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HBO: It seems like Norman Corwin's voice and
work, despite his fame during the heyday of
radio, somehow slipped through the cracks of
time. How did you discover him?
Eric Simonson: A lot of people who consider themselves really
well-informed about the history of radio have
told me that they weren't aware of Norman
Corwin or his work, and were blown away that
such a guy existed, and that he wrote what he
did at that time. And that's what struck me,
that's why I wanted to do the film.
I came into contact with Norman through a
radio program I heard on NPR in 1995. They
were doing a commemoration of the fiftieth
anniversary of VE-Day, and Norman Corwin's
seminal radio program On a Note of Triumph. I
was living in Chicago at the time, and I was
listening to the radio and this came on and it
was one of those programs that, when I got
home, I had to sit in my car and listen to the
rest of it.
The thing that struck me was how the poetry
just leapt off the radio. It sounded great, it
meant something, it had integrity and a lot of
muscle, and it was a poem besides. So I
remembered that, and I think I even wrote
away for a transcript. And then I just went on
with my life. But in the back of my mind, I
knew that one day I wanted to do something
on Norman Corwin and his work. When I
moved to Los Angeles seven years ago, I
discovered that Norman Corwin lived in Los
Angeles, and I actually knew some people who
knew him.
HBO: How did you determine the best way to tell his
story?
Eric Simonson: Well, I knew I wanted to make the center of
the piece the broadcast of On a Note of
Triumph. I thought I would weave in and out
of that and have people talk about its
structure, and what makes it such a great
piece. But I quickly realized that it was more
important that I get to who Norman Corwin
was, and what it was about that piece that
reflected him in his world, and what it was
about that piece that resonated with his fans,
in particular the ones who were speaking
through him in the piece.
I've made two documentaries, and what I like
to do is go out and shoot the subject in
interview form, and maybe do some B-roll
(non-interview) footage. And then, when I
have enough to cut something together,
usually about ten minutes, I start to put it
together. And then I look at it, and then that
takes me to the next step. It lets me find
where the film is taking me. Once that's done,
I go out and I shoot more interviews and more
footage, and then I edit some more. I usually
go too far and I end up with a piece that's
longer than it's supposed to be, and then I go
out and I shoot some more and I begin to
whittle it down.
With this piece, it became clear that I needed
a short history of who this man was, and
where he was coming from before we got to On
a Note of Triumph. It started with the premise,
sort of testimonials that let the audience know
that this was an important piece and would
lead the audience to the question, well if it's
so important, why haven't I heard about it?
Or, if it's so important, tell me where it came
from, what it's about, and why these people
are so excited about it. So then, essentially, it
becomes like a narrative film: You pose the
question, and then by the end of the film, you
answer it.
I love the craft of film. I love the craft of
storytelling, whether it's a narrative or a
documentary or a play or a film, it's really
about telling the story, and I was trying to tell
Norman's story about how he got to create
this really beautiful work of art that hardly
anybody's aware of.
HBO: It's amazing that sixty million people tuned-in
to that original broadcast of On A Note of
Triumph.
Eric Simonson: Yeah, when there were only a hundred and
fifty million in the country at that time.
HBO: What do you think it was about the program
that spoke so powerfully to people, and why
does it still speak to us today?
Eric Simonson: I think, back then, people were looking for the
reasons why World War II had happened, and
what the victory meant. It was a way for the
country, which, I think was a unified and less
fractured country to come together, and to
have somebody speak their mind about what
this all meant. A lot of people knew Norman Corwin and
knew him to be a very insightful man who had
his hand on the pulse of the country. And, as
in any time of hardship, tragedy, or
celebration, you look for sort of a unifying
voice that's going to express the collective
subconscious. And I think that Norman did
that.
Today the piece has stood the test of time.
The things that he said sixty years ago are
still relevant today, particularly when it comes
to war, and the idea that we're caught in this
endless cycle of war. And we ask questions
about, can that cycle be broken? And if it
can, how can it be? And, if it can't, what does
that say about the human race? Those are
things that we still ask ourselves today.
The difference, though, is that today I think
our country is a lot more fractured. We live in
an age of lightning media that allows us to
find pockets of community a lot more easily
than it used to be. Which, in its way, is a
good thing, but in another sense it's bad,
because the country is less unified. I can't
imagine any individual voice talking to over
fifty percent of the country. I mean we can
hardly get fifty percent of the country to vote.
But, I think Norman's very realistic in his
assessment of the human race and its
potential. He's still optimistic. He's still
hopeful that somehow we'll bring ourselves
around, and that the potential for us to see
the light is still there.
HBO: You were able to get some incredible people to
speak about Norman and the influence his
work had on them.
Eric Simonson: That was Norman. He's a voice that's sort of
shouting out to be heard. And it's a voice
that's getting more and more distant as time
marches on. The people who came out and
testified for Norman and his work--Robert
Altman, Studs Turkel, Walter Cronkite--they
recognize Norman's value. And they recognize
good art and good ideas when they hear it, or
when they read it. I think anybody who feels
like a certain ideal has been undersold is
going to be willing to take a stand. I got the
same response from all of them when I
approached them for an interview. Anything
for Norman, they said.
HBO: It seems like, by today's standards, Norman's
ideas might have a hard time finding a home.
Eric Simonson: I think it was that period. I think we live in a
very cynical age, and it's hard to do anything
that has a center of earnestness. We can
appreciate On a Note of Triumph in the context
of when it was produced, and I think a lot of
us would fall under its spell even today. But
it'd be pretty hard, I think, for a contemporary
artist to do something that is that earnest and
get away with.
HBO: What do you hope audiences will take away
from the movie?
Eric Simonson: I think the last thing that Studs Turkel says
in the film is what I want audiences to take
away, which is that every school kid should be
exposed to the poem On a Note of Triumph. I
think it expresses everything that I feel is
important, in a broad sense, in this country
and my world around me. What I can't
articulate, Norman Corwin expresses for me in
a very exact way, and that poem is that
expression.
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