Spooked! by Gail Jarrow

Author:Gail Jarrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Published: 2018-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

On October 31, Orson Welles met with reporters, answering their questions and expressing his bewilderment over the public’s reaction to his show.

“It came rather as a great surprise to us that a story …,” Welles gazed directly into the newsreel camera, “the original for so many succeeding comic strips and adventure stories and novels about a mythical invasion by monsters from the planet Mars, should have had so profound an effect upon radio listeners.”

Welles told reporters that the Mercury team had almost not chosen to perform The War of the Worlds because they thought “people might be bored or annoyed at hearing a tale so improbable.”

A reporter asked if Welles had taken advantage of his audience by pretending to use “authentic news.” Welles responded that this method didn’t originate with The Mercury Theatre and was, in fact, used by other radio programs. “It would seem to me unlikely that … an invasion from Mars would find ready acceptance,” he said. “I was frankly terribly shocked to learn that it did.”

Another reporter inquired whether there should be a law against similar radio dramatizations. Welles replied that he didn’t “know what the legislation would be…. Radio is new,” he continued, “and we are learning about the effect it has on people. We’ve learned a terrible lesson.”

Despite Welles’s apologetic words, some observers questioned his sincerity. They noted that, as a talented actor, he had performed his part flawlessly.

Sincere or not, would Welles’s performance save his radio program … and his career?

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