Review: The Hobbit [Dramatized]

The Hobbit [Dramatized] by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This a 1979 radio series of The Hobbit, adapted and directed by Bob Lewis and produced by Mind's Eye. It would be most remembered as an NPR radio series and I used to have the cassette box set. It seems most reviews note it as less well done than the famous BBC radio treatment. I would not go as far as that - it holds its own. Each adaptation is a subset of the material and the production tells a slightly different story. The recent Peter Jackson movies of this story is really The Tragedy of Thorin Oakenshield. This treatment puts Bilbo more to the fore for saving the dwarves who are unsure and largely aged, past their prime. My only real complaint is that Tom Luce as Thorin makes the grim figure sound like William S. Burroughs. I wish that director had switched Luce with Bernard Mayes (this Gandalf).

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