Seufert's Scenes

Remembering the Real Walter Cronkite

Link: http://www.MooncusserFilms.com

Before I did photography.... and audio... and author marketing.... and multimedia in general, my company was just a video production company, with half of my projects coming from here on the Cape and the others over the bridge.

Now that I'm married and here full time I don't do as much film as before due to the travel requirements.  So, I had a great time this week remembering one of them however, a documentary narrated by veteran journalist Walter Cronkite.  I directed the film for the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center about Guglielmo Marconi's wireless station here in Chatham.  I was in 6th grade when he retired so I never considered it a possibility that I'd one day get to work with him, let alone direct his narration one on one over headphones. 

When he died last weekend I received an interview request late at night from CNN and early the next morning found myself in the telephone calling in a live interview to their anchors all over the world.  It was horrifying but I was honored to be able to talk about my experience over the winter of 2004 working with him and finding out that he was just as sincere and down to earth as his reputation. Here's a clip from it.

Though I was sad to hear about Mr. Cronkite, who led an amazing life,  I remembered how much attention he and his staff gave our script that winter, his generosity in donating his time (and that of his staff), and also how he hung around and talked to us for 20 minutes after the narration was cut.  

Here's the CNN transcript...

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WHITFIELD: Walter Cronkite's voice gave credence and authority to more than just news. He also used his famous pipes in a documentary about Italian inventory Guglielmo Marconi. 

Chris Seufert, producer and founder of Mooncusser Films, worked with Cronkite on the project. He joins us now by phone from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. So glad you could be with us, sorry under such circumstances. Tell me about your memories of Walter Cronkite.

CHRIS SEUFERT (via telephone), PRODUCER, FOUNDER, MOONCUSSER FILMS: Hi, how are you? 

Actually, I am not as old as some of the people who have much more direct experience with the reality and the myth of Walter Cronkite. But, you know, I was in sixth grade when he retired. 

But I am old enough to remember being in -- in my pajamas in the early 70s playing with trucks on the floor and seeing those helicopters swirling over the jungle canopy and hearing that voice, you know, that was sort of the nightly narration. 

So, yes, when I began this project with Walter and worked on the script over many months, and then we finally walked into his office, it was certainly with some nervousness as I walked down the hallway toward that --

WHITFIELD: Give me an idea of what was the first encounter was like. Yes, you knew him as the myth, this bigger than life man. But then when you saw him and you are now face to face, were your knees knocking? Give me an idea what kind of butterflies you had in you.

SEUFERT: I was certainly shaking in my boots. 

We had had some contact with him over the months before that I started to feel pretty comfortable with who he was. He was really behind the script and worked with us in a very detailed way to shape it into something he'd be proud of. 

So I really admired that, because a lot of people that would -- you know, a lot of people as famous as he who donate their narration to a project like this is --

WHITFIELD: Do you know how it even came about, by the way, how you were able to convince him to depart from news and be the voice in this documentary?

SEUFERT: Well, there was a producer on staff who had friend of a friend who knew that Walter was crazy about wireless radio. And so we knew someone that knew him, and basically got the word out to him that we were doing a documentary about wireless radio, and it sort of -- this untold story. 

And he accepted right away, to my complete and utter shock. But we, I went into New York with several of the crew members, and we were ushered up to his floor at CBS. And it hardly look like the office of a retired man, I must say. It was just like any working professional.

WHITFIELD: Really, meaning it just seemed very down to earth, very ordinary even?

SEUFERT: No. It was pretty intimidating. And, uou know, it's right in the center of Manhattan. And he has the whole floor. 

And his staff was extraordinarily professional and dedicated to him. And, you know, they worked round-the-clock. This was not a man that was -- you know, moth-balled yet. 

So when we walked down the hallway and you hear that voice, your first reaction is someone left the TV on.

WHITFIELD: That booming voice.

SEUFERT: And then we walked in, it was quite the opposite. He was not intimidating at all.

WHITFIELD: That's lovely. 

Well, thanks so much for sharing your experiences and having this brush with greatness, the greatness of Walter Cronkite. Thanks so much. 

And, of course, we have been hearing from you as well. So many people have been sharing their memories of Walter Cronkite.

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The photos we took of Walter that day were syndicated to a network of 120 tv stations across the country from Hawaii to Maine so our little Chatham project has gotten quite a boost from Walter's project.  Thanks to him this short documentary is now on the map for much more than just Guglielmo Marconi, but for being one of the last professional projects completed by this veteran journalist, who may have been a part of more historical moments in the 20th century than any other single person. And we had a blast with him too.

Here's an article that Tim Wood wrote at the Cape Cod Chronicle wrote highlighting the more local component of the Mr. Cronkite's involvement.

Need a film or video shot?  Come by my studio here at 2469 Main Street in Chatham or contact me here

Christopher Seufert

Cape Cod Video Production