The country didn't know it at the time, but it was heading for an unforgettable Halloween. The mood seemed to be right for it. In Europe, Hitler was flexing his muscles. He had his eyes on the western part of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetanland. People in Britain were fearful, and many wore gas masks. Over here there were bubble gum packs with trading cards with an artist's rendering of a concentration camp and the inscription, "WARNING...Don't let it happen over here!" Over here we were still coming out of a depression and millions were still out of work. On September 21 a devastating hurricane struck Long Island and New England. It came without warning and produced 200 mile per hour winds and tidal wave 40 to 40 feet high. Seven hundred lives were lost and there was over $400 million in damage.
While Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berrigan and the other big bands kept peoples' minds at ease, shows like The Shadow, played by Orson Welles, Superman, and other suspense shows kept the pot simmering, even though they were a distraction from the world events. Even Disney's hit movie "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" had a wicked witch. (Note: The Our World program often contained wry bits of humor. In this case, a short clip from the film Snow White was shown which showed her speaking to a dwarf. She said to one, "Oh, you must be Grumpy." Immediately, the picture changed to a picture of Hitler.) Now enters Orson Welles. He had been a campaigner and speech writer for Roosevelt. Roosevelt is said to have quipped that he and Welles were the two greatest actors: Welles' job was to stir the people up while mine (F.D.R.'s) was to pour oil on the troubled waters. Welles' Mercury Theater of The Air played opposite the Edgar Bergan and Charley McCarthy, the highest rated show. For Halloween, Orson Welles chose to adapt H.G. Wells' 1898 version of War Of The Worlds which was set in an English countryside. Welles wanted the script written in first person and taking place over here. A week before the show was to air a final script was yet to be seen. John Houseman and Howard Koch were the writers, and Richard Barr was Welles' assistant. The location of the story, Troy Mills, New Jersey, was determined by dropping a pencil on a map. The program began with a couple miscellaneous announcements and the introduction of a musical program. Very shortly into the music, an announcer came on with a special bulletin. This was not uncommon. There began the serious part of the hoax. Listeners who tuned in a bit late or joined the program in the middle didn't hear the announcements that this was a dramatization only and were moved to confusion and even hysteria. Steve Allen relates how he had turned the radio on for some music and was listening when the hoax began to develop. It sounded so ominous that his mother and aunt thought that they should go to Holy Name Cathedral. As they were exiting the hotel, they noticed that everyone in the lobby was just going on about their business, and the radio playing in the background had something other than what they were hearing upstairs. They had been taken in. Gloria Widlock and Richard Stives reported their observations and feelings from that strange evening. The results: lawsuits were filed, but none were ever settled; CBS apologized as did Welles; the Mercury Players had feared punishment for the hoax; the series was renewed, they got a sponsor, and both their ratings and salaries went up. They later ended up in Hollywood, Welles doing "Citizen Kane" at RKO.
Other items: ***Superman: Kent was patterned after the silent movie star Harold Lloyd and Superman was inspired by Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Writers Schuster and Segal thought that the country needed someone who could step in and do something to help, even though it was only fiction. ***The Lone Ranger made his debut. ***Smith Ballew and Lou Gehrig, playing himself, appeared in the film "Rawhide." ***The Yankees beat the Cubs in four straight in the World Series. Don Budge made the Grand Slam in tennis. Sam Snead raked in $17,000 for the year. ***Cary Grant tan Kathryn Hepburn starred in Bringing Up Baby. Thornton Wilder's Our Town won a Pulitzer Prize. ***Howard Hughes flew around the world in 91 days. ***Eddie Rickenbacker and Lawrence Rockefeller started Eastern Airlines. ***The first Xerox image was made. ***The land speed record of 357.5 miles per hour was set twice in two days.
And came Nestles' Nescafe, the buffalo nickel, the first nylon toothbrush, a pound of round steak was 35 cents, gas was 10 cents a gallon, 75 cents got you prime rib at the London Chophouse in Detroit, and the average worker made $25.00 per week.
While Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berrigan and the other big bands kept peoples' minds at ease, shows like The Shadow, played by Orson Welles, Superman, and other suspense shows kept the pot simmering, even though they were a distraction from the world events. Even Disney's hit movie "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" had a wicked witch. (Note: The Our World program often contained wry bits of humor. In this case, a short clip from the film Snow White was shown which showed her speaking to a dwarf. She said to one, "Oh, you must be Grumpy." Immediately, the picture changed to a picture of Hitler.) Now enters Orson Welles. He had been a campaigner and speech writer for Roosevelt. Roosevelt is said to have quipped that he and Welles were the two greatest actors: Welles' job was to stir the people up while mine (F.D.R.'s) was to pour oil on the troubled waters. Welles' Mercury Theater of The Air played opposite the Edgar Bergan and Charley McCarthy, the highest rated show. For Halloween, Orson Welles chose to adapt H.G. Wells' 1898 version of War Of The Worlds which was set in an English countryside. Welles wanted the script written in first person and taking place over here. A week before the show was to air a final script was yet to be seen. John Houseman and Howard Koch were the writers, and Richard Barr was Welles' assistant. The location of the story, Troy Mills, New Jersey, was determined by dropping a pencil on a map. The program began with a couple miscellaneous announcements and the introduction of a musical program. Very shortly into the music, an announcer came on with a special bulletin. This was not uncommon. There began the serious part of the hoax. Listeners who tuned in a bit late or joined the program in the middle didn't hear the announcements that this was a dramatization only and were moved to confusion and even hysteria. Steve Allen relates how he had turned the radio on for some music and was listening when the hoax began to develop. It sounded so ominous that his mother and aunt thought that they should go to Holy Name Cathedral. As they were exiting the hotel, they noticed that everyone in the lobby was just going on about their business, and the radio playing in the background had something other than what they were hearing upstairs. They had been taken in. Gloria Widlock and Richard Stives reported their observations and feelings from that strange evening. The results: lawsuits were filed, but none were ever settled; CBS apologized as did Welles; the Mercury Players had feared punishment for the hoax; the series was renewed, they got a sponsor, and both their ratings and salaries went up. They later ended up in Hollywood, Welles doing "Citizen Kane" at RKO.
Other items: ***Superman: Kent was patterned after the silent movie star Harold Lloyd and Superman was inspired by Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Writers Schuster and Segal thought that the country needed someone who could step in and do something to help, even though it was only fiction. ***The Lone Ranger made his debut. ***Smith Ballew and Lou Gehrig, playing himself, appeared in the film "Rawhide." ***The Yankees beat the Cubs in four straight in the World Series. Don Budge made the Grand Slam in tennis. Sam Snead raked in $17,000 for the year. ***Cary Grant tan Kathryn Hepburn starred in Bringing Up Baby. Thornton Wilder's Our Town won a Pulitzer Prize. ***Howard Hughes flew around the world in 91 days. ***Eddie Rickenbacker and Lawrence Rockefeller started Eastern Airlines. ***The first Xerox image was made. ***The land speed record of 357.5 miles per hour was set twice in two days.
And came Nestles' Nescafe, the buffalo nickel, the first nylon toothbrush, a pound of round steak was 35 cents, gas was 10 cents a gallon, 75 cents got you prime rib at the London Chophouse in Detroit, and the average worker made $25.00 per week.