War of the Welles
"The War of the Worlds" was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on Sunday, October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds (1898). It became famous for allegedly causing mass panic, although the reality of the panic is disputed as the program had relatively few listeners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzC3Fg_rRJM
You've done a great job, Ron, of dramatizing this key event in the cultural history of the U.S., when we learned how much influence the media can have over us, and how fine can be the line between real life and fiction. Grovers Mills, New Jersey! Maybe if the extent of the "mass panic" was overestimated, that was an instance of the media preening itself, fluffing up its true importance in our lives. =smile=
ReplyDeleteOne of the great myths of our time on this planet. Glad you thought of it and paid homage to it in this great image Ron!
ReplyDeleteFab! What a genius the young Welles was - the first case of fake news?
ReplyDeleteAlso of course there was his film all about Fakes - F For Fake.
ReplyDeleteThanks all and thanks Michael for the link. I think I missed F for Fake first time around.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure Welles intended the outcome of WOTW but I think he understood media presentation and played around with the form in this broadcast. Good point Fi, I'm sure CBS were well pleased at the publicity the show attracted.
Three years later of course, Welles would return to the subject of media manipulation in Citizen Kane inspired by the sensationalist publications of William Randolph Hearst and the like.
GREAT, Ron! A good reminder of this "event" in 1938 and of same-named music album!
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