My second film is titled "The Poet Laureate of Radio: An Interview with Norman Corwin." It was supposed to be my second film or any film for that matter. It was a single interview for what will be my third film, "Radio Changed America," a documentary on the history of radio and the parallels with the birth of the Internet.
Norman Corwin is probably the greatest writer-director-producer from the Golden Age of Radio. He wrote and directed the first four-network broadcast, "We Hold These Truths," in 1941 starring James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore and Orson Welles among others. 63 million people heard the show. That was half of the US population at that time. President Roosevelt closed the program. His other wartime credits are too numerous to cover. Edward R. Murrow even produced one of Corwin's series from London in 1942: "An American in England."
I prepared like a madman for this two-hour interview in December 2004. Mr. Corwin was 94 at the time. It was to be the most important interview I had done to date, rivaling even the great Art Linkletter. So naturally, as things go in the movie business, disaster after disaster struck. It rained. Poured! I was concerned for Mr. Corwin's health on such a damp, blustery day. Then my producer Dave Sanford had a family emergency. Then my other producer (and sound operator) Chris deLiz caught the flu and could not risk infecting Mr. Corwin. That left me, my cinematographer and my son, the grip... (A grip is a person who essentially lifts and moves things on a movie set.) He was quickly promoted to sound mixer for this once-in-a-lifetime interview. I was sick to my stomach! However, as is also customary in the movie business, I swallowed my fear and went to pick up (and meet for the first time) radio legend Norman Corwin at his house in west Los Angeles.
We arrived back at the Culver Studios lot for the interview on time. Everything was ready to go. I smiled, asked my questions and sat entranced by the depth and breadth of his answers. We spoke not just of his radio career, but also of topics such a modern radio and TV, the war in Iraq, and what it means to be an artist in this life. Mr. Corwin was so impressed with the interview that he suggested it be released in its entirety to the public. I did some editing, added title cards and music cues and remixed some of the audio. That was all there was to it. The film was released in late 2006 and earned praised from none other than movie critic Leonard Maltin.
Even more unexpected was a friendship that developed between me and Norman (by the way, it took two years until I could bring myself address him by his first name). As I write this he is 99 years old. I have recently begun an effort to have this long-forgotten American icon recognized with either the Congressional Gold Medal or the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I want this to happen by the time he turns 100 years old on May 3, 2010. If you're interested in signing the petitions, please go to www.PoetLaureateOfRadio.com. If you'd like to learn more about Norman Corwin, please visit www.NormanCorwin.com. Check him out!
I'm just saying...
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