Orson Welles Great Mysteries: Volume One [DVD]

Product Information

A young man talks with the uncle of the girl he wants to marry, and is told a strange story about a curious funnel made of leather. While falling asleep next to the device, he has a presentiment that it was once used as an instrument of torture. (Based on a story by Arthur Conan Doyle) There’s quite an array of acting talent on view in this series including quite a few who were already major stars (such as Susannah York and Bond girl Jane Seymour). And there are plenty of cult movie stars, like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence. And some good directors, like Peter Sasdy. Last year, Network Distribution brought out volume one of the collection, featuring tales starring such luminaries as Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Donald Pleasence. A british millionaire's spoiled little girl loses her ragdoll, and buying her new dolls does not make her happy, so the parents put out an ad for a 25Ł return award money for the doll. Having been buried by the family dog, the doll is found by a drunken tramp, who takes it with him to a pub, pretending it is a high class lady, to the amusement of the audience. Two lowlifes frequenting the pub realize the doll is worth money, and force the tramp at knifepoint to return it, planning to take the money from him later. But, his uncanny knowledge of the paintings in the house impresses the lady of the house enough that she has him driven home by car, so he avoids the robbers. The home media rights are held by ITV Studios. In 2019 Network released half of the series on Region 2 DVD as Volume 1 in the UK. [3]

Anglia Television (the independent British TV company serving the commercial network for the south east of England) had been producing some consistently outstanding dramas since its opening night in 1959 when it presented The Violent Years, a play starring Laurence Harvey and Hildegarde Neff, about a man on trial in an American court. But the fledgling network faced resistance from the big four companies who were at that time producing a large part of ITV’s drama output and were reluctant to reduce that output to accommodate the new company. Eventually, they provided network time for Anglia to broadcast eight plays a year, but insisted they be made at the Wembley studios, using Associated-Rediffusions’ technicians.The only real criticism I have is the condition of some of the episodes – occasionally the picture strobes, rolls and there’s some picture interference – but that’s no doubt due to the condition of the master recordings. All in all, with the nights drawing in, Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries is a great way to spend half an hour curled up on the sofa enjoying some razor-sharp storytelling and top notch 1970s TV acting. It’s also a chance to see where Anglia Television’s other anthology series Tales of the Unexpected (1979-1988) developed from. Masquerade’ found: Missing Orson Welles’ screenplay based on Luigi Pirandello play October 16, 2023 For retired film editor Steve Peart news "Awesome Orson" was coming to the Anglia Studios was a momentous event.

For all the ribbing in Ripping Yarns¸ I like to think Michael Palin was a fan of the series all along and, thanks to Network, he’ll enjoy revisiting the inspiration for “our sherry tonight”. The Leather Funnel (based on a story by Conan Doyle) is one of the better episodes. The funnel in question is very old, a kind of bizarre family heirloom. It has an interesting if terrible history, as young Stephen Barrow is about to find out. Stephen n is about to marry the beautiful Veronique d’Aubray (Jane Seymour) but before that happens her uncle (plated by Christopher Lee) is determined that the young man should know the secret of the funnel. This episode has both a contemporary and an historical setting and it has a nicely ambiguous plot. Good stuff.

We thought it was like Christ entering the gates of Jerusalem. But Orson didn't like the idea of working for a regional TV company because he was such a great man." Steve Peart, Retired Anglia Television film editor He said: “It was certainly quite a coup to get somebody of his stature to come to Norwich and there was a real buzz around the news. I know people used to call him ‘awesome’ Welles, he was that well thought of. This was time when British television was starting to up the ante as far as violence was concerned, and to a lesser extent becoming a bit more daring in regard to sexual content. Orson Welles Great Mysteries is however very subdued in its treatment of such matters. The violence is mostly offscreen. The general approach is low-key. Compared to Brian Clemens’ Thriller anthology series, which began to air at around the same time, it seems rather genteel. This is however part of its charm. It’s content to be subtle and to rely on suggestion. Even by the standards of half-hour television drama these stories are rather simple, with just one little sting in the tail. Sometimes the payoff isn’t quite as satisfactory as one might have hoped, and too often it’s too easy to see the payoff coming.

Welles' introductory sequence was parodied by Benny Hill (as "Orson Buggy") in an episode of his television program. Like the previously issued 10-episode German DVD set from Pidax Film Media,, the UK release is encoded in the PAL, Region 2 format, which means it is not compatible with most North American players. (There has been no word of a U.S. release.) The series received critical acclaim both on American TV, where it debuted and at home in Britain when it was eventually aired there. Episodes Orson Welles Great Mysteries is a British television series originally transmitted between 1973 and 1974, produced by Anglia Television for the ITV network. [1]

The Faulkners were an odd family - two spinsters living in a large mansion, served by one maid, with their only relative being their young brother, married but living elsewhere. When one night one of the sisters suddenly disappears without a trace - leaving her clothes behind - everyone is puzzled, but the remaining sister refuses to call the police, thinking on the family's good name - as there has been cases of insanity in the family before. A private detective hired finds nothing, and a few months later the other sister disappears in the same manner, too. The police are now alerted and begin to investigate - and soon it is revealed these two were not the first disappearances in the family. In the 19th century, Charles Stubbs is a perfectly ordinary citizen, until one day, he sees a terrifying spirit of a murdered old man appear to him. Shortly thereafter, he is summoned to be head of the jury on a murder trial, where a man called Higgins is accused of murdering an old man after he was caught cheating with his wife. Stubbs does not want to attend, but when the ghost appears to him again, he decides to accept the task. At the trial, Higgins complains about Stubbs being on the jury, despite the two never having met - since it is revealed that the apparition of Stubbs holding a noose appeared to him in jail every night. During the trial, both Stubbs and the defense lawyer, as well as a prostitute trying to provide an alibi for Higgins, keep seeing glimpses of the ghost, and eventually even the last opposing jury member is convinced of Higgins' guilt, and he is found guilty. Later, when Stubbs reads in the papers about Higgins' execution, the ghost appears to him a final time, nodding thanks, then fading away, having been put to rest.

The Furnished Room (based on a story by O. Henry) is unusual in that we’re offered, in the intro by Orson Welles, a hint of the possibility of the supernatural. Whether anything supernatural actually occurs is something I’m not going to tell you. A young man is tramping from one furnished room to another in New York, looking for his girlfriend. This story relies very heavily on trying, with limited success, to achieve an atmosphere of subtle ambiguous unease. Unfortunately it’s also a story that doesn’t amount to very much. One of the lesser episodes. Anyone expecting a TV equivalent of Mercury Theatre on the Air was disappointed by this pedestrian series, filmed on videotape and hosted by a bored-looking Welles in his F for Fake garb of billowing cape and sloping hat. Great Mysteries lasted but one season (26 episodes). Welles didn't direct any episodes. This is the kind of show that the Talking Pictures TV channel has been resurrecting lately, but with no sign of it popping up on there yet, buying the series would make a good investment for anybody interested in offbeat 1970s series. Fans of British horror should enjoy it too – some of the stories have a supernatural or creepy element to them and both star and are directed by stalwarts of the genre. A lawyer cannot stop a middle-aged spinster from making a fool of herself with a young fortune-hunter, but he can stop the fellow from getting his hands on her money. (Based on a story by W. Somerset MaughamThis 26-part anthology series of half-hour tales of mystery and suspense from Anglia Television included stories by such well-known authors as O Henry, Wilkie Collins and WW Jacobs, with a specially written excursion into the supernatural by the author of Quatermass, Nigel Kneale. Anglia TV’s Great Mysteries series, which ran from 1973 to 1974, was ideal for him. Its makers wanted to use his name to bring in viewers, while he could give it minimal attention – he probably shot all his introductions and epilogues in a day. It also appears he didn’t bother to learn them off by heart either – he’s obviously reading from cue cards. Orson Welles was fronting a series for Anglia called The Great Mysteries - a forerunner to Anglia's Tales of the Unexpected.