Customer Reviews

Very Best of Orson Welles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are two legendary broadcasts from the Mercury Theatre on the Air. First, the infamous War of the Worlds from Halloween, 1938, and, on the second disc, Dracula, the first ever Mercury Theatre broadcast. Both evoke their respective moods perfectly, an example of the quality of work done by the Mercury Theatre.

This is also a real deal for the price. Two CDs, excellent audio quality (especially considering the ages of the sources) and a retrospective booklet included.

A perfect gift for the Old-Time Radio--or Orson Welles--fan.

"Dracula" and the infamous "War of the Worlds" are both masterpieces of classic radio, and these elegant discs do them justice. The sound, while not perfect, is a lot better than I expected considering the source material is over 60 years old.

Good value with Dracula as added bonus. Orson Welles broadcast was a classic.
Shame my original purchase was lost and was sent several weeks later.
A bit unfair of Amazon to refund & recharge my card to process my replacement which cost more than original purchase due to change in exchange rate! ;-(

The War of the Worlds is a remarkable broadcast!!! Orson is a Genius!!
I was very happy with the quality of the broadcast!! Orson's voice is powerful as well as hypnotic.

I ordered this CD set for my daughter to listen to War of the Worlds just like I listened to it on Halloween (in the 60s) as a kid. When we received the order we had two of Disc 2. Disc 1 being War of the Worlds and Disc 2 is Dracula. I requested a replacement, and received one promptly from Amazon. However, it had the very same problem. Unless they replace this CD lot, you may have the same problem. I'm sure Dracula is fascinating; I'm just not interested in listening to it twice. Amazon refunded my money and now I'm looking for another version without Dracula.

I had heard of, but never heard, the Mercury Theater 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds, so when I found this CD (on sale), I decided to pick it up.

I guess after seeing the 1961(?) movie and hearing the 1976 rock/musical version (much recommended), this CD, while historical, was not so impressive. I was more interested in the performance aspects of it (such as sound effects and "acting") than the actual story, however.

It is surprising that so many people were taken in by it on its original performance, and a few really flipped out, including suicide. However, the world was full of paranoia at the time, and on the verge of WWII, and much of what we take for granted now was new to people then.

Dracula was fairly uninteresting to me, but I just consider it as a bonus, and will give it another shot someday.

The sound quality is fair-to-middlin' considering its age. The sound on Dracula was a bit more muffled and parts are nearly unintelligible. Each disk runs justs under 60 minutes each. I found the CD case itself to be a bit clunky, having to flip out an inner flap (and risk dropping the first disk off the spindle, as happened today in my car) to get to the second CD. Nice slip case, though.

If you want it just for War of the Worlds, I suggest the Special Collector's edition DVD of the 1953 movie which includes this radio broadcast.