About half of the play is a retelling of the events of the novel, presented as a series of news bulletins in documentary style. There was a disclosure at the beginning of the program that the following performance was just a show…only pretend. But many listeners hadn’t listened in until after the show had begun. The episode begins with a “live” feed from a musical performance in a concert hall that is frequently interrupted with exclusive news bulletins. The innovative format has been cited as a key factor in the confusion that would follow.
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 at the landing site, and the events are related by reporter "Carl Philips" until the Martians incinerate curious onlookers with their "Heat-Rays." (Many listeners heard only this portion of the show before contacting neighbors or family to inquire about the broadcast. Many of these people contacted others in turn, leading to rumors and even more confusion.)
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.
Military forces begin to attack the Martians, but are unable to fight them off. People flee or gather in churches to pray as the Martian machines head towards New York City, spraying poison gas in the air. This section ends famously: a news reporter broadcasting atop the CBS building, reports that Martians are invading New York City; he too collapses from their poison gas, and a despairing ham radio operator is heard calling out, "2X2L calling CQ ... Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there anyone on the air? Isn't there ... anyone?"
After the play ends, Welles breaks character to remind listeners that the broadcast was only a Halloween concoction, the equivalent of dressing up in a sheet and saying "Boo" like a ghost.
Only, the public’s reaction was far more intense than being surprised with a “boo.” Listeners rushed to the said scene of the landing and reportedly confused the town’s water tower with a space craft. I swear, I’m not making this up. Some brought firearms, and as the crowds grew, police and authorities were called in. However, this only increased the panic. 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.
I do suggest you give this a listen. It’s phenomenally done and is pretty spooky if you allow it to be. Please, don’t let your knowledge of the story be limited to that of Tom Cruise’s “blockbuster,” version of the tale.
So get a copy of the broadcast, dim the lights, gather your loved ones around you and prepare to be transported back to October 1938, not to a simpler era, for life was every bit as complex and uncertain as it is today, but to time when people were ready to believe that what they heard from a trusted source was the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We interrupt this program to bring......
Stars: various; hosted by Orson Welles
Sponsor: Sustaining (none), Campbell's Soup
Network: CBS
Aired: 1938-1941
Type of Show: Drama Anthology
Download Link:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mn1ymymdttw
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