Orson Welles Commentaries (1945–46) is an ABC radio series produced and directed by Orson Welles. Featuring commentary by Welles, with reminiscences and readings from literature, the 15-minute weekly program aired Sunday afternoons at 1:15 p.m. ET beginning September 16, 1945. Lear Radio sponsored the program through the end of June 1946 when it failed to find a larger audience. The series was continued by ABC as a sustaining show through October 6, 1946. Orson Welles Commentaries was the last of Welles's own radio shows.

Episodes

#DateProgramRecordingReferences1September 16, 1945Welles begins his weekly series of social and political commentary and readings, and discusses matador Fernando López.2September 23, 1945Welles tells The Story of Bonito, the Bull by Robert J. Flaherty, the only part of the unfinished omnibus film It's All True he ever presented to an audience. Welles later told the story of Bonito in the final episode of his 1955 BBC-TV series, Orson Welles' Sketch Book.3September 30, 1945Cast: Orson Welles 4October 7, 1945Cast: Orson Welles5October 14, 1945Cast: Orson Welles6October 21, 1945Cast: Orson Welles7October 28, 1945Cast: Orson Welles8November 4, 1945Welles discusses the ousting of Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas.9November 11, 1945Welles reads a letter from Louis Armstrong in which he recounts his early days, while Barney Bigard, Zutty Singleton, Fred Washington and others play "Perdido Street Blues".10November 18, 1945Cast: Orson Welles11November 25, 1945Cast: Orson Welles12December 2, 1945Cast: Orson Welles13December 9, 1945A broadcast from the U. S. Naval Training and Distribution Center, Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, via KGO, featuring Commodore Robert W. Cary, USN, commander of the center. The three theatre complexes are named to honor three World War II heroes killed in action: John Basilone (Theatre Three), Edward O'Hare (Theatre Two) and Doris Miller (Theatre One), the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross. Includes a conversation on race prejudice with Miller's father, Connery Miller, via WACO in Waco, Texas.14December 16, 1945Cast: Orson Welles15December 23, 1945Cast: Orson Welles16December 30, 1945Cast: Orson Welles17January 6, 1946Cast: Orson Welles18January 13, 1946Cast: Orson Welles19January 20, 1946Cast: Orson Welles20January 27, 1946Cast: Orson Welles21February 3, 1946Cast: Orson Welles22February 10, 1946Cast: Orson Welles23February 17, 1946Cast: Orson Welles24February 24, 1946Cast: Orson Welles25March 3, 1946Cast: Orson Welles26March 10, 1946Cast: Orson Welles27March 17, 1946Cast: Orson Welles28March 24, 1946Cast: Orson Welles29March 31, 1946Cast: Orson Welles30April 7, 1946Cast: Orson Welles31April 14, 1946Cast: Orson Welles32April 21, 1946Cast: Orson Welles33April 28, 1946Cast: Orson Welles34May 5, 1946Cast: Orson Welles35May 12, 1946Due to illness, Welles is replaced by George Hays.36May 19, 1946Cast: Orson Welles37May 26, 1946Cast: Orson Welles38June 2, 1946Cast: Orson Welles39June 9, 1946Cast: Orson Welles40June 16, 1946Cast: Orson Welles41June 23, 1946Welles calls for protest on the end of the Office of Price Administration.42June 30, 1946Welles protests the end of OPA price controls and the imminent atomic test at Bikini Atoll—with his wife Rita Hayworth's image on the A-bomb, nicknamed "Gilda".43July 7, 1946Lear Radios does not renew its sponsorship option due to low audience numbers, but ABC continues the program. Welles's pay is cut from $1,700 to $50 per show.44July 14, 1946Cast: Orson Welles45July 21, 1946Don Hollenbeck substitutes for Welles, who is ill. Topics include compromise on OPA rent and price controls, and unrest in Bolivia.46July 28, 1946First episode about the Isaac Woodard case. Welles reads an affidavit sent to him by the NAACP signed by Isaac Woodard, a black veteran who was beaten and blinded by South Carolina police hours after he had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Army. Welles promises to root out the officer responsible and makes the case a major focus of his weekly show. Bret Wood: "Welles took up the cause, having always been outspoken on issues of racism and turned the event into a scathing attack on postwar racism and ingratitude".47August 4, 1946Second program related to the Woodard case. Welles remarks on world peace negotiations and Congress.48August 11, 1946Third program related to the Woodard case. Welles reads from his July 1944 editorial, "Race Hate Must Be Outlawed".49August 18, 1946Fourth program related to the Woodard case. Welles reads and responds to a letter from a white supremacist, and reads from his December 1943 editorial, "The Unknown Soldier".50August 25, 1946Fifth and last program related to the Woodard case. Museum of Broadcasting: "The NAACP felt that these broadcasts did more than anything else to prompt the Justice Department to act on the case".51September 1, 1946Welles is told in September that ABC is unable to continue his sustained program after the October 6 show.52September 8, 1946Cast: Orson Welles53September 15, 1946Cast: Orson Welles54September 22, 1946Cast: Orson Welles55September 29, 1946Cast: Orson Welles56October 6, 1946Last show of the series, and the last of Welles's own radio shows

References