Running Time: 60 minutes

Home Station: CBS Radio

The Mercury Theatre on the Air

Host(s): Orson Welles

Frank Readick

Writer(s): Howard Koch (adaptation)

H.G. Wells (novel)

Announcer: Dan Seymour

Narrated by: Orson Welles

Air Dates: Since October 30, 1938

It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on

October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting

System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and

future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation

of H.G. Welles’ novel The War of the Worlds (1898). It became

famous for causing mass panic, although the extent of this panic

is debated.

Herbert George Wells

(September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946)

• A prolific English writer and social

commentary

• Father of Science Fiction

• Most notable works were The War of the

Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible

Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau

• A worthy successor to Charles Dickens

George Orson Welles

(May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985)

• an American actor, director, writer and

producer

• In theatre, Caesar (1937), In Broadway,

Julius Caesar, In radio, The War of the

Worlds (1938), & in film, Citizen Kane

(1941)

• In 2002, Welles was voted the greatest

film director of all time in two British Film

Institute polls among directors and critics

FRANK READICK HOWARD KOCH DAN SEYMOUR

The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company

founded in New Your City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John

Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio

programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also released promptbooks

and phonographic recordings of four Shakespeare works for use in schools.

After a series of acclaimed Broadway productions, the Mercury Theatre

progressed into its most popular incarnation as The Mercury Theatre on

the Air. The Mercury Theatre on the Air produced live radio dramas in

1938–1940 and again briefly in 1946.

The golden age of radio — the period when radio reached its peak

popularity with general audiences was in the 1930s and 1940s.

Columbia Broadcasting System

(January 27, 1927 - PRESENT)

Since NBC was the broadcast arm of radio set

manufacturer RCA, its chief David

Sarnoff approached his decisions as both a

broadcaster and as a hardware executive;

NBC's affiliates had the latest RCA

equipment, and were often the best-

established stations, or were on “clear

channel” frequencies. Yet Sarnoff's affiliates

were mistrustful of him. Paley had no such

split loyalties: his – and his affiliates' –

success rose and fell with the quality of CBS

programming.

National Broadcasting Company

(November 15, 1926 - PRESENT)

It is an American commercial broadcast

television and radio network. NBC is

sometimes referred to as the “Peacock

Network”, because of its present logo. NBC

stations were often the most powerful, and

some occupied unique clear -

channel national frequencies, reaching many

hundreds or thousands of miles at night.

In the late 1940s, rival Columbia Broadcasting

System (CBS) gained ground by allowing

radio stars to use their own production

companies, which was profitable for them.

Hadley Cantril

(June 16, 1906 – May 28, 1969)

• an American researcher of public opinion

and psychologist

• He was the main author of The Invasion

from Mars, A Study in the Psychology of

Panic

• He was a member of the Princeton Radio

Research Project during the early 1940s

The day after the “War of the

Worlds” broadcast, a request

came from Frank Stanton’s

employer – the Columbia

Broadcast System (CBS) – for an

opportunity to test their new

“technique.” Cantril wrote in one

personal letter: “when the

broadcast of October 30

occurred, with its responses in

mass hysteria over a wide area,

the Princeton researchers

recognized that here was a

perfect opportunity for their

inquiry.”

A person experiencing intense emotions tends to be more receptive to

ideas and therefore more suggestible. Generally, suggestibility decreases

as age increases. However, psychologists have found that individual levels

of self - esteem and assertiveness can make some people more

suggestible than others, which has resulted in the concept of a spectrum of

suggestibility.

The magic bullet theory, or the hypodermic needle model, of mass

media portrays the media as a direct, intense influence that "shoots"

beliefs and ideas into the minds of an unquestioning audience. The

theory took shape in the 1930s with the rising popularity of mass media

outlets, including radio and movies, and increased political propaganda

in both democracies and dictatorships.