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38-474: The series began as the idea of Irving Reis . Reis had begun his radio career as an engineer and developed a fascination with the possibilities of the relatively new medium. His idea was to use experimental modes of narrative to enhance the way a narrative was conveyed over the radio. Reis had isolated attempts to experiment on the radio: Before the Columbia Workshop' s debut, he had directed at least

76-471: A career as a writer and film critic in New York City. He contributed articles to leading magazines such as Scribner's , Vanity Fair , McCall's , and Town and Country . Lorentz also co-authored a 1929 book, Censored: the private life of the movie. His work as a film critic led him to Hollywood, where he wrote several articles on censorship and The Roosevelt Year: 1933 , a pictorial review of

114-474: A concert (November 7, 1936) which demonstrated the possibilities of idiomatic music composition for radio by playing orchestrations of three works by staff arranger Amadeo de Fillipi. Among the most significant musical contributions Reis made was appointing Bernard Herrmann music director of the Workshop . Herrmann had previously worked on CBS primarily as a conductor. He had composed his first radio drama for

152-432: A couple as they meandered down Broadway during an evening. A subsequent show had at least 30 characters functioning within a half-hour drama. Among the technical demonstrations were sound effects, the use of various kinds of microphones to achieve various aural effects and voice impersonators (including sound effects produced by voice). Reis called upon others to try their hand in writing new or adapting existing material for

190-606: A few radio dramas. For Reis, the Columbia Workshop was a platform for developing new techniques for presentation on radio as noted in the debut broadcast: As a sustaining program , the Workshop served as a symbol to prove to the public (and the Federal Communications Commission ) that CBS was concerned with educating and serving the public. Early shows on the Workshop exemplified Reis's penchant for experimentation through narrative and technical means. The second program, Broadway Evening followed

228-595: A full-length version of The River , open for public viewing at the print's digital ID of hdl.loc.gov/loc.mbrsmi/ntscrm.00101008 . This is a theatrical projection print acquired as part of the library's preservation program for films which were honored by being selected for listing on the National Film Registry . The following XML page contains the print's metadata as a Dublin Core record: lccn.loc.gov/2007640253/dc . The Pare Lorentz Center, located at

266-460: A microphone circuit could be shunted. The box had dials on its surface. Its inner mechanism could remove upper or lower tones or a combination of them to give an incomplete reproduction, as given by a telephone. The dials allowed the engineer to vary the effect, creating varieties of incompleteness. It became common for radio personnel to play around with the filters to find new sounds, and then having radio shows based upon their discoveries. Many of

304-592: A preview screening in March at the White House . Roosevelt was impressed and, after his re-election in 1936, gave Lorentz the opportunity to make a film about one of the president's favorite subjects: conservation. Lorentz made The River , a film celebrating the exploits of the Tennessee Valley Authority . The TVA mitigated flooding but, more importantly to Lorentz and to Roosevelt, it put

342-411: A rocket traveling through outer space, someone remembered the duct and put a microphone in the bend. Whenever Buck Rogers was on the move, the microphone was opened, producing the sound of a spaceship. This was the first development in sound filters. Filters developed upon the need for radio directors to find a way to portray a voice over the telephone. The filters were generally small boxes through which

380-706: A stop to the prodigious pillaging of the forests by providing cheap, readily available hydro–electric power to a wide area. This film won the Best Documentary at the Venice International Film Festival . The text of The River appeared in book form, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry the same year. It generally is considered his most masterful work. When Republicans gained seats in Congress in 1938, and

418-689: A story concerning the relationship of man and technology. Both Irwin Shaw and Archibald MacLeish were invited back to write and direct shows as they had done under Reis's leadership. The Workshop extended its experimental mode by preceding the new MacLeish play, Air Raid with a broadcast of its rehearsal. Stephen Vincent Benèt continued to write for the Workshop , and author Wilbur Daniel Steele made his own adaptations of his previously written short stories. Arch Oboler , known for Lights Out! series, contributed one script, as did Thornton Wilder and budding writer Arthur Laurents . At times, Robson reached beyond

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456-578: A two-part presentation of Alice in Wonderland in which music took the place of all sound effects, and Marc Blitzstein 's half-hour musical I've Got the Tune , which similarly tried to convey sound effects and long-distance travel through purely musical means. On the broadcast of December 23, 1937 (the first of a two-part dramatization of Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking-Glass ), it

494-603: Is not associated with any OWI or USIA films; his son Pare Lorentz, Jr., may have worked on a USIA film though most of his work was for USAID.) In 1946, Lorentz made a federally funded movie about the Nuremberg trials , intended to help educate the German people as to what had happened during the war. In the process of compiling material, Lorentz reviewed over 1 million hours of footage about the Nazis and their atrocities. Nuremberg ,

532-421: Is not entirely clear who led the Columbia Workshop during 1942, but interest in the program was clearly waning. There were a few significant programs (historically the most interesting of them is probably the airing of John Cage 's and Kenneth Patchen 's The City Wears a Slouch Hat ). There are only a few references to shows in 1943. The show had a revival in the 1946–47 season. When it was revived in 1956, it

570-630: The Great Depression , Lorentz was the leading American advocate for government-sponsored documentary films. His service as a filmmaker for the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II was formidable, including technical films, documentation of bombing raids, and synthesizing raw footage of Nazi atrocities for an educational film on the Nuremberg Trials . Nonetheless, Lorentz perennially will be known best as " FDR ′s filmmaker." Lorentz left West Virginia University, in 1925, to begin

608-462: The Workshop on January 16, 1935 was based on an actual incident. To achieve a sense of realism, the dramatization was a combination news report or documentary. Unlike most radio dramas, there was no narrator involved. This was later rebroadcast as part of the Workshop on September 10, 1936. Under Robson's aegis, the Workshop was able to broadcast a number of notable shows. Known more as a film director, Pare Lorentz wrote and directed Ecce Homo ,

646-498: The Workshop , but it was only after his second program, Rhythm of the Jute Mill (broadcast December 12, 1936) that the appointment was made. Thereafter Herrmann composed many radio shows himself, also conducting the music of others and even proposing a show entirely devoted to music composed for the Workshop . Other significant musical contributions during Reis's directorship include Paul Sterrett's and Leith Stevens 's score for

684-567: The Beast and Blennerhasset , were among those heard. Robson apparently stepped down sometime in mid-1939, after which the Workshop was somewhat adrift. Brewster Morgan and Earle McGill are credited as being those responsible for continuing the series. Norman Corwin had been a rising star at CBS for a few years, and had even some of his work aired on the Workshop as early as 1938, when his adaptation of Stephen Crane 's The Red Badge of Courage aired. But his sense of social justice again changed

722-540: The Plains , a film that showed the natural and man–made devastation caused by the Dust Bowl. Though the tight budget and his inexperience occasionally showed through in the film, Lorentz's script, combined with Thomas Hardie Chalmers ′s narration and Virgil Thomson ′s score, made the 30-minute movie powerful and moving. The film, which had its first public showing on May 10, 1936 at Washington, D.C′s Mayflower Hotel , had

760-606: The congressional balance of power shifted in a more conservative direction, the pipeline of federal commissions for projects like Lorentz's were halted along with the short-lived existence of the US Film Service, which Lorentz headed. In 1940, he produced Power and the Land promoting the Rural Electric Administration . The REA took over its own production, and the film was directed by Joris Ivens ,

798-400: The direction of the Workshop into one frequently addressing current issues. By the fall 1940, Corwin was leading the Workshop , and in 1941, the series was giving the subtitle 26 by Corwin , attesting to the author's seemingly indefatigable energy. Given Corwin's strong interest in issues of the day, it is ironic he left the Workshop just one month prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It

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836-560: The experimental nature of the Workshop. Orson Welles did a two-part adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet (mentioned along with the Workshop in the fictitious film Me and Orson Welles ), as well as a 30-minute condensation of Macbeth . Irwin Shaw contributed one show, and Stephen Vincent Benét adapted several of his short stories. Reis also experimented with readings and dramatizations of poetry, including works by Samuel Taylor Coleridge , John Masefield and Edgar Allan Poe . One of

874-747: The film that resulted, played to "capacity audiences" in Germany for two years. However, it was not released in the United States until 1979. This film was produced for the Civil Affairs Division of the Government of Military Occupation (OMGUS). Lorentz's role and contributions to this production are not entirely clear because he prematurely resigned and the Hollywood director Budd Schulberg is given credit for completing it. In

912-587: The first year of Franklin D. Roosevelt ′s presidency. Roosevelt was impressed with the articles and the book, and in 1936, as president of the United States, invited Lorentz to make a government-sponsored film about the Oklahoma Dust Bowl . Despite not having any film credits, Lorentz was appointed to the Resettlement Administration as a film consultant. He was given US$ 6,000 to make a film, which became The Plow That Broke

950-573: The most notable presentations of Reis's tenure was Archibald MacLeish 's original radio play, The Fall of the City . With a cast that included Burgess Meredith , Orson Welles and 300 students, the play was notable for its portrayal of the collapse of a city under an unnamed dictator, a commentary on fascism in Germany and Italy. Reis recognized music as an important part of radio presentation. As part of CBS's commissioning of five classical composers to write original works for radio, Deems Taylor narrated

988-739: The play, the unnamed reviewer noted the numerous radio effects, and that compared to his two previous radio plays, this was the best. Reis was the creator of Columbia Workshop , the experimental anthology program on the radio, and its initial broadcast took place on July 18, 1936. Reis departed for Hollywood on January 1, 1938 where he became a scriptwriter for Paramount Pictures . In November 1939, Variety announced that Reis would be taking 10 weeks off from his script writing at Paramount to study film direction. In February 1940, Variety announced that Reis had left Paramount to begin directing at RKO Pictures . Among his motion picture credits are Enchantment , Roseanna McCoy , The Big Street , and

1026-564: The prolific Dutch filmmaker best known for his anti–fascist documentaries. Before the U.S. involvement in World War II, Lorentz made The Fight for Life (1940), a semi-documentary on the struggle to provide adequate natal (obstetric) care at the Chicago Maternity Center, based on a book by Paul de Kruif . John Steinbeck worked on the project with Lorentz. He made a film for RKO Name, Age and Occupation that

1064-558: The prosperity of the post–War period, there was no revival of partnerships with the federal government. He had ambitious plans to make documentaries about the New Deal and the United Nations, but funding was not available from government or private sources. His final film was Rural Co-op , which he wrote and directed in 1947. Lorentz lived a quiet life among the country gentry 37 miles (59.55 kilometres) north of New York City in

1102-596: The screen adaptation of Arthur Miller 's play All My Sons (1948). Reis also directed the movie The Four Poster , based on Jan de Hartog 's play The Fourposter . Reis married writer Meta Arenson in Tijuana on August 10, 1938. He died of cancer, leaving his wife and three children. Reis is buried in the Jewish Cemetery Hillside Memorial Park . Pare Lorentz Pare Lorentz (December 11, 1905 – March 4, 1992)

1140-506: The staff who worked on the Columbia Workshop would continue with CBS and work for television. The Columbia Workshop received a 1946 Peabody Award for Outstanding Entertainment in Drama. This is a list of all the Columbia Workshop programs, giving known information about authors, adaptors, directors/producers, composers. Occasional remarks have been included. Gaps in dates usually refer to programs that were pre-empted. Information for

1178-474: The typical crop of radio authors, selecting at least one script (Anita Fairgrieve's Andrea del Sarto ), from his class in radio writing at New York University as well as soliciting scripts on the air from the listening audience. With Bernard Herrmann continuing as music director, Robson (probably at Herrmann's insistence) included a few extended musical works and opera on the Workshop. Frederick Delius 's Hassan , and two operas by Vittorio Giannini , Beauty and

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1216-508: The upscale town of Armonk, New York until his death in 1992. The International Documentary Association named its Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund , as well as the Pare Lorentz Film Festival and its grand prize in honor of Lorentz, granted to individuals whose work best represents the "democratic sensibility, activist spirit and lyrical vision" of Lorentz." The Library of Congress has made available on its website

1254-524: The years 1942–43 is difficult to come by. production: George Zachary "The Creation" was a dramatization of a paraphrase of James Weldon Johnson's book of "Negro poems and verse" "God's Trombones" Irving Reis Irving Reis (May 7, 1906 in New York City – July 3, 1953 in Woodland Hills, California ) was a radio program producer and director, and a film director. Irving Reis

1292-528: Was an American filmmaker known for his film work about the New Deal . Born Leonard MacTaggart Lorentz in Clarksburg, West Virginia he was educated at Buckhannon High School , West Virginia Wesleyan College, and West Virginia University. As a young film critic in both New York City and Hollywood, Lorentz spoke out against censorship in the film industry. As the most influential documentary filmmaker of

1330-512: Was announced that William N. Robson had succeeded Irving Reis as director of the Columbia Workshop . Reis moved to Hollywood and continued his career in the film industry. Though the Workshop continued some experimentation, Robson placed greater emphasis on good dramatic adaptations, rather than didactic explanations of radio techniques. Robson was not averse to experimentation. His San Quentin Prison Break , originally broadcast prior to

1368-563: Was born into a Jewish family. Reis began his career as a motion picture photographer. The most notable of his screen efforts was being one of the photographers for The Hollywood Revue of 1929 . A 1931 notice in Variety declared that he was transitioning into a playwright. By 1933, Variety took notice of his radio play St. Louis Blues . His radio play Meridian 7-1212 first broadcast on January 24, 1935, received an "above par" comment from Variety. Observing that he wrote and produced

1406-557: Was never completed. Lorentz served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, more specifically the Air Transport Command (ATC), accompanied by Floyd Crosby , who became an outstanding cinematographer during World War II. He was promoted to the rank of colonel. While serving, he made 275 pilot navigational films and minor documentaries for the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) and the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) , and filmed over 2,500 hours of bombing raids. (Note: Lorentz's name

1444-510: Was retitled the CBS Radio Workshop . The Columbia Workshop gave authors, directors, sound engineers and composers many opportunities to experiment with the use of sound as a device for enhancing narrative. Buck Rogers was broadcast from a 21st-floor studio that had been troubled with air conditioning noises. At a bend in a duct the air gave a whoosh that had been difficult to dampen. Later, when it became necessary to suggest

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