I've been searching in vain for any video on-line of Rand's appearances on the show.
Surely some video recording exists. I believe she was a guest 3 times.

Any info anyone has regarding such would be greatly appreciated.

She appeared three times. I saw one at the time. Many Carson shows were lost when NBC technicians recorded over the tapes. Carson was incensed when he found out. Rand's appearances (1967) were likely lost. I recall a shot of the audience that seemed to show Barbara Branden in the first row.

--Brant

Anyone have air dates for these appearances? That might help in a search to track down recordings.

Bill

I very much doubt that tapes of Rand on the Carson show would be available online. The original tapes were not lost, they were destroyed. For some years, all the tapes of his shows were automatically destroyed -- which Carson was not aware of; when he learned of it, he stopped the practice immediately. Whoever destroyed them thought they were of little value. So the only people who would have a record of Rand's appearances were people who taped the shows when they were aired.

I have a good friend who has tapes of all three of Rand's appearances. I'll ask him if there is some way he can make them available to members of Objectivist Living.

I have a very clear memory of Rand's first appearance. It was a delight to watch and listen to. It was Rand at her very best, brilliant, incisive, dancing gracefully and happily among ideas. She was more relaxed than I ever knew her to be -- before and after -- in any other appearance. Carson asked excellent questions, and was clearly fascinated by her. He cancelled all the guests scheduled to appear after her, and kept her until his time was up. It was apparent that they liked each other and were enjoying their conversation.

And yes, Brant, I was seated in the front row -- having a wonderful time!


Barbara

Postcript: Carson reported that he received more mail -- almost all of it positive -- after Rand's appearance than he had received for any other of his shows.

Barbara

Barbara reports what I have been told. I however have heard an audio recording recently. I will report on the aviaablity of that. Her first appearance was great. The second was good. The last was disappointing.

A comment someone made when the first was played was Ayn Rand didn't believe in sound bites.

Barbara "I have a good friend who has tapes of all three of Rand's appearances. I'll ask him if there is some way he can make them available to members of Objectivist Living"

Many thanks, that would be awesome.
Seeing them would be a first for me, since I was in Japan at the time, serving in the Army (actually FORCED in to the Army via the draft)

It would be wonderful if the videos could somehow be made available.

Bill

Barbara; Does your friend have video recordings of Rand's appearances? My friends and others have audio reordings only. The VCR was not commercially aviable until the 70ths. I have been told that someone has a video recording.

Yes, Chris, his recordings are video. (I'll be seeing him tomorrow, and I'll ask about it then.)

Barbara

The thing that I most remember was when Carson asked her a good, probing, but simple question -- like [paraphrasing from ancient memory] "But if everyone were selfish wouldn't it be dog eat dog?" or "Wouldn't great monopolies take over the economy and triple prices?", her answer was not only simple and compelling to people like us, but the studio audience laughed in delighted surprise, as if getting something for the first time.

This has to be one of the most powerful intellectual events ever on television.

It -should- be widely available now -- I don't think it would be "dated" because Carson, a very intelligent man, asked about the basics of economics, politics, and ethics. It would be enormously powerful and convincing to those who had never heard any of these arguments before.

She was pleasant, making points never heard before on national television with a calm, smiling, innocent simplicity. The level of response was overwhelming. Thunderous applause at several points. (I don't think it's possible to pack a Tonight Show audience in that big auditorium?, so I'm guessing it was a few Oists, but lots of walk-ins.)

Putatively, her single best public appearance on a national stage - and the biggest national stage of all. Everyone watched Carson - young (myself), middle-aged, old.

I remember the one time, when Carson, a liberal, I think, laughed and said emphatically, in a tone of bemused surprise at himself for agreeing with her chain of logic, "You HAVE a point there!!"

It was possible to "pack" the audience. This was New York City. The question is what tickets were available in what quantity to whom. It wasn't an auditorium.

--Brant

Barbara -

Isn't it amazing how charming and engaging Rand could be? One of the most intellectually engaging people . . . able to focus attention completely on one person, to engage them, to get them started thinking, . . .

This was the side of Ayn Rand I remember the most - not the occasional (not a statement about frequency!) verbally attacking the questioners at a Q&A session. But the one who would provoke, then engage, smiling confidently.

Bill

Alfonso:

~ Too bad this is not the way her persona has USUALLY been (behaviorally[?]) 'analyzed' by her character-detractors.

~ I've never seen these appearances, though I often caught Carson. I suspect that they're probably worth their weight (video-tape oz.) in gold, to some, now. --- I'd settle for the audios, but, the videos are probably quite worth watching.

~ I wonder what she (contrary to Wayne Newton?) thought of Carson...

LLAP
J:D

I spoke to my friend who has video tapes of Rand's appearances on Johnny Carson, and asked if he could make them available to Objectivist Living. He is the man who is making a movie of Anthem. Shooting is planned to begin probably in the spring of next year. I am familiar with the circumstances and the people -- and the script -- involved, and I expect the movie will be wonderful. Yes, I know that "wonderful" is a strong word, and that's what I intend to convey. We first discussed his plans for a movie of Anthem more than twenty-five years ago, when it was still only a dream in his mind, and I thought then, listening to him, that this was the only man I would trust to create a movie from the book that I dearly love. Now, it is more than a dream, it is a reality, but the sensitivity, the understanding, and the sheer intelligence of his approach has remained intact, now strengthened by greater maturity and knowledge.

He explained that for certain business reasons, he cannot immediately make the tapes available. But he said I may give you his guarantee that within the next year, he will do so and will make it known where and how they may be obtained -- probably without charge -- at that time.

Barbara

Alfonso, she was incredible. I've seen her charm audiences many times, often audiences perhaps most of whom came to jeer and stayed to applaud enthusiastically and to besiege her with questions. She had the power of certainty; she spoke quietlly, without dramatic flourishes, but with utter conviction and devastating logic, and I've never seen an audience impervious to those qualities. They sat listening to many ideas that according to everything in their upbringing and everything they had been taught, should have horrified them, but instead so many of them were thrilled, energized, rapt with attention, feeling that they were embarking on an unprecedented intellectual adventure. They seemed to knew that they were not only hearing ideas that were unique in their experience, but that that they were seeing a woman who was compellingly unlike anyone they ever had encountered -- and that it was important that they listen and remember.

I will never forget the excitement of those evenings, and the combined intellectual exhiliration and earnestness of the audiences.

Barbara

Brant, it wasn't an auditorium, but it was a large room. I don't recall all the details of the ticket distribution, but I know that Rand, as was the custom, was given a fairly small number of tickets for her friends, and that was all. So the audience was not packed with Objectivists.

Barbara

The person you mention is the person I was told owned tapes of the programs.

What an exciting time to be living. Movies of both Atlas and Anthem may come out.

Barbara:

"She had the power of certainty; she spoke quietlly, without dramatic flourishes, but with utter conviction and devastating logic, and I've never seen an audience impervious to those qualities."

Perfectly stated. It was why I was captivated by her presentations. Clarity and certainty have also allowed me to present her ideas in a Quaker Church group, a union hall, a "black" church in Southern Queens and thousands of other groups and friends for fifty years with extremely effective results.

I am actually quite content that I have missed all this infighting that has been going on for too long.

Thanks for the information on Anthem.

Adam

Barbara -

This is "wonderful."

Bill (Alfonso)