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A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (DVD) Email This Page
Filmmaker: Eric Simonson
DVD - $ 95.00
Price includes Public Performance License.
On the evening of VE Day, May 8, 1945, Norman Corwin, known as the "poet laureate of radio drama," presented a radio program that galvanized and electrified the nation. The broadcast, "On a Note of Triumph," was a moment that would mark the end of a long national struggle, and, in another sense, set a new standard for the art of radio drama. Featuring interviews with Robert Altman, Norman Lear, Studs Terkel and Walter Cronkite, A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN examines the greatest radio presentation in the history of the medium and shows how it remains eerily prescient in light of current events. In fall 1944, when the war with Germany was drawing to a close, Norman Corwin began working on a Victory Day show. When VE Day finally did arrive, on May 8, 1945, Corwin was ready with "On a Note of Triumph," in which he proclaimed,

"So they've given up!/ They're finally done in and the rat is dead in an alley back of Wilhemstrasse/ Take a bow G.I./ Take a bow Little Guy/ The superman of tomorrow lies at the feet/ Of you common men of this afternoon."

The one-hour live studio broadcast, with a full orchestra playing Bernard Herrmann`s original score, had an enormous impact, inspiring thousands of calls, letters and telegrams. The show was released as a set of 78-rpm records, which promptly sold out, and a hardcover copy of the script became an instant best seller as well, prompting additional printings. Still powerful six decades later, "On a Note of Triumph" is arguably the greatest single radio broadcast of the 20th century.

For more information about Norman Corwin, please go to: www.normancorwin.com


Running time: 45 min., Year released: 2008
Close captioned?: N, Color?: Y
Avail. formats: dvd
ISBN: 9781559747967
Language: English, Subtitled?: N
For classroom?: Y, Study Guide?: N
Grade level: 7th and up

Other Credits:

Directed, Edited and Produced by Eric Simonson
Produced by Corinne Marrinan
Executive Producer: Mark Herzog
Academy Award Winner 2005
Best Documentary Short Subject
This title can also be found in: * New Releases *, Academy Award Winners, Biographies, History, Poetry, U.S. History, World War II
 

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