Customer Reviews

Old Time Radio Science Fiction (Smithsonian Collection)

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My mother remembered the night Orson Welles panicked the country with "The War of the Worlds." I asked her if she was fooled by the broadcast and she said she was not. She was listening to Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on the other channel. Two things contributed to the hysteria caused by Welles' broadcast. Firstly, the news-report format of the show was extremely realistic, and secondly a number of listeners switched over to "The War of the Worlds" partway through the broadcast when an unpopular singer followed a commercial on the Charlie McCarthy show (I thought people didn't start channel surfing until the invention of the TV remote).

One wit said that all the intelligent people were listening to the dummy and all the dummies were listening to "The War of the Worlds." But that is unfair. When I listened to the show the first time, I was struck by the realism of the radio announcer's panicked description of the Martian attack. It reminded me of the broadcast of the Hindenburg tragedy, and I wasn't at all surprised to learn that the actor who played that part had consciously tried to model his delivery after that broadcast. We'd like to think we're smarter than our countrymen from that earlier time, but you need only look to the recent Y2K panic to realize we're not as sophisticated as we think.

"The War of the Worlds" isn't the only gem in the collection. "Donovan's Brain," "The Martian Chronicles," "The Time Machine," and "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" are classics by anyone's definition. The other stuff isn't quite as good as these excellent episodes, tending toward sci-fi formula stories and space opera, but the high quality of the named shows would be hard to equal in any genre.

The fifties were the "Golden Age" of science fiction writing, with talents like Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Alfred Bester all in their prime. Judging from the quality of the offerings in this collection, fifties radio sci-fi measured up quite well against printed science fiction.

If you like science fiction, even a little bit and you have to drive a half hour or more this collection is a must have. Just listening to the War of the Worlds from the 1938 broadcast is worth it as you can see why over 1 million people were in such a frenzy. The stories are not too long and combined with some nice sound effects are very enjoyable. They made my ride to work go by in a blink. Highly Reccomended

A great collection. It has many classic shows, such as "The War of The Worlds", "Escape", and "Suspense". Ther is only one other radio show it needs. That is "Escape"'s brodcast of "The Earth Abadies". But it still is a fascinating collection.

In "Suspense"'s "Donovan's Brain", a multimillonaire's brain is kept alive by a scientist, played by Orson Wells. In "The War of The Worlds", Earth is invaded by martains. In "Lights Out"'s "The Metor Man", a semi vampire alien haunts a human couple. There are many more classics in this collection. Get it!

I ordered these and was sent cassetes. Amazons description of the set as CD's is wrong. I wanted a old cassete player anyway but thought you still should now.

What a great variety of classic sci-fi. Having recognized some of the titles & authors, I knew this would be good. Though the sound quality is not what we'd have today, it is superior to a lot of other radio broadcast reproductions I've heard. The slightly "scratchy" recordings of some of these gives a more nostalgic quality without diminishing the quality of the reading/acting. It some cases, the sound quality added to the mystery and suspense.
This collection is varied, having aliens coming to earth, earthlings going to alien worlds, humans reaching new frontiers on earth... actually under the water, immortality through science, and even kids involved in the storyline.
A better selection couldn't be put together than this. For a lifetime sci-fi fan and writer, this is "Sci Fi Hall of Fame" stuff.

Thank You to the people who decided to recover all these great memories of the past.When I was a child we sat in front of the radio for hours and listened to these wonderful broadcasts!
WONDERFUL!