Book to Radio: Mars is Heaven
by Ray Bradbury from his book, The Martian Chronicles
Adapted for radio by David Friedken
Escape! radio broadcast
Original Broadcast: June 2, 1950
Escape was the first radio show to adapt Ray Bradbury’s tale of the third mission to Mars to radio. To do so, they completely rewrote Bradbury’s story, changing it a great deal, but keeping the essential story intact.
The show was adapted for Escape by David Friedkin and starred Ben Wright.
The Escape broadcast opens with the news of the launch of the first manned mission to Mars (as opposed to the third). People of all faiths and creeds have come together to pray for the success of the mission and the astronauts aboard the rocket.
The characters from the crew are limited to the ship’s captain and the doctor who are the only two allowed to leave the ship. It is they who quickly discover that Mars bears a striking resemblance to their homes on earth. A resident tells them they are in Green Lake, Ohio.
The doctor finds his grandmother living in the house she lived in when he was a kid. She explains that Mars is a “second chance.” They soon hear a parade, complete with a brass band, leading the crew away from the ship. The Captain sees his old girlfriend among the crowd and decides to join her in an emotional reunion.
The Captain is sitting on the porch swing on a quiet summer evening when he starts to develop a hypothesis. He tells her, if the Martians wanted to manipulate the crew, they would use their memories and fondest desires to entrap them. The girlfriend tries to dissuade him. But when the Captain decides he’s got to talk to the doctor about his hypothesis, Phyllis turns on him and kills him.
After the astronauts have all been dispatched, the Martians hold a town meeting to analyze and discuss what has transpired.
This broadcast was the first of this Bradbury story (and perhaps the first of any Bradbury story), but it is also the weakest. The Dimension X and X Minus One broadcasts are far superior, relying on larger casts and sticking closer to the Bradbury story.
Showing posts with label Mars is Heaven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mars is Heaven. Show all posts
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Monday, October 11, 2010
Mars is Heaven Dimension X radio broadcast
Mars is Heaven
Dimension X radio broadcast
Original Air Date: January 7, 1951
Story by Ray Bradbury
Adapted for radio by Ernest Kinoy
This adaptation was written by Ernest Kinoy and aired on the Dimension X radio program on Friday, January 7, 1951.
I really enjoy old time radio, having become hooked listening the CBS Radio Mystery Theater as a teenager. The Internet introduced me to a much larger world of radio broadcasts from the 1930 through the 1970s.
Radio shows like Dimension X and X Minus 1 have allowed me to enjoy the works of writers, such as Murray Leister, whose books are now out of print.
Dimension X was probably the best of a number of science fiction shows. The show adapted the works of Golden Age giants such as Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Robert Bloch, and Murray Leinster. However, it was radio writer, Ernest Kinoy that adapted Bradbury and he always did a magnificent job.
The distinguishing characteristic between Bradbury’s story and Kinoy’s radio play is the nature of the crew. In the story, they are scientists and soldiers. In Kinoy’s story, they are Navy men. They are simple men, much like one would find on a naval ship of the 1950s. The script even notes that the rocket is a naval vessel. Perhaps this was done to contemporize the story for a radio audience of the 1950s who were familiar with classic naval portrayals through film, newsreels, and real life experience in World War II.
Other than that, Kinoy is true to the story. The 1951 recording, transcribed onto vinyl and then digitized for the Internet does hurt the voice actor’s ability to emote. Radio drama requires strong verbal emotion from the actors since there is no visual medium through which to emote. When the actors scream, the distortion makes the sound comical.
This, however, is a minor point. Bradbury’s short tale of the Third Expedition to Mars is brought to life for the first time on Dimension X. The voice talent did a fantastic job with an excellent Kinoy script.
Dimension X radio broadcast
Original Air Date: January 7, 1951
Story by Ray Bradbury
Adapted for radio by Ernest Kinoy
This adaptation was written by Ernest Kinoy and aired on the Dimension X radio program on Friday, January 7, 1951.
I really enjoy old time radio, having become hooked listening the CBS Radio Mystery Theater as a teenager. The Internet introduced me to a much larger world of radio broadcasts from the 1930 through the 1970s.
Radio shows like Dimension X and X Minus 1 have allowed me to enjoy the works of writers, such as Murray Leister, whose books are now out of print.
Dimension X was probably the best of a number of science fiction shows. The show adapted the works of Golden Age giants such as Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Robert Bloch, and Murray Leinster. However, it was radio writer, Ernest Kinoy that adapted Bradbury and he always did a magnificent job.
The distinguishing characteristic between Bradbury’s story and Kinoy’s radio play is the nature of the crew. In the story, they are scientists and soldiers. In Kinoy’s story, they are Navy men. They are simple men, much like one would find on a naval ship of the 1950s. The script even notes that the rocket is a naval vessel. Perhaps this was done to contemporize the story for a radio audience of the 1950s who were familiar with classic naval portrayals through film, newsreels, and real life experience in World War II.
Other than that, Kinoy is true to the story. The 1951 recording, transcribed onto vinyl and then digitized for the Internet does hurt the voice actor’s ability to emote. Radio drama requires strong verbal emotion from the actors since there is no visual medium through which to emote. When the actors scream, the distortion makes the sound comical.
This, however, is a minor point. Bradbury’s short tale of the Third Expedition to Mars is brought to life for the first time on Dimension X. The voice talent did a fantastic job with an excellent Kinoy script.
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