Orson Welles in Focus Texts and Contexts [Hardcover]

Through his radio and film works, such asThe War of the WorldsandCitizen Kane, Orson Welles became a household name in the United States. Yet Welless multifaceted career went beyond these classic titles and included lesser-known but nonetheless important contributions to television, theater, newspaper columns, and political activism.Orson Welles in Focus: Texts and Contextsexamines neglected areas of Welless work, shedding light on aspects of his art that have been eclipsed by a narrow focus on his films. By positioning Welless work during a critical period of his activity (the mid-1930s through the 1950s) in its larger cultural, political, aesthetic, and industrial contexts, the contributors to this volume examine how he participated in and helped to shape modern media. This exploration of Welles in his totality illuminates and expands our perception of his contributions that continue to resonate today.

This is a fascinating collection, several of the contributions making the reader wish for more.

Foreword / James Naremore
Introduction: The Totality of Orson Welles / Sidney Gottlieb and James N. Gilmore
1. The Death of theAuteur: Orson Welles, Asadata Dafora, and the 1936 Macbeth / Marguerite Rippy
2. Revisiting War of the Worlds : First-Person Narration in Golden Age Radio Drama / Shawn VanCour
3. Old-Time Movies: Welles and Silent Pictures / Matthew Solomon
4. Orson Welless Itineraries inIts All True: From Lived Topography to Pan-American Transculturation / Catherine L. Benamou
5. Orson Welles as Journalist: TheNew York PostColumns / Sidney Gottlieb
6. Progressivism and the Struggles Against Racism and Anti-Semitism: Welless Correspondences in 1946 / James N. Gilmore
7. Multimedia Magic inAround the World, Orson Welless Film-and-Theater Hybrid / Vincent Longo
8. The Worst Possible Partners for Movie Production : Orson Welles, Louis Dolivet, and the ls±