Summary

Footage Information

Global Image Works
Orson Welles' MERCURY WONDER SHOW
1940s
MERCURY WONDER SHOW B/W 35 MM sync sound and MOS.(5:00) This rare and never before seen footage of Orson Welles; Mercury Wonder Show reveals rehearsal footage and several magic tricks. The famous ""Lady in the Box"" (Swords inserted after a lady climbs into a black box) ends up with a hilarious unintended blooper) The Mercury Theatre Troupe (Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead, and occasional guests, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich) entertains troops at USO show in Hollywood. The Mercury Wonder Show for Service Men was a 1943 magic-and-variety stage show by the Mercury Theatre, produced by Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten as a morale-boosting entertainment for US soldiers in World War II. Directed by Welles, the show starred Welles (""Orson the Magnificent""), Cotten (""Jo-Jo the Great""), Agnes Moorehead (""Calliope Aggie"") and Rita Hayworth, whose part was later filled by Marlene Dietrich. Jean Gabin also worked on the show backstage, as a propman
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