I LOVE You Are There! The more I listen to it, the more I love it.
One of its first episodes was broadcast on 25 August 1947,
presumably during the Labor Day weekend, and it’s “The Last Days of
Pompeii.” I absolutely adored this episode. Not only was it exceedingly clever and taught
me a lot about Pompeii that I didn’t already know (guilty as charged, much of
what I did know comes from The Fires of
Vulcan), it had me biting my nails and on the edge of my seat on the train,
desperate for the fate of the CBS broadcasters who were unable to flee the
burning streets of Pompeii on August 26, 79 AD.
Obviously, I knew what was
going to happen, yet I couldn’t help be caught up in it. Certainly, CBS in the person of Edward R.
Murrow perfected the art of American news coverage during the 1940s, and the
series uses this reputation and know-how to construct an absolutely riveting
“faction.”
The CBS coverage of Pompeii, of course, does not begin with
the tragedy. In what I consider an
extremely clever move, it draws the parallel between present-day (1947) US
Labor Day celebrations and a festival that was happening in August 79 AD. The CBS reporters are there to cover, more or
less, a sports event! The fact they do
it with a straight face (or unflappable voice, rather) puts us right there,
almost two thousand years ago. “It’s a
great day for Pompeii” and its residents “are having a whale of a time!” In the arena, the crowds are about to be
treated to a gladiatorial duel between Pugnax and Murranus[1] (“a
picture of savage brutality”) as well as “the execution of a family of Nazarenes”
(“that sect that’s been causing so much trouble in the Roman Empire”). Ken Roberts reports from the ringside in the
freemen section; Cameron Blake is at the arena entrance; and John Daly is
aboard the imperial fleet in the Harbor.
Though Murranus may not be popular with the CBS reporters, he is with
the Imperial favorite, Umbrecia Jumaria, who tells the reporters, “the man is a
veritable mountain of Vesuvius!” At the
ringside, Ken Roberts reports as if covering a football game, then tell us it’s
“life for the fallen Pugnax!” Before the
Nazarenes can be sacrificed to the lions, however, Vesuvius erupts.
You can imagine the chaos this would have caused in a full
Roman arena, which is attested by CBS going off-air. “This is CBS in Rome . . . we have been
interrupted by transmission difficulties . . .”
although this is the talk of the trade, anyone familiar with War of the Worlds will not be surprised
when the disaster coverage switches to “the Emperor’s favorite singer” giving
us a tune. Shortly after this, Harry
Mottle reports, “Pompeii is on fire.”
Back in the studio, we are told, “CBS will do its best to cover this
sudden and completely unexpected catastrophe” in the first year of the reign of
Emperor Titus.
The brave reporters on the ground keep broadcasting to us,
describing “a hail of scalding ash and smoke,” “ a tremendous column of smoke,”
“huge chunks of rocks and dirt” falling “like a fiery blanket” on Pompeii. The majority of the CBS reporters are
evacuated to the Imperial fleet in the harbor, but no one can find Jackson
Beck, lost somewhere in Pompeii.
“Buildings are burning, but we don’t know what has become of Cameron
Blake!” “The roads are jammed with
escaping people . . almost like night .
. . it’s beginning to rain . . .” On
board ship, the surviving reports estimate the deaths at 2,000. The last we here from Cameron Blake is that
the sky is filled with “flaming ash” and “I’ve got to get out of here fast!”
Does he make it? Do
any of the CBS newsmen make it? “The
signal from Pompeii has failed.” Well,
of course they made it—their day job in 1947 may have been giving news to the
American public, but they make splendid actors playing themselves in what is a
historical fantasy. Nevertheless, I
thought You Are There’s version of
the eruption of Vesuvius was extremely accomplished and resonated strongly with
me. You
Are There don’t tell us which sources they use, but they do bridge a gap
between the ancient and modern world.
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