The Silver Screen Oasis

Seventy-five years ago tonight, The War of the Worlds was broadcast on CBS radio, catapulting Orson Welles and the Mercury Players onto the worldwide stage. Here's the broadcast below and an intriguing look at the event from National Geographic here, which asserts that the newspapers exaggerated the impact. In any case, Happy Halloween.

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Fantastic, Moira! What a perfect Halloween post, here in the OW thread.

This is my favorite event in the history of mass media. I never tire of this story!

I'd have to agree, red! It's a wonderful urban-legendy kind of story... I just love everything about it, from the show itself, to the hubbub and hysteria it caused, to the newspaper pictures of a stricken Welles the next day.

I wanted to spearhead a staged reading by our community theatre. That would be interesting any time, but especially this year. Unfortunately, I wasn't motivated. Too lazy!

That was a great idea, red! it's too bad it didn't come off.

RedRiver wrote:I wanted to spearhead a staged reading by our community theatre. That would be interesting any time, but especially this year. Unfortunately, I wasn't motivated. Too lazy!

Maybe next year? It sounds like a great idea. The Howard Koch script is terrific and would probably work just as well today.

My mom grew up in Newark, NJ, not far from Raymond Boulevard (mentioned in War of the Worlds). She heard the original broadcast and was terrified because she thought the aliens were going to be marching down her street any minute. She ran to a neighbor who reassured her it was just a radio program and that if the aliens had really landed, the news would be on every radio station, not just the one broadcasting War of the Worlds. :)

My dad said that even though they knew was just a radio show because they listened from the beginning of the program, it was done so well that they still weren't sure. He was 9 and thought it was the most thrilling event of his young life!

75 years ago today. Orson Welles was the most famous man in America.

And he was only 23.:)

So spoken so true ... and yet Rita Hayworth once said ... "I married a Genius!"

Consider the world affairs of the time. Would people have been so quick to react had there not been such a real threat in Europe?

That's a great question, one that makes me want to go back and listen to it with just that in mind... how much of the story could be contrasted to the war looming in Europe?

Found this post from the New Yorker, thanks to Moira:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/m ... entry-more