Retro Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) of 1938

Apr. 20th, 2014 at 8:59 AM

fjm observed of the 1939 BDP nominations:

Apparently the Russell T Davies of 1939 was Orson Welles (4 of 5 Best Short Dramatic Presentation) #RetroHugos #Loncon3 #hugoawards
— Farah Mendlesohn (@effjayem) April 19, 2014

Now, the good thing about that is that they are all available online from several archive sites. I will link to them from here, but you can find them on the Internet Archive as well. (My links are single MP3 files, though you can probably find other formats if you poke around.)
Around The World In 80 Days (23 October 1938)
A Christmas Carol (23 December 1938)
Dracula (11 July 1938)
The War Of The Worlds (30 October 1938)

Unfortunately no recording is known to survive of the fifth nominee, the BBC's 11 February 1938 live 38-minute TV adaptation of R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, thought to be the first ever BBC science fiction play.

LJ Video

Comments

( 5 comments — Leave a comment )

abigailb

Apr. 20th, 2014 10:17 am (UTC)

Unfortunately no recording is known to survive of the fifth nominee, the BBC's 11 February 1938 live 38-minute TV adaptation of R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, thought to be the first ever BBC science fiction play.

I suspect not many of the nominators have listened to it.

Edited at 2014-04-20 10:18 am (UTC)

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beamjockey

Apr. 20th, 2014 03:16 pm (UTC)

I suspect no one both alive and currently active in SF fandom witnessed the live broadcast of this performance. (Would love to hear if I am wrong!)

Still, it is just the sort of thing to appeal to the fannish mind, such as mine. A genuine science fiction story--- on television!!! Someday, there will be all kinds of entertainment broadcast this way! What an age we live in!

Should we begrudge this teleplay its slot among the nominees, because it's impossible for voters to determine whether it's any good? Evidently the judges were willing to go along.

As it's up against an 800-pound gorilla, the most celebrated radio drama of all time, R.U.R.'s chances are none too good.

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drplokta

Apr. 21st, 2014 05:18 am (UTC)

There are no "judges". The nominees are selected by vote of the members, not by a panel of judges, and the administrator's discretion is limited to technical matters such as making sure nominees are actually in the right category,

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beamjockey

Apr. 21st, 2014 05:26 am (UTC)

I misspoke and in my haste typed "judges" when I should have written "Retro Hugo Administrators." I really do know the difference!

So, do you know anyone who saw R.U.R.?

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