Written by H.G. Wells
CBS Radio Network
The Mercury Theatre On the Air
Directed by Orson Welles. - Starring Orson Welles
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The plan to create an artificial extraterrestrial threat to the Earth was first mentioned by the Marxist, John Dewey.
"Some one remarked that the best way to unite all the nations on this globe would be an attack from some other planet. In the face of such an alien enemy, people would respond with a sense of their unity of interest and purpose." John Dewey, New York 1917.
The premise was tested for credibility with the CBS presentation of The War Of The Worlds by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on October 30, 1938. At 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, on the evening of October 30, 1938, the night before All Saints Day, now generally celebrated as Halloween, an estimated six million Americans listened to the famous Orson Welles broadcast, War Of The Worlds. The broadcast described an extraterrestrial invasion from Mars. An estimated one million sheople responded with sustained credulity and fear. Thousands responded with sheer panic.
The broadcast was a psychological warfare experiment conducted by The Princeton Radio Project. The Rockefeller Foundation funded the project in the fall of 1937. An Office of Radio Research was set up with Paul F. Lazarsfeld as director, and Frank Stanton and Hadley Cantril as associate directors. Cantril used a special grant from the General Education Board to study the effects of the broadcast. Cantril published the study as a book titled The Invasion From Mars - A Study In The Psychology Of Panic. It contains a complete script of the broadcast. The book is one of a series of studies sponsored by the Federal Radio Education Committee.
War Of The Worlds, was broadcast by Mercury Theater on the Air, from a microphone in a New York studio of the Columbia Broadcasting System. Council on Foreign Relations member Frank Stanton was a CBS executive. Stanton would direct Radio Free Europe. Regarding the programs realism Cantril writes, "The sheer dramatic excellence of the broadcast must not be overlooked. The unusual realism of the performance may be attributed to the fact that the early parts of the broadcast fell within the existing standards of judgment of the listeners..."...[Full Article]
"THE WAR OF THE WORLDS" (ORSON WELLES' ORIGINAL 1938 RADIO BROADCAST)
Uploaded by DavidVonPein2 on Jun 10, 2011This is the full-length hour-long original radio program "The War Of The Worlds", starring Orson Welles of the "Mercury Theatre On The Air".
When it originally aired live on the CBS Radio Network on October 30, 1938, many Americans thought that the "Martian" threat that is portrayed in this remarkable program was a real threat, and panic resulted in some areas of the United States.
There are many things to appreciate and admire when listening to this radio play, not the least of which is Orson Welles' closing narration in the final few minutes of the broadcast, when he seems to be the last remaining person on the face of the Earth. (But he soon finds out otherwise.) A truly great performance here by Mr. Welles.