often considered the greatest film ever made. Several of his other films, including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Touch of Evil (1958), Chimes at Midnight (1965), and F for Fake (1974), are also widely considered to be masterpieces.
In 2002, he was voted the greatest film director of all time in two separate British Film Institute polls among directors and critics, and a wide survey of critical consensus, best-of lists, and historical retrospectives calls him the most acclaimed director of all time. Well known for his baritone voice, Welles was also an extremely well regarded actor and was voted number 16 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the greatest American film actors of all time. He was also a celebrated Shakespearean stage actor and an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety shows in the war years.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 4, 2019
I listened to this because of my eternal crush on Orson Welles, but was pleasantly surprised by the adaptation. Dracula is a pretty long book -- most unabridged audiobooks of the full novel are more than 10 hours long -- so successfully adapting it to a 1-hour radio play is pretty impressive. This adaptation makes really great use of the medium, using techniques like incidental music and overlapping dialogue to keep up the pace without losing the emotional impact of the book. It still has to move a lot faster than the book does, especially in the beginning, and you can even hear that the actors are speaking quickly in order to get through the script in time, but it is overall quite enjoyable.
February 16, 2020
This was a radio drama of the classic story of Dracula. Pats of it were great, the production and cast were wonderful, but it was a bit too rushed. Some parts were difficult to understand. A narrator would’ve made a big difference. It also would’ve been better if it was a bit longer.
February 10, 2023
Good performances but the story is a bit too abridged and compressed. Probably due to time constraints of the broadcast but still
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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