Mercury Theatre

This article is about the company founded in New York by Orson Welles and John Houseman. For other uses, see Mercury Theatre (disambiguation).

Mercury Theatre

Orson Welles in March 1937 Photograph by Carl Van Vechten
Name	Mercury Theatre
Formed	August 1937
Location(s)	New York City
Artistic director(s)	Orson Welles
Notable members	Orson Welles William Alland Ray Collins Joseph Cotten George Coulouris Alice Frost Arlene Francis Martin Gabel Norman Lloyd Agnes Moorehead Vincent Price Everett Sloane Paul Stewart Mary Wickes Richard Wilson

The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. After a series of acclaimed stage productions, the Mercury Theatre progressed into its most popular incarnation as The Mercury Theatre on the Air. The radio series included one of the most notable and infamous radio broadcasts of all time, The War of the Worlds, broadcast on October 30, 1938. The Mercury Theatre on the Air produced live radio dramas in 1938–1940 and again briefly in 1946.

In addition to Welles and Houseman, the Mercury Theatre troupe included Carl Frank, Joseph Cotten, Martin Gabel, Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Hans Conreid, Paul Stewart, Will Geer, George Coulouris, Peggy Lloyd, Olive Stanton, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Everett Sloane. Much of the troupe would later appear in Welles's films at RKO, particularly Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. Other future stars of the stage, screen, and television, like Betty Garrett, Anne Baxter, Arlene Francis, Judy Holliday, and Norman Lloyd, also appeared in productions in smaller parts.

Theatre

In 1936, Orson Welles and producer John Houseman earned a reputation for their inventive adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in Haiti and using an all African American cast. That production was followed by Welles's and Edwin Denby's adaption of Horse Eats Hat and, in 1937, Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and the legendary production of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock. Breaking with the Federal Theatre Project in 1937, Welles and Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre and began with a groundbreaking adaption of Julius Caesar that evoked comparison to contemporary Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. They moved on to productions of The Shoemaker's Holiday, Heartbreak House, Too Much Johnson and Danton's Death in 1938. In 1939 Five Kings was produced along with The Green Goddess. The last theatrical production of the company was Native Son in 1941.

Radio

Welles had already worked extensively in radio drama, directing a seven-part adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables and playing the title character in The Shadow for a year, both for the Mutual Broadcasting System. In 1938, he was offered a chance to direct his own weekly, hour-long radio series, initially promoted as First Person Singular. However, this title was never announced on the air. Radio Guide initially mentioned the series' debut as Mercury Theatre before later listing it as The Mercury Theatre on the Air.

Welles insisted his Mercury company — actors and crew — be involved in the radio series. This was an unprecedented and expensive request, especially for one so young as Welles. Most episodes dramatized works of classic and contemporary literature. It remains perhaps the most highly regarded radio drama anthology series ever broadcast, most likely due to the creativity of Orson Welles.

The Mercury Theatre on the Air was an hour-long dramatic radio program which began in the summer of 1938 on the CBS radio network. Paul Holler, writing in Critique, described the program's origin:

Radio, with its power to excite the imagination and actually involve the audience in the creative process, had huge potential as a medium for serious drama. It seemed inevitable that the day would come when this medium, which had made Orson Welles a household name across the country, would become a part of his serious theater ambitions. That day came in 1938.

It was in that year that CBS, remembering Welles' work on Les Misérables the year before, approached him and Houseman about a series of radio dramas for its summer schedule. The idea was conceived as a series of narratives under the title First Person Singular. But the series would be best remembered by the name it assumed with its second production, The Mercury Theatre on the Air.

As with Les Misérables the previous year, Welles was given complete creative control by CBS over the new series. The choices he made in developing the series were informed by what he had learned in previous years in other radio dramas. Chief among those choices was to create dramas specifically for the radio and not to simply adapt dramas in production at the Mercury Theatre for broadcast. In close collaboration with John Houseman and other writers, Welles wrote, directed and performed in the productions. The end result was a series of dramas based on literary, rather than dramatic, works. There were exceptions, most notably Our Town by Welles' early mentor Thornton Wilder. But it was clear to Welles and Houseman that the medium of radio suited the telling of a story far better than the dramatization of it. As a result, some of the most memorable Mercury Theatre on the Air productions were adaptations of great novels. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tale of Two Cities, The Magnificent Ambersons, Heart of Darkness and other major literary works were offered to radio audiences during the Mercury Theatre on the Air's run. [1]

Houseman wrote the early scripts for the series, turning the job over to Howard Koch at the beginning of October. Music for the program was conducted by Bernard Herrmann. Their first radio production was Bram Stoker's Dracula, with Welles playing both Count Dracula and Doctor Seward. Other adaptations included Treasure Island, The Thirty-Nine Steps, The Man Who Was Thursday and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Originally scheduled for nine weeks, the network extended the run into the autumn, moving the show from its Monday night slot, where it was the summer substitute for the Lux Radio Theater, to a Sunday night slot opposite Edgar Bergen's popular variety show.

The early dramas in the series were praised by critics, but ratings were low. A single broadcast changed the program's ratings: the October 30, 1938 adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.

Possibly thousands of listeners thought Martians were in fact invading the earth, due to the faux-news quality of most of the broadcast. Significant publicity was generated, and The Mercury Theatre on the Air quickly became one of radio's top-rated shows.

The War of the Worlds notoriety had a welcome side effect of netting the show the sponsorship of Campbell's Soup, guaranteeing its survival for a period, and beginning on December 9, 1938, the show was retitled The Campbell Playhouse. The company moved to Hollywood for their second season, and continued briefly after Welles' final performance in March 1940. Welles revived the Mercury Theatre title for a short series in the summer of 1946.

Episodes

The Mercury Theatre on the Air (1938)

#	Date	Program
1	July 11, 1938	Dracula by Bram Stoker 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)
2	July 18, 1938	Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Cast: Orson Welles (adult Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver), Arthur Anderson (Jim Hawkins), George Coulouris (Captain Smollett), Ray Collins (Ben Gunn), Agnes Moorehead (Mrs. Hawkins), Eustace Wyatt (Squire Trelawney), Alfred Shirley (Blind Pew); with William Alland, Stephen Fox, Richard Wilson
3	July 25, 1938	A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Cast: Orson Welles (Dr. Alexandre Manette, Sydney Carton), Mary Taylor (Lucie Manette), Eustace Wyatt (Clerk), Edgar Barrier (Charles Darnay), Maratin Gabel (Mr. Jarvis Lorry), Frank Readick (Ernest Defarge), Betty Gard (Madame Defarge), Erskine Sanford (the President). Ray Collins (Prosecutor), Kenneth Dalman (Counselor for the Defense)
4	August 1, 1938	The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan Orson Welles (Richard Hannay, Marmaduke Jopley)
5	August 8, 1938	Three short stories: "My Little Boy" by Carl Ewald, "The Open Window" by Saki and "I'm a Fool" by Sherwood Anderson Cast: Orson Welles, Edgar Barrier, Ray Collins, others
6	August 15, 1938	Abraham Lincoln by John Drinkwater Cast: Orson Welles, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, Karl Swenson
7	August 22, 1938	The Affairs of Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler Cast: Orson Welles, Alice Frost, Arlene Francis, Helen Lewis, Ray Collins
8	August 29, 1938	The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Cast: Orson Welles (Edmond Dantès), Ray Collins (Abbé Faria), George Coulouris (Monsieur Morrel), Edgar Barrier (de Villefort), Eustace Wyatt (Caderousse), Paul Stewart (Paul Dantés) Sidney Smith (Mondego), Richard Wilson (the Officer), Virginia Welles, as Anna Stafford (Mercédès), William Alland (Merchant)
9	September 5, 1938	The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton Cast: Orson Welles (Gabriel Syme), Eustace Wyatt (President Sunday), Ray Collins (the Professor), George Coulouis (Mr. Lucian Gregory), Edgar Barrier (the Marquis), Paul Stewart (Gogol), Joseph Cotten (Dr. Bull), Erskine Sanford (Secretary), Aland Devitt (Witherspoon), Virginia Welles, as Anna Stafford (Rosamond)
10	September 11, 1938	Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare Cast: Orson Welles (Brutus), H. V. Kaltenborn (Commentator), Martin Gabel (Cassius), George Coulouris (Antony), Joseph Holland (Caesar)
11	September 18, 1938	Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (possibly lost)
12	September 25, 1938	Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from the play by William Gillette Cast: Orson Welles (Sherlock Holmes), Ray Collins (Dr. Watson), Mary Taylor (Alice Faulkner), Brenda Forbes (Madge Larrabee), Edgar Barrier (James Larrabee), Morgan Farley (Inspector Forman), Richard Wilson (Jim Craigin), Eustace Wyatt (Professor Moriarty)
13	October 2, 1938	Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (possibly lost) Cast: Orson Welles (Oliver Twist, Fagin), others
14	October 9, 1938	Hell on Ice by Edward Ellsberg
15	October 16, 1938	Seventeen by Booth Tarkington Cast: Orson Welles (William Sylvanus Baxter), Betty Garde (Mrs. Baxter), Ray Collins (Mr. Parcher), Mary Wickes (Mrs. Parcher), Joseph Cotten (Genesis), Ruth Ford (Lola Pratt/the Baby Talk Girl), Marilyn Erskine (Jane), Elliott Reid (Cousin George), Pattee Chapmen (Rannie), Morgan Farley (Joe Bullitt)
16	October 23, 1938	Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne Cast: Orson Welles (Phineas Fogg), Ray Collins (Mr. Fix), Edgar Barrier (Passepartout), Eustace Wyatt (Ralph), Frank Readick (Stuart), Arlene Francis (Princess Aouda), Stefan Schnabel (Parsee), Al Swenson (the Captain), William Alland (the Officer)
17	October 30, 1938	The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells Cast: Orson Welles (Professor Pierson), Frank Readick (Carl Phillips); with William Alland, Ray Collins, Kenneth Delmar, Carl Frank, William Herz, Stefan Schnabel, Howard Smith, Paul Stewart, Richard Wilson
18	November 6, 1938	Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Cast: Orson Welles (Author, Ernest Kurtz), Ray Collins (Marlow), Alfred Shirley (Accountant), George Coulouris (Assistant Manager), Edgar Barrier (Second Manager), William Alland (Agent), Virginia Welles, as Anna Stafford (Kurtz's Intended Bride), Frank Readick (Tchiatosov) Life with Father by Clarence Day Cast: Orson Welles (Father), Mildred Natwick (Mother), Mary Wickes (Employment Office Manager), Alice Frost (Margaret), Arthur Anderson (young Clarence Day)
19	November 13, 1938	A Passenger to Bali by Ellis St. Joseph Cast: Orson Welles (Reverend Dr. Ralph Wilkes), Everett Sloane, Stefan Schnabel, Guy Spaull
20	November 20, 1938	The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens Cast: Orson Welles (Sergeant Buzzfuzz, Mr. Jingle), Ray Collins (Samuel Pickwick), Alfred Shirley (Augustus Snodgrass), Frank Readick, Elliott Reid, Edgar Barrier, Eustace Wyatt, Brenda Forbes, others
21	November 27, 1938	Clarence by Booth Tarkington (possibly lost) Cast: Orson Welles (Clarence), others
22	December 4, 1938	The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (possibly lost)

The Campbell Playhouse (1938–40)

Main article: The Campbell Playhouse

The Mercury Theatre continued broadcasting 60-minute episodes in 1938–40, now sponsored by Campbell's Soup and punctuated by commercials. Hollywood stars began to be featured in guest roles. The programme was billed as "The Campbell Playhouse presents the Mercury Theatre". A full list of the 56 episodes can be found at The Campbell Playhouse.

The Mercury Summer Theatre on the Air (1946)

The Mercury troupe had disbanded by the time Welles made this series, commonly known as The Mercury Summer Theatre, in the summer of 1946. Nonetheless, it carried the Mercury name, was produced, written, directed and presented by Welles (and often starred or co-starred him), and it combined abridged scriptings of old Mercury performances with new shows. Occasionally, former members of the troupe would guest star in the 30-minute program.

#	Date	Program
1	June 7, 1946	Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne Music by Cole Porter, lyrics by Noel Coward Cast: Orson Welles (Fix), Arthur Margetson (Phileas Fogg), Larry Laurence (Passepartout), Mary Healy (Princess Aouda), Julie Warren (Molly Muggins)
2	June 14, 1946	The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Cast: Orson Welles (Edmond Dantès), Julie Warren (Mercédès); with Stefan Schnabel, Guy Spaull, Brainerd Duffield
3	June 21, 1946	The Hitch Hiker by Louise Fletcher Cast: Orson Welles, Alice Frost
4	June 28, 1946	Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Cast: Orson Welles (Rochester), Alice Frost (Jane Eyre), Guy Spaull, Stefan Schnabel, Mary Healy, Abby Lewis
5	July 5, 1946	A Passenger to Bali by Ellis St. Joseph
6	July 12, 1946	The Search for Henri Le Fevre by Louise Fletcher Cast: Orson Welles, Mercedes McCambridge, Julie Warren, Brainerd Duffield
7	July 19, 1946	Life With Adam by Hugh Kemp Host: Orson Welles, presenting a comic radio play originally produced for Stage 46 in Toronto by Andrew Allen. Cast: Fletcher Markle (Adam Barneycastle), Grace Mathews (Eve), John Drainie (Chester), Betty Garde (Jenkins), Hedley Rainie (Waiter, Producer, others); with Patricia Loudry, Mercedes McCambridge
8	July 26, 1946	The Moat Farm Murder by Norman Corwin Cast: Orson Welles (Dougal), Mercedes McCambridge (Cecile)
9	August 2, 1946	The Golden Honeymoon by Ring Lardner Cast: Julie Warren, Brainerd Duffield, Mercedes McCambridge, Mary Healy, Ted Osborne, Stefan Schnabel, Santos Ortega Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet read by Orson Welles
10	August 9, 1946	Hell on Ice by Edward Ellsberg Cast: Orson Welles, John Brown, Elliott Reid, Byron Kane, Norman Field, Earle Ross, Lurene Tuttle
11	August 16, 1946	Abednego the Slave by Orson Welles and John Tucker Battle Cast: Orson Welles, Norman Field, Earle Ross, Joe Granby, Barbara Jean Wong, Carl Frank, Byron Kane, John Brown, William Johnstone, Elliott Reid, William Alland
12	August 23, 1946	I'm a Fool by Sherwood Anderson and The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe Cast: Orson Welles, William Alland, Joe Granby, Elliott Reid, Norman Field, Carl Frank, others
13	August 30, 1946	Moby Dick by Herman Melville Cast: Orson Welles (Ahab), William Alland, Byron Kane, John Brown, Earle Ross, Elliott Reid
14	September 6, 1946	The Apple Tree by John Galsworthy Cast: Orson Welles, Norman Field, Mary Lansing, Lurene Tuttle, Jerry Farber, others
15	September 13, 1946	King Lear by William Shakespeare Cast: Orson Welles (King Lear), John Brown (Narrator); with Agnes Moorehead, Edgar Barrier, William Alland, Mary Lansing Cynara, a poem by Ernest Dawson, read by Welles to conclude the Mercury Summer Theatre series

Cinema

Citizen Kane

Main article: Citizen Kane

Orson Welles' notoriety following The War of the Worlds broadcast earned him Hollywood's interest, and RKO studio head George J. Schaefer's unusual contract. Welles made a deal with Schaefer on July 21, 1939 to produce, direct, write, and act in two feature films. The studio had to approve the story and the budget if it exceeded $500,000. Welles was allowed to develop the story without interference, cast his own actors and crew members, and have the privilege of final cut unheard of at the time for a first-time director. He had spent the first five months of his RKO contract trying to get several projects going with no success. The Hollywood Reporter said, "They are laying bets over on the RKO lot that the Orson Welles deal will end up without Orson ever doing a picture there." First, Welles tried to adapt Heart of Darkness, but there was concern over the idea to depict it entirely with point of view shots. Welles considered adapting Cecil Day-Lewis' novel The Smiler With The Knife, but realized that to challenge himself with a new medium, he had to write an original story.

Screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz was recuperating from a car accident and in-between jobs. He had originally been hired by Welles to work on The Campbell Playhouse radio program and was available to work on the screenplay for Welles' film. The writer had only received two screenplay credits between 1935 and his work on Citizen Kane and needed the job. There is dispute amongst historians regarding whose idea was to use William Randolph Hearst as the basis for Charles Foster Kane. Welles claimed it was his idea while film critic Pauline Kael (in her essay "Raising Kane") and Welles' former business partner John Houseman claim that it was Mankiewicz's idea. For some time, Mankiewicz had wanted to write a screenplay about a public figure perhaps a gangster whose story would be told by the people that knew him.

Mankiewicz had already written an unperformed play entitled, The Tree Will Grow about John Dillinger. Welles liked the idea of multiple viewpoints but was not interested in playing Dillinger. Mankiewicz and Welles talked about picking someone else to use a model. They hit on the idea of using Hearst as their central character. Mankiewicz had frequented Hearst's parties until his alcoholism got him barred. The writer resented this and became obsessed with Hearst and Marion Davies. Hearst had great influence and the power to retaliate within Hollywood so Welles had Mankiewicz work on the script outside of the city. Because of the writer's drinking problem, Houseman went along to provide assistance and make sure that he stayed focused. Welles also sought inspiration from Howard Hughes and Samuel Insull (who built an opera house for his girlfriend). Although Mankiewicz and Houseman got on well with Welles, they incorporated some of his traits into Kane, such as his temper.

During production, Citizen Kane was referred to as "RKO 281". Filming took place between June 29, 1940 and October 23, 1940 in what is now Stage 19 on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood. Welles prevented studio executives of RKO from visiting the set. He understood their desire to control projects and he knew they were expecting him to do an exciting film that would correspond to his The War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Welles' RKO contract had given him complete control over the production of the film when he signed on with the studio, something that he never again was allowed to exercise when making motion pictures. According to an RKO cost sheet from May 1942, the film cost $839,727 compared to an estimated budget of $723,800.

Later cinema

The Mercury Theatre production team of John Houseman and Orson Welles separated during the making of Citizen Kane, but as the Mercury Theatre name was not trademarked, Welles continued to use it for some of his projects. As well as the 1946 radio series The Mercury Summer Theatre, Welles also used the Mercury Theatre name for several of his films:

• The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
• Journey into Fear (1943) - directed by Norman Foster]], but written and produced by Welles, and allegedly co-directed by him as well
• Macbeth (1948)
• Othello (1952)
• Mr. Arkadin (1955)

After The Magnificent Ambersons and Journey into Fear, the only one of these productions to have any Mercury cast member other than Welles was Othello, which feaures a small cameo by a heavily made-up Joseph Cotten.

Publishing

One book was released under the Mercury Theatre imprint:

• Orson Welles and Roger Hill, The Mercury Shakespeare (Harper and Row, New York, 1939)

This was in fact a revised version of the 1934 volume Everybody's Shakespeare, published by the 19-year-old Welles and his former school teacher & lifelong friend Roger Hill. The book contained "acting versions" (i.e. abridgments) of Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice. Accompanying the book, the Mercury Theatre released three sets of specially-recorded 12-inch 78 gramophone records of these plays. Each of the three plays filled up 11, 10 and 12 records respectively.

See also

• Lux Radio Theater
• Suspense
• The Screen Guild Theater
• Screen Director's Playhouse
• Ford Theatre
• Theater Guild on the Air
• Academy Award Theater
• Author's Playhouse
• Cavalcade of America
• CBS Radio Workshop
• General Electric Theater
• The Campbell Playhouse

Listen to

• The Mercury Theatre on the Air
• Mercury Theatre on the Air in The Internet Archive's Old-Time Radio Collection

External links

• History of the War of the Worlds broadcast
• Critique: "Orson Welles, the New Deal and the Mercury Theatre on the Air by Paul Holler