Radio … and Me - 27

Last evening, CBC Radio One presented a special program on 'Ideas,' because today marks the 75th anniversary of the scariest radio drama in history: 'The War of the Worlds.'

Airing of the Orson Welles CBS 'Mercury Theatre of the Air' adaption of the H.G. Wells novel led to panic and outrage by those who heard it as a description of a real event, during the tense years and months that would lead to the beginning of World War II.
Photo: KPCC, Southern California Public Radio
According to a comprehensive article in Wikipedia, 'most of the play was a contemporary retelling of events of the novel, presented as news bulletins interrupting another program.' It began with an introduction from the novel, and went on to relate an alien invasion of Earth, beginning in a small town called Grover's Mill, New Jersey.
The story grew more and more ominous, as Martian war machines trudged toward to New York City, belching poisonous black smoke and defeating all regular militia and air force resistance in their path.
The actual sound broadcast is riveting: reporters on the scene describe the advance of the invasion … until they fall victim to the poison gas and their line goes silent, and the studio announcer switches to other feeds, including a fictitious announcement by the Secretary of the Interior, in an effort to calm the populace.
Sound effects -- especially from 'homemade' sources -- were quite realistic; the sound of the first machine emerging from its meteorite was made by a technician unscrewing the top of the large jar in a metal sink!
At about 20 minutes into the program on that prime-time Sunday, there were two groups of listeners:
-- those who had heard the introduction of the drama based on the novel at 8 p.m., and
-- the vast majority (about 63%, or 1.7 million) who had been listening to a program on NBC until the 12-minutes mark, who switched over just as the Martians are emerging from their spacecraft (all brilliantly set up by Welles and the scriptwriters).
The confusion and ‘panic’ that ensued -- which was much later dismissed by newspapers who saw radio as a serious threat to their influence -- came in thousands of phone calls to radio stations and public sources, and increased traffic, as some people began to scramble to escape the deadly aliens.
Because ‘Mercury Theater’ was unsponsored and didn't require scheduled commercial breaks, Welles chose to insert the next drama notice at about 40 minutes in the program.
He concluded the broadcast with a dramatic monologue describing the aftermath of the attacks. He then broke character to remind listeners that the broadcast was a Hallowe'en concoction, equivalent, as he put it, "of dressing up in a sheet, jumping out of a Bush and saying, ‘Boo!’”
Police promptly raided the control room and confiscated all available studio scripts, and Welles had to appear for interviews the next day, to explain the broadcast. The public was outraged that he had tried to fool them; many people sued.
The publicity certainly didn't hurt the 23-year-old actor: the show got a sponsor, and even served as a springboard for his future work as film actor and director!
I invite you, Dear Reader, to listen to the broadcast, available from many sources -- especially with the lights turned down!
Today also marks a personal radio event: it's the 48th anniversary of my first program as producer of the 'On Campus' radio program, based at St. F.X. University, on Radio Station CJFX.