The Drama of Radio Dramas

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by crich70

I think you mean "night on bald mountain." Disney used it in his movie Fantasia. It was the 2nd to last piece in the movie if I recall right. After it came Ava Maria.

Either is a correct translation, and you'll find it sold under both titles (the word is used as an adjective, it's not the name of the mountain). Although I've hiked on Big Bald Mountain in Tennessee...but I doubt Rimsky-Korsakov did.

[piperclassique]

Not quite sure where this post belongs but for those of you who like old radio shows there is an ipad/iphone app called vintage radio which offers a nicely presented and sorted list of old american radio programmes which it will then download on demand. It was free when I got it, but may now cost some small amount of money, as I found it on "apps gone free"
Currently listening to The final Curtain Call from june 1949

[crich70]

I think I may have heard of it. I usually just go to MysteryShows.com though. For a small one time donation (to help defray costs) you get total access to all the content. There is a thread over at:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=210840 about OTR as well.

[MickiTee]

Originally Posted by montmorency

Someone mentioned a BBC production of The Hobbit with Ian Holm. I wonder if they were thinking of the production of "The Lord of The Rings", from (I think) the 1980s? This was excellent and full of good actors like Holm...

You're thinking of the original BBC adaptation of LOTR from the late 1970's (79 I think) which starred Ian Holm as Frodo, who went on to play Bilbo in the Peter Jackson films. It also starred Robert Stephens as Aragorn and Sir Michael Horden as Gandalf. It was released on cassette and then CD as I've got a copy of both.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by MickiTee

You're thinking of the original BBC adaptation of LOTR from the late 1970's (79 I think) which starred Ian Holm as Frodo, who went on to play Bilbo in the Peter Jackson films. It also starred Robert Stephens as Aragorn and Sir Michael Horden as Gandalf. It was released on cassette and then CD as I've got a copy of both.

I remember the CD's. I borrowed them through my local library.

[montmorency]

Originally Posted by MickiTee

You're thinking of the original BBC adaptation of LOTR from the late 1970's (79 I think) which starred Ian Holm as Frodo, who went on to play Bilbo in the Peter Jackson films. It also starred Robert Stephens as Aragorn and Sir Michael Horden as Gandalf. It was released on cassette and then CD as I've got a copy of both.

Thanks. You are right about the actors, as your post prompted me to look for an entry in Wikipedia, and there is quite a comprehensive one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lor..._radio_series)

I mistakenly remembered Jack May as Aragorn, but Wikipedia reminds me he was Théoden.

I had also forgotten that Bill Nighy was among the cast (playing Sam Gangee), as well as some other fairly well-known names.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Rylon

I love radio dramas....

And I can't believe I'm just now discovering this thread. I, too, love radio dramas. Thanks for starting this thread.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

A really good old radio drama is The Suspense version of Sorry Wrong Number starring Agnes Moorehead. It's really good and it's only a half hour. You can download it from the Internet Archive

Very much of a nail biter, that one. I've heard it a couple of times. It was one of the most popular episodes of that most excellent series.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by crich70

They have some good old PD movies too including a good selection of silent movies. Things like Edison's version of "Frankenstein" among others.

I think perhaps Tommy E. took more liberties with Mary Shelley's creation than anyone, and that's saying something. The way the monster is polished off in that film is rather absurd, but it is fun to watch (and very short).

[crich70]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I think perhaps Tommy E. took more liberties with Mary Shelley's creation than anyone, and that's saying something. The way the monster is polished off in that film is rather absurd, but it is fun to watch (and very short).

True enough, though we shouldn't be too hard on him I think. The movies were virtually in their infancy at the time. And he misjudged the market for records as well. He thought that they would be used mostly for recording the voices of well known people for posterity rather than for music to entertain the masses. He also failed to understand the importance of what he called "The Edison Effect" on cathode tubes which led to radio.

[montmorency]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Very much of a nail biter, that one. I've heard it a couple of times. It was one of the most popular episodes of that most excellent series.

Speaking of suspense radio plays, I can remember being very impressed / frightened by a BBC radio version of "Night Must Fall" by Emlyn Williams, and starring the Welsh actor, Hywel Bennett.

(Looking at the Wikipedia entry for "Night Must Fall", it seems a bit different from the radio play, and perhaps it was adapted by the BBC. It was very effective, anyway).

In passing, I found this via google, which may be of interest:
Lost Radio Plays, some found

Hywel Bennett was very popular in the UK in films and TV in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and could do a range of parts from humorous, to normal chap, to shifty, and downright psychopathic. He was popular in a longish running TV comedy series "Shelley".

I consider him one of those quirky, but great, originals, somewhat in the same mold as Denholm Elliot (although the latter is really in a class by himself).

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Rylon

...don't get me started about trying to find Dirk Maggs radio drama about Spider-Man. Spidey's MIA with regards to that.

I can't find the Spiderman episodes either, although Dirk Maggs' Amazon Page has a lot of the other stuff he produced (Batman, Superman, THHGTTG) available on CD. Then again, these days I buy precious few CDs. They're hard to fit into my iPod.

[deddajay]

Just found this thread, and glad to see lots of fellow radio drama fans

For current radio drama from the BBC there is a fantastic free program called Radio Downloader which will automatically download the output from the BBC iPlayer. It can be scheduled for series or individual shows. I use the BBC weekly schedules to see what's coming up and then subscribe to those shows that I want to listen to later. I transfer them to an SD card in an FM transmitter to listen to when driving to work. The program can be found here: http://www.nerdoftheherd.com/tools/radiodld/

[GA Russell]

Elliott Reid, a prolific character actor during radio's golden era, has died at 93. I remember him best in Three Skeleton Key, unless my memory is playing tricks on me.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituari...,4350723.story

[tubemonkey]

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

BBC Radio 4 Extra is presenting a dramatized version of Great Expectations in six one hour episodes. It started yesterday with new episodes playing daily.

You have seven days from first broadcast to listen to them before they're removed, so it's not too late to begin the series. Episode two airs shortly.


Edit - here's a related presentation:

The Mystery of Charles Dickens - Peter Ackroyd

Simon Callow recounts the writer's remarkable life and brings a host of his colourful characters to life. Written by Peter Ackroyd.

This is a one episode 90 minute presentation. You have five days left to listen.