Customer Reviews

War Of The Worlds (1938 Mercury Theatre Of The Air Radio Broadcast)

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I bought this CD because I was intrigued by the fact that the broadcast had created such a scare. Welles wasn't trying to convince people that Martians had actually invaded, and in fact it never occurred to him that people would believe it, but he unwittingly became the perpetrator of one of the most effective hoaxes in history.

It's easy to see why people got so excited that night. Welles' drama was utterly convincing, well written, and wonderfully performed by the Mercury Theatre Players. If I was around in '30 I'd have been holed up in the basement just waiting for one of those monsters to come suck my brain out.

What really impressed me, though, was the quality of the recording. I had expectedt it to be scratchy, hard to hear, maybe parts missing, whatever, but playing this CD, it sounds exactly like listening to the radio. It's a high quality recording, and it has been wonderfully preserved over the past 70 years.

Uncut and complete. This one-hour audio CD of the Mercury Theatre On The Air live adaptation of The War Of The Worlds is crystal-clear. Just as you would have heard it if you lived around the corner with a good radio. The sound effects, made live as Orson Welles and the cast read live from the script, are absolutly titilating and eerie. Would you believe one of the sound effects is actually an empty mayonaise jar being opened slowly in the toilet? True! Why is this radio broadcast so famous? Well, remember there was no television then. It had not been invented for the public yet. American families listened to radio. People who dialed in to this program late or just plain were not paying close attention thought it was real. Times were sensitive then, so many thought it was the beginning of war or Martians were actually landing on earth or a UFO was destroying a city. On October 30, 1938, this live program caused mass hysteria all over America. People got scared. But for those smart people that recognized the voice of Orson Welles knew this was just another Mercury Theatre radio play on station CBS. If you ever get the chance to see the tv-movie THE NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA, I highly recommend it. This film dramatizes the radio broadcast and what people were doing in thier homes at the time of this broadcast. It also shows what happened behind-the-scenes of the live broadcast at the CBS radio station.
Then, of course, there is the motion picture THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), which is a film version of the CBS Mercury Theatre On The Air script, by Howard Koch, Paul Stewart and John Houseman, originally written by H.G. Wells. Orson Welles was in the classic film Citizen Kane (1941) three years later.
In 2005, three new film versions were released.
A straight-to-DVD version, "H.G. WAR OF THE WORLDS" is by director Timothy Pines. Starring Anthony Piana and Jack Clay. It is considered to be the first authentic movie adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic novel in 1898. The DVD was released June 14, 2005.
Another straight-to-DVD version, "H.G. Wells' War Of The Worlds" was released, starring C. Thomas Howell and Rhett Giles. This DVD was released June 28, 2004 and broadcast on the SCI-FI channel, January 14, 2006. It is a much better movie and interesting in storyline than the next version that Steven Spielberg directed , War of The Worlds, released in theatres June 29, 2005, that starred Tom Cruise.

I really don`t know where to begin, I`ve always had a fascination for 50`s sci-fi. When I first bought this cd I didn`t really listen to it just threw it in the player for halloween effect. Some time later I dimmed the lights and imagined myself sitting by the radio some 40 years ago. The first thing to strike me was the realism of the interviews and the sound effects. Considering that Mr. Welles was limited to only his imagination and some assorted household items, i.e. the opening martian cylinder was simply a mason jar being unscrewed inside a toliet bowl, it`s no wonder folks went mad and stormed the streets in search of the mythical invaders from Mars. Although I`ve never claimed to be very well educated it is safe to say that the purchasing of this cd would make every collection complete.

Its 65 years old..the sound is that of a 65 year old radio broadcast..yet it is spellbinding! I bought this to help my son in his study of the book..to visualize the impact of what was narrated as events 'in the later years of the nineteenth century' (though this setting is in the 1930s New York.NJ area..) and was utterly astounded to find a 6th grade boy listening to it every night for days..this treatement (and Orson Welles voice..) is gripping and worthy of asmuch accolade as a classic as the original book.
(As an aside, I was moved to consider what impact re-broadcasting this as a modern version of this treatment would have in these troubled times. I quickly dismissed this idea as wholly irresponsible - it would cause widespread mayhem and chaos - just as it did on the eve of WW2. Imagine...)
The result of my son's study was his "book review" assignment presented in class as a video broadcast (we shot some of it on wasteland in the Bronx!) that took the stance of a news reporter witnessing heavily armored machines racing across the countryside wreaking havoc as they went..successful beyond his anticipation..as the tanks rolled into Iraq. As I said. Imagine.

This is GREAT STUFF! Old time radio at it's best! Orson Wells opening monologue is appropriately creepy. The core part of the broadcast, the martians' landing at Grover's Mill, is wonderfully handled and has a nice "you are there" feel to it. The final segment, of Orson Wells (I think) journey of wandering through a post-apocalyptic New York is an amazing predecessor for what would become a sci-fi staple in the Atomic age. For best effects, play this in a dark room with some friends-preferrably on halloween night. I attended a similar "theme party" based around this and it was quite a success.

This recording retains the whole broadcast, but the sound quality is certainly lacking in this recording. The higher end treble is gone due to noise suppression. While probably adequate when the digital mastering was first done, newer techniques now render recordings from the 1930s in much better quality. I have a large number of these older recordings where sound quality differs according to source, remastering engineer, date, and technique used. Hopefully, a newer disc will be issued made from a better source with better noise processing. I remember my family possessing an LP copy of the broadcast that seemed to have a much better frequency range with far fewer phonograph noises and clicks than the present recording has, even with the noise suppression.

This is the (in)famous broadcast that got Americans to belive that Mars had invaded the US! This guy need a Nobel prize on hoaxes or drama!Amazing! I can't stop using exclamation marks! A radiophile's "must!"

This is my ALL TIME favorite old time radio program. I also love all the other Mercury Theater on The Air programs. These shows are nothing but talent and years ahead of their time.

It is, of course, the most famous radio program of all time; I daresay many members of future generations would have no idea that their ancestors actually sat around a radio once upon a time listening to dramatic presentations were it not for the unique acclaim this show continues to enjoy today. The broadcast was a seminal event in broadcasting history - not for its content, which was indeed very good - but for the dramatic reaction by untold listeners who were convinced that Earth was under attack from invaders from Mars. Callers deluged local newspapers and radio stations, men volunteered to step up and fight the terrible enemy, families rushed out of their homes to flee from the invaders. Some folks in the New Jersey area actually claimed they could see the fires of the destruction, one man insisted he heard the President order an evacuation over the air, prominent Princeton scientists actually went out in search of the meteor that reportedly fell nearby, and some individuals supposedly committed suicide. In the aftermath of the panic, there were calls for tougher broadcasting standards and a formal investigation into the broadcast. The FCC called in the big three radio network presidents to redefine the usage of the word "flash" over the radio, and the whole situation led the government to seek closer cooperation among radio networks in the months leading up to America's entry into World War II. It sounds silly today, and I'm sure many of the panic details have grown in stature over decades of exaggeration, but still, you can't help but be amazed at the thoroughly unpredicted reaction of so many to an mere dramatization of a pretty familiar story (indeed, Orson Welles said he feared such an outlandish story for the program might actually bore people). After all, it's not as if the show weren't advertised on radio and print, and there were no less than three announcements about the fictional nature of the story made during the broadcast itself. On the other hand, 1938 was a tense time in a world already witnessing the outbreak of a terrible war in Europe, and the format of the presentation did simulate a news broadcast - complete with program interruptions.

But what of the show itself? The broadcast took place on October 30, 1938, the 14th broadcast of The Mercury Theatre on the Air series led by director and star Orson Welles. It consisted of Welles' own adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic science fiction novel The War of the Worlds. The decision was made to present the story in the form of breaking news items on the air, and so it was that listeners were whisked away from live music at some New York ballroom for quick news flashes on strange eruptions on the Martian surface, the crash of a large meteorite some eleven miles outside of Princeton, mobile reports from the site, and the scientific speculations of a learned Princeton professor. The mobile reporter did a fantastic job of realistically dramatizing the extraordinary happenings taking place at the Grover's Mill farm site after the "meteorite" opened up and began firing its death ray at the milling crowds around it - until he was cut off, for rather obvious reasons, as the crisis quickly accelerated. At that point, military bulletins formed the presentation's material until such time that the learned professor, in the final twenty minutes or so, described the aftermath of the terrible invasion.

It's a real treat to be able to go back and listen to this most impressive and infamous of radio broadcasts and to witness the extraordinary power of Orson Welles' presentation. As impressive and entertaining as the show itself is, it's even more of a learning experience. The modern-day listener gains insight on the early days of mass communications, finds inspiration in the power of dramatic presentation, gets a good feel for the popular culture of that era, finds a ready-made source of information on mass psychology, and - perhaps most importantly - enjoys a unique look at the history and societal framework of that jumpy era, a time when so many Americans were still struggling to survive economically while trepidation grew daily over the dark events taking place across the Atlantic Ocean.

I already have a copy of this purchased years ago, but
wanted this one as a prize in a Halloween contest since the
price here was so good. I know I paid more for my first
cd of it.
Now I can't find my original cd so I will probably be
purchasing another one.
Today, I think this Broadcast reminds Americans what fear
can do to this country.
I know many who will say, "but we are so much more sophis-
ticated than that now. We would never be lead down the primrose lane like they were by a radio program in 1938."
I really don't think we have progressed that much from the American Public of 1938.