A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN (2005)
Language:  English
Awards:  US Awards/Nominations

Director Eric Simonson's Oscar-winning documentary short is a brief bio in standard talking-heads format of writer, poet, and radio personality, Norman Corwin. As a young man working in New York City, Corwin approached his local radio station about doing a poetry program. Radio stations had 18 hours of new programming per day and were desperate for quality content. Working without pay he learned the craft of radio, achieving certain sounds and effects with the help of engineers and ingenuity. Radio quickly became an art form thanks to people like Corwin, intelligent programming that brought him admiration from poets, actors, station executives, and the public. A "thinking American," Corwin didn't just raise peoples' spirits, he raised their consciousness as well.

The great American poet and writer, Carl Sandburg, has said that Corwin is one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Robert Altman likens him to a wonderful actor who moves you intellectually and emotionally. Studs Terkel, author and actor, says the most memorable day of his life was VE Day and listening to Corwin's radio presentation "On A Note Of Triumph." Instead of celebrating with drinks and toasting the end of the war, he and his friends forgot everything, just listening to Corwin's words. Altman says he can recite the speech, or parts of it, to this day, it was burned in his memory. Clearly one with words, Corwin proves himself a character. Asked in an interview what he's working on now, he says he was paid 30 years ago for a memoir, but he stopped after 300 pages because he was suffering from "I" strain!

Before that famous broadcast, Corwin had many other memorable radio programs. "We Hold These Truths," which aired shortly after the Pearl Harbor bombing in 1941, celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights and spoke to Americans about why the U.S. was fighting the war and what the country stood for. In 1943 he did a program honoring a slain soldier, asking why wars had to be fought every 25 years, and ended with the soldier's voice (Hank Peters) saying "I am dead because of the mistakes of old men." His "Triumph" speech asked questions about Americans, our country, and the war that are still relevant today such as Who did we beat? What do we know now that we didn't know before the war? How much did it cost? Sadly, Corwin feels we learned nothing from either WWI or WWII.

As stated above, the filmmaking isn't extraordinary, but features entertaining, insightful, and heartfelt interviews from the men mentioned and a few others (including Corwin). Segments showing shadowy images of people and events related to what's being said are extremely distracting however. Semi-animated, dark, sepia-tinted images they are "almost" discernable and detract from the very thing they're supposed to be illuminating. Also, many interview segments and observations from Corwin are heard while we see him, but he's not talking. Perhaps this is by design to recreate one of his radio programs, but the effect is annoying - especially in sequences where his lips are moving but it's obvious it's from another interview entirely.