| NOSTALGIC OLD-TIME RADIO (OTR) MERCURY MARS MAYHEM |
| The Pumamouse Website Presents... |
| Thank you for visiting these webpages. Please return often to view new developments. I would enjoy receiving your comments. |
| Welcome to the "MERCURY MARS MAYHEM" webpage of The Pumamouse Website. On Sunday, the 30th of October 1938, at 8:00PM, a new radio drama was aired in the USA, the full impact of which no one could have imagined. The series title was "The Mercury Theater Of The Air", and the broadcast station was CBS. The series was a dramatic anthology. At the time, the programs aired weekly and were one hour in length. The cast was headed by actor Orson Welles, and included his talented repertory company from Broadway. Orson Welles wanted a particularly spooky production for the Halloween season, and he decided upon the classic fantasy story "The War Of The Worlds", written forty years prior by H.G. Wells. Howard Koch adapted the story for radio dramatization. It must be noted that the public reaction caused by the production surely would not have been as intense were it not for the unique manner in which the story was told. Welles instructed Koch that he wanted the story revised and presented as a series of news bulletins, interspersed with first person narratives. Koch quickly realized that he could use very little of the original story, save the basic idea of a Martian invasion, and that he must write a script very near to an entirely original play…in less than one week's time. The results were a work of pure genius. The broadcast was probably the single most memorable event in the history of American radio drama. The consequences were unimaginable. A picture is worth a thousand words, and in some cases, so is a sound. You have read the basic background…now, I encourage you to listen to the original broadcast with a better understanding of the impact and chaos it created. The original broadcast is readily available from a variety of sources as a commercial release. If you wish to hear it, but you can not find it, please contact me, and I will do my best to assist. Also, for those who share my interest in this topic, I have a recording of a rare documentary radio report of the events which followed, as well as a recording of a St. Louis Missouri rebroadcast of the program, (circa 1970), during which Howard Koch was in the radio studio, answering questions about the landmark production...intriguing, to say the least. Sixty-five years have passed since the original radio broadcast of "The War Of The Worlds". My parents still recall the pandemonium which ensued in New Jersey, and throughout the USA as a result. To my knowledge, Orson Welles never offered any public apology. He reportedly was contrite, and forty years later, trusting in the lack of public retribution, he confessed only his amusement and amazement that people could be so gullible. Many of those who witnessed the panic firsthand will forever remember Orson Welles as a man who willingly and knowingly furthered his career at the expense of the radio listening public. This webpage is dedicated to those who were listening sixty-five years ago. The Pumamouse (MaryAnne) October 2003 |
| You can email The Pumamouse (MaryAnne) by clicking on the link below: |
| You can return to The Pumamouse Website Homepage by clicking on the link below: |
| This website is owned, designed, created, maintained, and financed by The Pumamouse (MaryAnne) Copyright 2002/2003/2004/2005 |
 |
| NOSTALGIC OLD-TIME RADIO LINKS: |
| You are viewing "Mercury Mars Mayhem" |
| THE PUMAMOUSE WEBSITE SECTION LINKS: |
| Please investigate all of the varied sections of The Pumamouse Website by clicking on the links below. |
| "THERE ARE MORE THINGS IN HEAVEN AND EARTH, HORATIO, THAN ARE DREAMT OF IN YOUR PHILOSOPHY." (WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE) |