MERCURY THEATRE ON THE AIR (1938) reel-to-reel series
1 reels transcribed so far. Search within this series →
| Reel | Programs | Pages | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-1351 | 28 | 1 | MERCURY THEATRE "Abraham Lincoln" (6lux) 8/15/38 · MERCURY THEATRE "Hell on Ice" 10/9/38 · MERCURY THEATRE "A Passenger to Bali" 11/13/38 · MERCURY THEATRE "Thirty-Nine Steps" Pgm. # 4 · 7/22/38 · MERCURY THEATRE "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" 9/26/38 · MERCURY THEATRE "War of the World's" 10/30/38 · 'War of the Worlds' · Facts behind broadcast uncovered · "Run-Through · A Memoir · " · -by John Houseman; Simon & Schuster; Illustrated · 297 pp. · $3.95 · A really astonishing fact about Orson Welles' radio play of a Martian invasion wasn't that it panicked millions of Americans · but that it ever got on the air at all · Another is that of law suits totaling more than $750 · 000 for damages ranging from mental anguish through injury to miscarriage · not one litigant from coast to coast ever collected a penny · This inside stuff on the famous (or infamous) radio adaptation of "War of the Worlds · " by H. G. Wells · comes from John Houseman · now a vigorous 74 · who with Orson Welles was the play's co-producer · Mercury Theater of the Air was at the bottom of the play barrel for its 17th weekly production in late October · 1938. The choice was between just extremely dreary version of "Lorna Doone" and "War-of the Worlds." · Houseman relates in "Run-Through" how he opted for the Martian piece · and turned it over to a adept and reliable script writer · Howard Koch · Koch "slaved" three days to make something out of the Wells novel; then · late on a · Orson Welles · Anything But 'Lorna Doone' · Tuesday night (Sunday was play night) · he frantically phoned Houseman and said he was ready to give up · But anything rather than "Lorna Doone"; Houseman urged Koch to try again - but fast. Koch came through · and on Thursday came first rehearsal · and a record was cut for listening purposes · Written Houseman: · "We listened to it rather gloomily... in Orson's room at (New York's) St. Regis ... He was dead tired and thought it was a dull show. We all agreed that its only chance of coming off (on Sunday night) lay in emphasizing its newscast style - its simultaneous eyewitness quality." · It was rehearsed again with sound effects Saturday night - without Welles · and the players left the studio. Welles phoned a few minutes later · got a sound man · and asked how it came out · Houseman relates. The sound man said it "just didn't come off." · Twenty seven hours later · " Houseman continues · "quite a few of his employers would have found themselves a good deal happier if he had turned out to be right." · Sunday · Oct. 30 · 8 p.m. · in a Columbia Broadcasting System studio "littered with coffee cartons and sandwich paper · Orson swallowed a second container of pineapple juice · put on his earphones · raised his long · white fingers · and threw the cue for the Mercury (musical) theme ... 'War of the Worlds' was on the air. Writes Houseman: · "Within a few minutes · people all over the United States were praying · crying · fleeing frantically to escape death from the Martians. Some remembered to rescue loved ones · others telephoned farewells or warnings · hurried to inform neighbors · sought information from newspapers or radio stations · summoned ambulances and police cars." · Trouble was · Houseman says · that Mercury's play started off deceptively slowly; also that a poll showed only 3.6 percent of the listening audience tuned to Mercury · while 34.7 was tuned to Edgar Bergen and his ventriloquist stooge · Charlie McCarthy. Finally · Bergen · at 8:12 p.m. introduced "a new and not very popular singer." Radio dials were turned - most apparently to Welles Mercury Theater - but unfortunately in the middle of violent action without knowledge of the earlier explanatory matter · Houseman blames two factors for the state of listeners' nerves: That the play came a month after the harrowing experiences of peace vs. war which brought the Munich "settlement"; and that the show's "sheer technical brilliance" was due in large part to the newly developed radio technique of breathless "on-the-spot" reporting. Thus the reality factor was radically heightened. ("I could have been carried off in no other medium but radio.") - Victor Wilson · Chicago Daily News |