1938 War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast - Orson Welles

Orson Welles presents H.G. Well's
The War of the Worlds

also includes the radio interview
H.G. Wells Meets Orson Welles

So what was this "War of the Worlds" thing all about?

Broadcast
H. G. Wells' novel is about a Martian invasion of Earth at the end of the nineteenth century, as related by a narrator seeing the events unfolding in England. The story was adapted by and written primarily by Howard Koch, with input from Welles and the staff of CBS's Mercury Theatre On The Air. The action was transferred to contemporary Grover's Mill, New Jersey, and the radio program's format was meant to simulate a news broadcast. To this end, Welles even played recordings of the radio reports of the famous Hindenburg disaster to the cast to demonstrate the mood he wanted.

Approximately two thirds of the 50-minute play was a contemporary retelling of the events of the novel, presented as a series of news bulletins in documentary style.

The program started as an apparently ordinary music show, only occasionally interrupted by news flashes. Initially, the news is of strange explosions sighted on Mars. The news reports grew more frequent and increasingly ominous after a "meteorite"--later revealed as a Martian rocket capsule--lands in New Jersey. A crowd gathers, and then the Martians incinerate curious onlookers with their "heat ray".

More Martian ships land, and then proceed to wreak havoc throughout the United States, destroying bridges and railroads, and spraying a poison gas into the air. An unnamed Secretary of the Interior advises the nation on the growing conflict. (The "Secretary" was originally intended to be a portrayal of then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but CBS insisted this detail, among others, be changed. The "Secretary" did, however, end up sounding very much like Roosevelt.)

Military forces attack the Martians, but are unable to fight them off. People gather in churches to pray.

This section ends famously with a lone reporter talking from the top of a building, above the poison gas and desperate masses and saying, "Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there ... anyone?"

The less famous last third was a monologue and dialogue featuring Welles, portraying "notable astronomer" Professor Peirson, who had earlier commented on the strange Martian explosions.

Welles' adaptation is possibly the most successful radio dramatic production in history.

Public Reaction
Many people missed or ignored the opening credits of the program, and in the atmosphere of growing tension and anxiety in the days leading up to World War II, took it to be an actual news broadcast. Panic ensued, with people fleeing the area, and others thinking they could smell the poison gas or could see the flashes of the fighting in the distance.

There has been speculation that many panicked listeners missed these warnings because the Mercury Theatre ran opposite the very popular Edgar Bergen show. About twelve minutes into Bergen's program a musical number began, and many listeners presumably tired of the song and "changed the channel, and came upon reporter "Carl Philips" in the field near Grover's Mills, New Jersey. By the time the break came, with the announcement that this was just a play, most of them had already gone off screaming.  According to the documentary, The Battle over Citizen Kane the Carl Philips segment was intentionally timed to occur at the moment many listeners were expected to be "channel surfing" during Bergen's musical interlude which occurred at the same time in every episode.

Several people rushed to the "scene" of the events in New Jersey to see if they could catch a glimpse of the unfolding events, including a few astronomers from Princeton University who went looking for the "meteorite" that had supposedly fallen near their school. Some people, who had brought firearms, reportedly mistook a local farmer's water tower for an alien spaceship and shot the tower.

Initially Grover's Mill was deserted, but eventually crowds developed as more and more people rushed to the area. Eventually police were sent to the area to help control the panicked crowds. To people arriving later in the evening, the scene really did look like the events being narrated on the radio broadcast, with panicked crowds and flashing police lights streaming across the masses.

Many people called CBS, newspapers or the police in confusion over the realism of the simulated news bulletins. There were instances of panic scattered throughout the US as a result of the broadcast, especially in New York and New Jersey.

Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, who were broadcasting at the same time on NBC are often credited with "saving the world". It is said many startled listeners were reassured by hearing their familiar tones on a neighboring channel. Less kindly it is said that few people listened to Welles compared to the incredibly popular Bergen and McCarthy.

Aftermath
In the aftermath of the panic, a large public outcry arose, but CBS informed officials that listeners were reminded throughout the broadcast that it was only a performance. Welles and the Mercury Theatre escaped punishment, but not censure, and CBS had to promise never again to use the "we interrupt this program" device for dramatic purposes.

A study by the Radio Project discovered that most of the people who panicked did not think that it was an invasion by Martians, but by the Germans. Other studies have suggested that the extent of the panic was exaggerated by contemporary media, but it remains clear that many people were fooled.

When a meeting between H.G. Wells and Orson Welles was broadcast on Radio KTSA San Antonio on October 28, 1940 the former expressed a lack of understanding of the apparent panic and suggested that it was, perhaps, only pretence put on, like the American version of Halloween, for fun. The two men and their radio interviewer joked politely about the matter, though clearly with some embarrassment.

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