Orson Welles and The Martians

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles shocked the citizens of the United States with a science-fiction chronicle (on live radio from a program of the Mercury Theater Company in New York), of a Martian spaceship invasion of Earth. Welles knew that the CBS’s broadcasting frequencies were close to those of the most-followed NBC, which broadcasted the programs of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy at the same time, but he also knew that Bergen, at a very precise moment of his program, always sent a music break during which the public often changed station: it was during this break that Welles decided to land his Martians. The choice turned out to be effective because the United States plunged into chaos: based on the work “The War of the Worlds” of the writer H.G. Welles, the brilliant American writer, that night, played a radio adaptation of the novel, perhaps a bit too compelling, throwing into panic thousands of people who truly believed to be victims of an ‘alien invasion. The adaptation of the novel, in fact, faked a news special which at times was inserted over the other programs’ schedule, to provide updates of the Martian spacecrafts in Grovers Mill, New Jersey. The result was all too realistic and went beyond the expectations of the author himself, that it later on allowed Welles to sign a contract for some major film projects, like “Citizen Kane” (milestone in film history), and to become one of greatest directors of all time.

Later, in 1953, Byron Huskin’s film based on the novel by Welles was released, it was one of the first regarding the extraterrestrial hypothesis with special effects so spectacular for that period that it even won an Oscar. It became one of Hollywood’s icons in the “alien invasion” genre. In 2005 Speilberg’s released the remake production with Tom Cruise.