Posted by chicagomedia.org on October 21, 2008 at 12:01:15:
Welles' 'War of the Worlds' remembered
FOR THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HISTORIC SHOW, USF WILL PLAY ORSON WELLES' 'WAR OF THE WORLDS'
This just in: A giant cylindrical meteorite that crashed in rural New Jersey late Monday night opened up to reveal a tentacled Martian that quickly used a heat ray to incinerate the growing crowd of onlookers.
Hundreds are feared dead.
Radio news reports described the Martians' look as horrifying -- "eyes black and bee-shaped, mouths dripping saliva."
It is further reported that the Martian mayhem is spreading, with Buffalo, N.Y., St. Louis and Chicago also being invaded. Authorities on Monday night suggested the "urgent need for calm," followed by the suggestion for all to don gas masks.
Not too believable by today's standards, huh?
But picture yourself in 1938, hunkering down on a Sunday night to listen to one of your favorite programs on the AM dial, only to have your radio show "interrupted" by breaking news that Martians were attacking the United States.
"As scares go, it didn't get any better," said Tim Weldon, a psychology professor from the University of St. Francis. "One could only wish to have been 8 years old on that autumn night in 1938, looking up at the round, lit dial of the radio only to experience the precious and haunting, all from that amber glow."
70th anniversary
Oct. 30 marks the 70th anniversary of Orson Welles' dramatized, modified radio rendition of the then 40- year-old sci-fi novel, "War of the Worlds," written by H.G. Wells.
Historians estimate that some 1.7 million listeners to "War of the Worlds" believed it to be real, while slightly more than a million others "panicked mildly" at some time during the broadcast, according to an essay Weldon has written. Weldon notes in his essay that the governor of Pennsylvania volunteered to send troops to neighboring New Jersey to help defeat the invading Martians.
The next day, the New York Times carried a headline on its front page: "Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact" with a subhead of "Many flee homes to escape 'gas raid from Mars' -- Phone calls swamp police at broadcast of Wells fantasy."
A Chicago newspaper ran a photo of a woman with a broken arm, the result of an attempt to flee on foot from the Martians.
Even though the original broadcast included at least three disclaimers that the piece was nothing more than drama, radio was the perfect medium to pull off such a believable stunt, Weldon said.
For one, the popularity of radio was on the rise, with 75 percent of households owning a radio. For another, it was "an experimental and social medium," Weldon said.
In modern days, Welles' "War of the World" broadcast could be likened to Internet rumors circulating that Barack Obama is everything from a Muslim to a terrorist or the anti-Christ.
"The broadcast was so entertaining it actually swept up people," Weldon said.
Hear it here
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the broadcast, Weldon has attained the right to play it during an academic event on USF's campus.
The event, which is open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at Damiano Hall on the campus at 500 Wilcox St.
After the audience listens to the original 55-minute broadcast, Weldon will discuss the broadcast and its implications with Richard Woods, a theology professor at Dominican University who has penned science fiction works, and Scott Marshall, a USF communications professor who focuses on radio.
"I'm really hoping that somebody who listened to the (original) broadcast would show up," Weldon said. "Just imagine all the mayhem ... just sitting in front of the radio, imaging these Martians were invading the world. You would be having the time of your life if you were 8 years old."
(Patrick Ferrell, The Herald News)