{
  "title": "THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI",
  "category": "[RADIO-SCRIPT]",
  "article": "The original 1919 film The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari has itself been adapted for radio at least four\ntimes, twice in 1938 for French radio and for the BBC series The Experimental Hour, in the 1970s\nby the Chicago Radio Theatre, and in 1998 by Yuri Rasovksy.\nThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Based on the silent film. National Radio Theater. 1973, 1975.\nHollywood Theater of the Ear. Revised 1998.\nBy Jeff Davis - November 7, 2004\n“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” by Yuri Rasovsky (Blackstone Audiobooks; one hour; one cassette,\n$14.95. Also available on one CD; $15 or as a download from www.audible.com; $7.95; full cast\nrecording.)\nYuri Rasovsky may not be a household name, but within the industry of theater and audio\ntheater, he is the most honored “audio dramatist” in the U.S. He has won two Peabody Awards, a\nGrammy Award, two Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards, two Audio Publisher’s\nAssociation Audie Awards, and the list goes on. He is also a contributing editor of Audiofile\nmagazine. So you can imagine that when such a talent (or “genius,” by which he is often referred)\ngets a hold of a classic art film, the end result should be nothing short of magnificent.\n“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is inspired by the historically artistic silent film produced in\nGermany in 1919. When it was released internationally it was billed as ‘Europe’s greatest\ncontribution to modern picture art’ and it remains one of cinema’s landmarks. What Rasovsky has\ndone with the it is to maintain the macabre story of murder and intrigue and present it in the style\nof the old radio plays of the 1930s and 1940s, complete with a Foley Sound Effects Artist.\nThe story focuses on the main character, a grad student named Franz, expertly portrayed by\nJohn De Lancie, best known as Q on Star Trek. It begins with him recounting the time when a\nstring of murders occurred in his village during the annual carnival. At that time a mysterious\nhypnotist, Dr. Caligari (Tony Jay) arrived with a somnambulist, Cesare (Lorna Raver—who is\nquite reminiscent of Peter Lorre). This man, “who is everywhere and nowhere at the same time,”\nonly awakened from his suspended state at Caligari’s request. When so awakened, Cesare would\npredict the future. Franz’s friend Karl (Robertson Dean) could not resist and asked for a\nprediction. Surprisingly, Cesare envisioned Karl soon dead. When this prediction came true the\nvery next day, naturally Dr. Caligari and Cesare were suspected. Several others also ended up\nmurdered and paranoia soon took over the small town. Rasovsky’s version is slightly different\nthan the original story, but it does contain the one, or you may even say two, unexpected twists at\nthe end. The writing and performances are reminiscent of the classics. The often witty, intelligent\ndialogue is delivered with precision from these talented actors. The style seems evocative of Oscar\nWilde, had he written mysteries. Why? Because Rasovsky plays upon the weaknesses of those who\nseem to have everything - those with status, love, and happiness. Even they are susceptible of\nlosing it all … including their sanity. One of our esteemed characters describes his disturbed soul\nas “a predator crouched in the shadows of my being.” Franz, whose best friend is murdered, never\ngives up in his determination to prove Caligari is the villain, even if it drives him over the edge.\nThere are just a few flaws in this production. There are times when a number of characters speak\nnearly on top of themselves, which makes it hard to determine who is speaking. Also, the\ncharacter of the Sargeant (James Otis) seems a little too cartoonish, and so stands out amongst\nthe more incisive performances of the other characters. One performance that is particularly\nenjoyable is that of Frau Bittle. Hers is a small role but well performed. Sadly, she doesn’t get\ncredit on the package, so the actress remains anonymous.\nAs you know, it is a horror film from Germany about a sideshow mesmerist who may or may not\nbe a homicidal maniac. When I started on the radio play, I had seen the film only once and that\nperhaps three years earlier. I wrote the first draft in one all-night session, fleshing out the\ncharacters from the schematic hints in the original and creating a milieu for the action from my\nmemory of the small German town I had spent a year in during the ‘60s, and what I knew of the\nculture of fin de siecle Europe. The scenes laid themselves out all by themselves. In fact, the whole\nthing wrote itself.\nI made no attempt to approximate sonically the expressionism -- the skewed sets and turgid\nstylization -- of the original. For one thing, radio drama is inherently expressionistic, and for\nanother, as I said, the whole thing wrote itself. Perhaps because I was performing in Mourning\nBecomes Electra at the time, the dialogue came out very O'Neill. However, as I honed the\ndialogue, it grew increasingly reminiscent of the symbolist poets who were inspired by Poe --\nparticularly Rainer Marie Rilke (1875-1926). Somehow this seemed appropriate. In fact, the more\nRilke I put in it, the spookier it got.\nI first put my mind to this property in 1972. Since then, I have intermittently pulled out the script\nfor tweaking until finally in October 1997, a cast headlined by John de Lancie (Q of Star Trek),\nJane Carr of Dear John fame and Kaitlin Hopkins of Another World recorded it.\nThe radio play is inspired by the film, rather than adapted from it. It is a separate artistic (I hope)\nwork, just as Joyce's Ulysses is separate from Homer's Odyssey. Still, after subsequent viewings\nof the original 1919 silent, I am struck with how much of it ended up in the audio version -- a\ntribute to its evocative power. Silent film makes good audio -- if you can make people see in the\nway that the movie makes people hear.\n\" . . . a hair-raising romp faithful to old-style radio, a 3-D aural experience stuffed with clopping\nhorses, weird carnival music, creaking doors and a solid cast headlined by Star Trek alumnus\nJohn de Lancie. Among the best moments are the weird sotto voce mutterings of Cesare, the pale\nundead creature at the heart of the cryptic story. One can easily imagine the somnambulist's dire\npredictions falling from faintly vibrating powder-blue lips.\"\nThe Austin American Statesman Winner: Independent Publishers Award – Audio for best \"direct\nto audio\" production of 1998\n[Program information]",
  "origination": "The Hollywood Theater of the Ear, Hollywood, California.",
  "duration": "Produced in 1997 and released in 1998.",
  "personnel": "Yuri Rasovsky (scriptwriter, producer, director).\nCAST: Jane Carr (Frau Biidl), John de Lancie (Franz), Robertson Dean (Karl), Ed Gilbert (Weiss),\nKaitlin Hopkins (Anna), Tony Jay (Dr. Caligari), James Otis (The Sergeant), Lorna Raver\n(Cesare).",
  "extant_recordings": "By Jeff Davis - November 7, 2004\n“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” by Yuri Rasovsky (Blackstone Audiobooks; one hour;\none cassette, $14.95. Also available on one CD; $15 or as a download from\nwww.audible.com; $7.95; full cast recording.)\nYuri Rasovsky may not be a household name, but within the industry of theater and audio theater,\nhe is the most honored “audio dramatist” in the U.S. He has won two Peabody Awards, a Grammy\nAward, two Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards, two Audio Publisher’s Association Audie\nAwards, and the list goes on. He is also a contributing editor of Audiofile magazine. So you can\nimagine that when such a talent (or “genius,” by which he is often referred) gets a hold of a classic\nart film, the end result should be nothing short of magnificent.\n“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is inspired by the historically artistic silent film produced in\nGermany in 1919. When it was released internationally it was billed as ‘Europe’s greatest\ncontribution to modern picture art’ and it remains one of cinema’s landmarks. What Rasovsky has\ndone with the it is to maintain the macabre story of murder and intrigue and present it in the style\nof the old radio plays of the 1930s and 1940s, complete with a Foley Sound Effects Artist.\nThe story focuses on the main character, a grad student named Franz, expertly portrayed by John\nDe Lancie, best known as Q on Star Trek. It begins with him recounting the time when a string of\nmurders occurred in his village during the annual carnival. At that time a mysterious hypnotist,\nDr. Caligari (Tony Jay) arrived with a somnambulist, Cesare (Lorna Raver—who is quite\nreminiscent of Peter Lorre). This man, “who is everywhere and nowhere at the same time,” only\nawakened from his suspended state at Caligari’s request. When so awakened, Cesare would\npredict the future. Franz’s friend Karl (Robertson Dean) could not resist and asked for a\nprediction. Surprisingly, Cesare envisioned Karl soon dead. When this prediction came true the\nvery next day, naturally Dr. Caligari and Cesare were suspected. Several others also ended up\nmurdered and paranoia soon took over the small town.\nRasovsky’s version is slightly different than the original story, but it does contain the one, or you\nmay even say two, unexpected twists at the end. The writing and performances are reminiscent of\nthe classics. The often witty, intelligent dialogue is delivered with precision from these talented\nactors. The style seems evocative of Oscar Wilde, had he written mysteries. Why? Because\nRasovsky plays upon the weaknesses of those who seem to have everything - those with status,\nlove, and happiness. Even they are susceptible of losing it all … including their sanity. One of our\nesteemed characters describes his disturbed soul as “a predator crouched in the shadows of my\nbeing.” Franz, whose best friend is murdered, never gives up in his determination to prove\nCaligari is the villain, even if it drives him over the edge.\nThere are just a few flaws in this production. There are times when a number of characters speak\nnearly on top of themselves, which makes it hard to determine who is speaking. Also, the\ncharacter of the Sargeant (James Otis) seems a little too cartoonish, and so stands out amongst\nthe more incisive performances of the other characters. One performance that is particularly\nenjoyable is that of Frau Bittle. Hers is a small role but well performed. Sadly, she doesn’t get\ncredit on the package, so the actress remains anonymous.\nAs you know, it is a horror film from Germany about a sideshow mesmerist who may or may not\nbe a homicidal maniac. When I started on the radio play, I had seen the film only once and that\nperhaps three years earlier. I wrote the first draft in one all-night session, fleshing out the\ncharacters from the schematic hints in the original and creating a milieu for the action from my\nmemory of the small German town I had spent a year in during the ‘60s, and what I knew of the\nculture of fin de siecle Europe. The scenes laid themselves out all by themselves. In fact, the whole\nthing wrote itself.\nI made no attempt to approximate sonically the expressionism -- the skewed sets and turgid\nstylization -- of the original. For one thing, radio drama is inherently expressionistic, and for\nanother, as I said, the whole thing wrote itself. Perhaps because I was performing in Mourning\nBecomes Electra at the time, the dialogue came out very O'Neill. However, as I honed the\ndialogue, it grew increasingly reminiscent of the symbolist poets who were inspired by Poe --\nparticularly Rainer Marie Rilke (1875-1926). Somehow this seemed appropriate. In fact, the more\nRilke I put in it, the spookier it got.\nI first put my mind to this property in 1972. Since then, I have intermittently pulled out the script\nfor tweaking until finally in October 1997, a cast headlined by John de Lancie (Q of Star Trek),\nJane Carr of Dear John fame and Kaitlin Hopkins of Another World recorded it.\nThe radio play is inspired by the film, rather than adapted from it. It is a separate artistic (I hope)\nwork, just as Joyce's Ulysses is separate from Homer's Odyssey. Still, after subsequent viewings\nof the original 1919 silent, I am struck with how much of it ended up in the audio version -- a\ntribute to its evocative power. Silent film makes good audio -- if you can make people see in the\nway that the movie makes people hear.",
  "chronology": "",
  "sources": "",
  "gallery": "",
  "images": []
}