Jules Verne Forum

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Re: Jules Verne Radio Shows

From: Tad Davis <taddavis~at~me.com>
Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2011 11:07:30 -0400
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Stefan,

A fascinating list! One correction: the 2008 audiobook from Blackstone is read by Simon Prebble, not Simon Vance. Prebble does an excellent job with the reading, although the translation is one of the more awkward ones, despite its accuracy.

I used to own an audio play on LP from the 1960s where the Professor was correctly named, but I don't think I still have it. I'll have to look. It was actually quite an impressively accurate adaptation, with music by Sibelius, marred only by the tepid sound effects of the climactic rush of water into the volcanic chimney. (It sounded like a bathroom sink draining.)

I still can't hear "Finlandia" without thinking of the intrepid trio on the shores of the vast underground sea.

There were two other Verne titles in the same series, one a passable adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days, the other a hopelessly bizarre version of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. (Nemo, in this take on the story, drugged his crew into automatons because he "needed the sailors to fight my war.")

I'll see if I can find out anything about these.

Tad Davis

On Sep 4, 2011, at 10:07 AM, Stefan Marniok <stefan.marniok~at~gmx.de> wrote:

> Hello Drake and others,
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> this is an interesting discussion. I specialized in radio plays and audio books from Jules Verne. I made a short list of 22 different radio plays / audio books from JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (spoken language: English) that I know, they are from my own collection.
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> You can check them here: http://www.jules-verne-comics.de/hsp/audio/vc_audio_english.htm Of course there are more different versions in other languages like German, French etc., too.
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> I mentioned if the Professor is named Lidenbrock or Hardwigg. I hope the list will help you!
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> Please also check my homepage with many radio plays and audio books from Jules Verne: www.jules-verne-hoerspiele.de
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> Best
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> Stefan Marniok
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> Von: owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il [mailto:owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il] Im Auftrag von Drake Lolley
> Gesendet: Montag, 29. August 2011 22:58
> An: Jules Verne Forum
> Betreff: Re: Jules Verne Radio Shows
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> Alex,
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> Thanks for the correction! I should have looked closer at the dates... I have already listed to the 1938 recording, and I enjoyed the parts that they lift in, and lamented the parts that they left out. Obviously, it was impossible to fit the entire book into one radio program, and so many portions were very briefly summarized "journal entry" style. It sounds like the 1946 recording might be more interesting from a comedic point of view; I'm glad that I listened to the earlier version!
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> By the way, I have found a radio adaption of "The Mysterious Island", which is my favorite Jules Verne book. I have just started listening to it, so let's hope that the plot is not badly mangled. Unfortunately, I have had some very bad experiences with Mysterious Island adaptions in the past, particularly in movies. Thanks again!
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> Drake
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> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:17:47 -0700 (PDT), Alex Kirstukas wrote:
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> Hi Drake,
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> Just a quick note -- Welles's 1938 recording isn't the same as his 1946 one. The former is a straightforward adaptation of 80D (the Stephen W. White translation); the latter is a condensed version of, and long commercial for, Welles's Broadway musical Around the World (songs by Cole Porter, adaptation again from the White translation). Both are interesting, but rather strange; the 1938 Aouda sounds like Natasha Fatale from The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, and the 1946 Cole Porter songs are extremely silly. ("Phileas" is made to rhyme with "Piccadilly-ous," and the big romantic number is built around the line "Should I tell you that I love you, or wait till you tell me?"!)
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> Alex
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> From: Drake Lolley
> To: Jules Verne Forum
> Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 2:19 PM
> Subject: Re: Jules Verne Radio Shows
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> Mr. Keeline,
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> Thank you for your reply! The only "vintage" recording of a Jules Verne radio drama that I could find on Archive.org was here:
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> http://www.archive.org/details/1946MercurySummerTheatre
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> This was, of course, the same recording that was kindly brought to light earlier by Mr. Kytasaari.
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> I have done some more research into the matter since my last post, and I have unearthed a few more available vintage recordings. I don't know if this is a topic that interests anyone else here on the forum, but I will try to post my findings. It would be great to see all of these recordings in one place! This may be one of my future projects.
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> I have looked into librivox and other similar services in the past, but unfortunately I have not had much luck with them. Being a speed reader, I found that the slow reading pace of many of the recordings was very trying to the nerves! This, of course, was my fault and not theirs, and I greatly admire the spirit of these projects... I have just found that reading the actual book is easier for me. I greatly appreciate that you took the time to look up these sources, though. Thank you!
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> Drake
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> On Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:26:39 -0700 (PDT), James Keeline wrote:
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> Not quite in the classic radio drama class but more like "books on tape" are the readings offered free on http://www.LibriVox.org which are performed by amateurs. Some are better than others, of course. The Verne titles may be found on this search:
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> https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?author=Jules+Verne
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> Archive.org has many radio dramas but I don't notice any of the vintage ones on this Jules Verne search. There may be other items of interest though:
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> http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=%22Jules%20Verne%22%20AND%20mediatype%3Aaudio
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> At the very least you could fill up your iPod or other MP3 player with these readings available in several languages.
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> James D. Keeline
> _____
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> http://www.Keeline.com
> http://Stratemeyer.org
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> From: Brian Taves
> To: Jules Verne Forum
> Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 8:58 AM
> Subject: Re: Jules Verne Radio Shows
>
> Years ago I traced the English-language radio-audio adaptations of JV. My definition included from an dramatized version, to a condensation read by a single reader, but excluded straightforward readings of by a single individual of an entire novel, ie book-on-tape or audio book.
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> The total was around fifty, from the early days of radio in the 1930s, thru the present. I know that there are at least that many and more broadcast in such countries as France, Germany, and the former Czechoslovakia.
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> Brian
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Received on Sun 04 Sep 2011 - 18:07:50 IDT

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