Orson Welles - War Of The Worlds - Radio Broadcast 1938 - Complete Broadcast.

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  • čas přidán 15. 12. 2010
  • Orson Welles - War Of The Worlds - Radio Broadcast 1938 - Complete Broadcast.
    The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. 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 Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds.
    The first two thirds of the 60-minute broadcast were presented as a series of simulated "news bulletins", which suggested to many listeners that an actual alien invasion by Martians was currently in progress. Compounding the issue was the fact that the Mercury Theatre on the Air was a 'sustaining show' (it ran without commercial breaks), thus adding to the program's quality of realism. Although there were sensationalist accounts in the press about a supposed panic in response to the broadcast, the precise extent of listener response has been debated. In the days following the adaptation, however, there was widespread outrage. The program's news-bulletin format was decried as cruelly deceptive by some newspapers and public figures, leading to an outcry against the perpetrators of the broadcast, but the episode secured Orson Welles' fame.
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Komentáře • 7K

  • @therubbercop4590
    @therubbercop4590 Před 4 lety +2896

    The “reporter” saying “Am I on?” just adds to the realism

    • @tim3854
      @tim3854 Před 4 lety +69

      that was probably a clever gag 80 yrs ago

    • @stetsongray5355
      @stetsongray5355 Před 4 lety +13

      Number link to when he said it?

    • @stevenorourke9395
      @stevenorourke9395 Před 4 lety +27

      @@stetsongray5355 16:37

    • @sesqu7270
      @sesqu7270 Před 4 lety +18

      People on zoom calls

    • @willtheprodigy3819
      @willtheprodigy3819 Před 3 lety +40

      The idea that thousands panicked because of this is a myth spun by journalists to discredit news broadcasting, a growing industry hurting newspaper profits.

  • @tommccarthy562
    @tommccarthy562 Před 8 lety +8367

    This will forever be the greatest prank of all time

    • @thebattalion8938
      @thebattalion8938 Před 8 lety +303

      It's just a social experiment bro

    • @chaosmorris5865
      @chaosmorris5865 Před 8 lety +510

      it's neither, just a radio show that was a bit to realistic.

    • @Garother
      @Garother Před 7 lety +194

      It actually was not a prank. It was one of his many shows. The press most likely made this "terror" thing up.

    • @IFZEX09
      @IFZEX09 Před 7 lety +9

      +Garother that why he apologised for it

    • @jaydjaydnb9829
      @jaydjaydnb9829 Před 7 lety +104

      It has been widely speculated that the "panic" was largely over-exaggerated as this particular show was not exactly extremely popular and the fact this was 1938 and not everyone had access to a radio

  • @TickleSalty
    @TickleSalty Před 6 měsíci +262

    After the initial scare, my father quickly figured out it wasn’t real while the rest of the family panicked. He started going around the radio dial to see what other stations were reporting, and discovered no other station was reporting it. If the Martians had invaded, every station would have broadcast it. He calmed everyone down and they finally believed him. Him spinning around the radio dial continued with television. He was a world champion channel surfer.

    • @TBrown0440
      @TBrown0440 Před 4 měsíci +5

      I bet he had quick remote control finger.

    • @rudolphguarnacci197
      @rudolphguarnacci197 Před měsícem +2

      ​@@TBrown0440
      In 1938?

    • @rudolphguarnacci197
      @rudolphguarnacci197 Před měsícem +2

      If you've ever seen Dr. Strangelove Peter Sellers brings a radio to Sterling Hayden playing music stating that if the rooskies had really nuked the U.S. it wouldn't be playing music.

    • @scottjurrjens8954
      @scottjurrjens8954 Před měsícem

      The fastest channel change in the West (or where ever you were lol)

    • @nightmare_gacha5341
      @nightmare_gacha5341 Před 2 dny

      @@rudolphguarnacci197I love that movie!

  • @tryingtomatch1059
    @tryingtomatch1059 Před 2 lety +1877

    My 5th grade teacher showed the whole class this broadcast but before he put it on he asked us, a class of 5th graders in 2002; “did you guys know that aliens invaded us in 1939 and we have the whole thing recorded on radio?” As if we fought off invading aliens in 1939 and everything was normal again by now. Totally fooled us

    • @rnjrgreen8723
      @rnjrgreen8723 Před 2 lety +19

      I believe the aliens went by as hydra.

    • @starmnsixty1209
      @starmnsixty1209 Před 2 lety +72

      You had a cool teacher, trying to match!

    • @indy_go_blue6048
      @indy_go_blue6048 Před 2 lety +31

      Gentle correction: October 30,1938.

    • @tryingtomatch1059
      @tryingtomatch1059 Před 2 lety +25

      @@indy_go_blue6048 respectful acceptance of correction, much appreciated.

    • @nephicus339
      @nephicus339 Před rokem +25

      Aliens invade Earth. - 1938
      Aliens are fought off successfully by Earthlings. - 1938
      Earthlings proceed to start a world war for the second time. - 1939
      I'm now wondering how much this broadcast affected those responsible for WW2.

  • @NJNinni
    @NJNinni Před 5 lety +4366

    I was 12 years old listening to this with my Mother and Father and 2 brothers from Morristown New Jersey we were all scared to death except my Dad who kept saying screw those damn Martians.

    • @negralopez5025
      @negralopez5025 Před 4 lety +271

      Tony N your dad is awesome

    • @NJNinni
      @NJNinni Před 4 lety +190

      @@negralopez5025 Yes, He was. Thanks !

    • @johncaulfield8935
      @johncaulfield8935 Před 4 lety +160

      You really expect us to believe your a 94 year old man on CZcams

    • @NJNinni
      @NJNinni Před 4 lety +347

      @@johncaulfield8935 First there are many people well into their 100's that still watch TV, read books, newspaper, and watch CZcams video. Even Ron Paul has a daily radio show at 85. Come on get your head out of your ass. People in their 100's can't do what they did at 50 but many still do everyday things. Now, I don't believe you'll make it to 90 because you probably never had your face out of a cellphone and never walked a total of 50 miles total in your whole life

    • @mclovin9578
      @mclovin9578 Před 4 lety +161

      @@johncaulfield8935 Who cares if he's telling the truth? The visual of that story is awesome! Thanks, Tony. 👍✌

  • @Diraphe
    @Diraphe Před 9 lety +3380

    Damn Martians keep interrupting my orchestra listening.

    • @stelleldir
      @stelleldir Před 8 lety +17

      hahahahaha XD

    • @unklewink
      @unklewink Před 8 lety +48

      Diraphe I know, right? That Ramone Rochello band really rocks.

    • @MerleOberon
      @MerleOberon Před 8 lety +10

      +MikeJames6 I'm a big Bobby Millette fan myself.

    • @thebammer5166
      @thebammer5166 Před 8 lety +34

      +Diraphe If you're a Martian, you interrupt Ramon Raquello and his Orchestra. Its what you do.

    • @stevemercure902
      @stevemercure902 Před 8 lety +10

      +Paul Foor Man I wanted to hear Stardust....

  • @MyNameIsGhost
    @MyNameIsGhost Před rokem +591

    The fact that this was performed and broadcasted live rather than pre recorded is really insane to think

    • @nobodynever4326
      @nobodynever4326 Před 11 měsíci +19

      Most of the music and soundtracks, as well as some of Wells broadcasts were prerecorded and cut together a few days ahead...

    • @DeamonthePrincess
      @DeamonthePrincess Před 5 měsíci +10

      Fun fact, the very first episodes of Doctor who were also broadcasted live and you can even see the actors fumble lines and looking confused or stepping in for others to keep the ball rolling

    • @TiroDvD
      @TiroDvD Před 2 měsíci

      Not quite. They had about 200 years practice of only plays, chamber music, ballets, and opera that had to be live performances. No phonograph yet.

    • @emw2708
      @emw2708 Před 2 měsíci

      @@DeamonthePrincess I don't think that's true. The original pilot of DW was indeed awful and needed to be redone entirely but the original was never aired as far as I know.

    • @DeamonthePrincess
      @DeamonthePrincess Před 2 měsíci +1

      @@emw2708 czcams.com/video/tWgBJG-0Vao/video.htmlsi=Ll2-gusPpctq0ELG I found this on the subject, I agree I may have misremembered. Thank you for correcting

  • @robertfolkner9253
    @robertfolkner9253 Před 2 lety +553

    My late mother heard this in 1938. Oddly, the children back then were the group LEAST likely to believe this was real. The action was happening too rapidly to be realistic and, most importantly, they recognized the voice of “Professor Pierson” as being the same as that of Lamont Cranston, the protagonist of the popular “The Shadow” crime-fighter show.

    • @wannawatchu66
      @wannawatchu66 Před rokem +23

      Not to mention all the *other* characters Welles played in all the *other* literary works the Mercury Theatre On The Air dramatized every Sunday night on CBS Radio. "The War of the Worlds" by no means the only piece they did.

    • @BeeBumper
      @BeeBumper Před rokem +14

      The shadow knows!

    • @MichaelBoyce-tm2vw
      @MichaelBoyce-tm2vw Před rokem +2

      When The dummy Charlie McCarthy toolk a break that was when the martians landed.

    • @tilasole3252
      @tilasole3252 Před 8 měsíci +4

      ​@@BeeBumpermy dad used to say that... "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

    • @jsl151850b
      @jsl151850b Před 6 měsíci

      After the opening comedy skit and some guy started singing, some of the audience channel surfed over to CBS, just in time to hear about Martians in New Jersey.@@MichaelBoyce-tm2vw

  • @christophercandy6244
    @christophercandy6244 Před 3 lety +2704

    My late Grandfather, Robert Earle, was a Cast member of this broadcast!

    • @yastreb.
      @yastreb. Před 3 lety +30

      Whose voice was he?

    • @ramadhyaru8373
      @ramadhyaru8373 Před 3 lety +16

      Amazing! Nice one 👍

    • @christophercandy6244
      @christophercandy6244 Před 3 lety +72

      @@yastreb. .. we are really sure, but there is proof because his name is listed as on of the original cast members.

    • @bobbybroone1818
      @bobbybroone1818 Před 3 lety +11

      You ballin mang. 👍

    • @Amore825
      @Amore825 Před 3 lety +11

      That’s just awesome 👏

  • @ronaldstrange8981
    @ronaldstrange8981 Před 4 lety +3188

    Always wondered about this. Now, aged 83, my curiosity is about to be satisfied.

    • @user-cp9id1mj8b
      @user-cp9id1mj8b Před 4 lety +566

      It fills me with great pleasure that 83 year olds are on youtube and commenting as well.
      Cheers to you Ronald.

    • @TheKonga88
      @TheKonga88 Před 4 lety +68

      @@user-cp9id1mj8b Ronald is a Martian and he is infiltrating you dumbass humans.. 👽👽👽👽👽👽💀💀💀💀🎃🎃😀😀🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🌕🌙🌍

    • @bean7039
      @bean7039 Před 4 lety +26

      Hey is my profile name cool?

    • @Fyodor48
      @Fyodor48 Před 4 lety +20

      Ronald Strange dude back in the day you shoulda checked online for news on Martian attack.

    • @Frankincensedjb123
      @Frankincensedjb123 Před 4 lety +23

      @@user-cp9id1mj8b Wasnt aware there was an age limit.

  • @RCAvhstape
    @RCAvhstape Před 2 lety +360

    17:45 that part where the reporter is describing the heat ray attack and people are screaming followed by the transmission suddenly cutting off is legitimately scary.

    • @wannawatchu66
      @wannawatchu66 Před rokem +30

      Indeed...the remote feed from the scene suddenly cuts off WHILE THE REPORTER WAS MID-SENTENCE...followed immediately by several seconds of silence, making it sound like the network was having to scramble to continue generating audio in the form of the announcer...a staged "emergency" expertly, realistically pulled off.

    • @TheGrant59
      @TheGrant59 Před rokem +9

      Yes, it was very well done

    • @j4r3d29
      @j4r3d29 Před rokem +16

      Just the audio of the reporter’s narration of the heat ray assault is more terrifying than visuals of the big screen version with Tom Cruise

    • @shortyfoden
      @shortyfoden Před rokem

      Yes kinda like solar flares today😉

    • @JihadGuy
      @JihadGuy Před 8 měsíci

      I thought it was the black gas. Cause of the guy scream in the background sounds like screaming in pain than in fear lol

  • @robertdona8076
    @robertdona8076 Před rokem +146

    I listen to this every October 30th at 6:30 P.M. as a tradition to be apart of this historic event.

    • @rubenskiii
      @rubenskiii Před 10 hodinami

      On what FM frequency?

    • @robertdona8076
      @robertdona8076 Před 9 hodinami +1

      @@rubenskiii only on CZcams. Full version.

    • @rubenskiii
      @rubenskiii Před 9 hodinami

      @@robertdona8076 ah oke, i read somewhere online that a San Francisco radio station did a yearly broadcast of it around Halloween but the web page that said so was ancient(2000's webpage that barely worked on my phone) and didn't mention which station it was. So thought you where maybe listening to it that way.

  • @clamagoredon1
    @clamagoredon1 Před 8 lety +2377

    9 years old at the time living in South New Jersey, my Dad was prepared to go to the cellar and dig the family a shelter.

    • @sythlorde
      @sythlorde Před 8 lety +93

      +Don Ulmer smh you know damn well you all were sitting by the radio laughing and enjoying your cocaine flavored soda, telling your black maid to go to bed so that she could get up by 6 in the morning and have the dinner ready XD

    • @clamagoredon1
      @clamagoredon1 Před 8 lety +252

      South Jersey is not that far south.

    • @sythlorde
      @sythlorde Před 8 lety +34

      Don Ulmer its a young, internet joke, dont read too much into it

    • @-_M-_
      @-_M-_ Před 6 lety +35

      Don Ulmer I bet you were terrified. I would too If I was little during that time

    • @psyke_out
      @psyke_out Před 6 lety +15

      Don Ulmer 79 years today, how fresh is that memory of that night for you?

  • @Nero-ox5tw
    @Nero-ox5tw Před 4 lety +1163

    Reporter obviously straight up dies
    Man in studio: "Well there is clearly something wrong with our transmission."

    • @JuanIgnacioAzpiazu
      @JuanIgnacioAzpiazu Před 4 lety +28

      That is genius.

    • @RoundenBrown
      @RoundenBrown Před 3 lety +19

      Actually happened IRL, reporter got shot on live TV in Virginia a few years back.

    • @yastreb.
      @yastreb. Před 3 lety +37

      "We are having some problems with our reporter, who just obviously straight up died. Here's some music."

    • @AsianTheDomination
      @AsianTheDomination Před 3 lety +6

      there was also an anchorwoman who shot herself on air

    • @sillybirdy1994
      @sillybirdy1994 Před 3 lety +6

      That is *exactly* how it would happen though. Especially back then. A real reporter broadcaster would have been instructed not to alarm listeners with stuff like that.

  • @calebstevens7487
    @calebstevens7487 Před 3 lety +72

    If you were alive then and tuned in at 2:20 you wouldn’t even think anything was amiss. Weather report then live music, pretty standard. Then the “breaking news” from Mars. You’d think it was weird they cut in for it but ok, back to the music. The second news break and you’re thinking “ok, this is kinda interesting. Must really be something unusual.” At this point your family is gathered around and speculating. The third break comes almost immediately and now everyone is really paying attention. You don’t even care about the music, you want to know about the asteroid. After that it’s just one thing to the next and the panic sets in. The attention to detail right down to production difficulties and background noise is astounding.

  • @cerealbowl7038
    @cerealbowl7038 Před 3 lety +239

    Orsen Welles: Three years after I made the greatest radio play of all time, I made the greatest movie of all time.

    • @leemay4769
      @leemay4769 Před 2 lety +8

      Hate to tell you but Orson didn't write war of the workds it was H G Wells.....a different Wells and no relation

    • @IAMHAPPY5290
      @IAMHAPPY5290 Před 2 lety +23

      @@leemay4769 he never said orson wells made the original story, he said he made the radio play, which is true

    • @jonduke4079
      @jonduke4079 Před 2 lety

      My bro has the same profile pic

    • @jonathanbishop7342
      @jonathanbishop7342 Před rokem +2

      Citizen kane

    • @jerkchickenblog
      @jerkchickenblog Před rokem

      and stole the oscar from the guy who actually wrote it

  • @edwardwilson7858
    @edwardwilson7858 Před 3 lety +1606

    When you listen to Welles narration, it is astonishing to realize he was 23 years old!

    • @top10isee3
      @top10isee3 Před 3 lety +147

      Once upon a time, 23 year olds were grown ups. Most weren't pampered and babied all their lives.

    • @skorgezagreat2462
      @skorgezagreat2462 Před 3 lety +64

      @@top10isee3 that’s not what he meant you absolute neet! He’s talking about his voice, it’s deep and smooth, what kind of brain dead are you?

    • @skorgezagreat2462
      @skorgezagreat2462 Před 2 lety +54

      @@AS-lk8sb oh definitely

    • @user-jk7yz3xs8z
      @user-jk7yz3xs8z Před 2 lety +18

      @@skorgezagreat2462 it is what he meant. Spoiled person

    • @skorgezagreat2462
      @skorgezagreat2462 Před 2 lety +13

      @@user-jk7yz3xs8z you must be EXTREMELY old, go dig your grave my friend.

  • @moldytales
    @moldytales Před 5 lety +1620

    "It was just a prank, bro!" - Orson Welles

    • @isaacpeachey8609
      @isaacpeachey8609 Před 4 lety +15

      Martian invasion prank in the hood

    • @cf1934
      @cf1934 Před 4 lety +29

      It wasn't a prank. Some people turned it on after it had started. They thought it was really happening.

    • @sorenpx
      @sorenpx Před 4 lety +17

      That just makes it a more epic prank.

    • @ThePiquedPigeon
      @ThePiquedPigeon Před 4 lety +11

      "T'was but a jape, boss!"

    • @cadillacal915
      @cadillacal915 Před 3 lety +11

      It wasn't a "prank, bro!" It was a radio show, which was common in those days. Because television did not exist. They only had radio. People gathered around the radio to listen to the broadcasts back then. Some tuned in while the show was already playing out, which caused many to think it was a real emergency broadcast.

  • @andreavasquez4355
    @andreavasquez4355 Před 3 lety +512

    I love how authentic this broadcast feels, with the characters asking and doing things that are exactly what happens in real broadcasts, further tricking you into believing its real. Though this broadcast is probably more well known for the panic that followed because of it, it's still a very entertaining and great story.

    • @sjaool
      @sjaool Před 2 lety +13

      It's better than the Tom Cruise movie... 😉

    • @andreavasquez4355
      @andreavasquez4355 Před 2 lety +9

      @@sjaool Yeah, but things with Orson Wells are better than most things.

    • @andreavasquez4355
      @andreavasquez4355 Před 2 lety +4

      @@sjaool Yeah, but things with Orson Wells are better than most things.

    • @FORTYSGOALS
      @FORTYSGOALS Před 2 lety +4

      @@sjaool that was a good movie 🍿

    • @tomiyu2297
      @tomiyu2297 Před 2 lety +2

      @@FORTYSGOALS I agree, it was a good movie

  • @maroonpug7
    @maroonpug7 Před 3 lety +252

    This is incredible, a serious work of art. Orson Welles was before his time. The realism in this from 1938 is better than majority of the stuff we have here in 2021. Amazing

    • @mr.x2567
      @mr.x2567 Před 2 lety +4

      You should watch an EAS scenario video

    • @jaszjsz
      @jaszjsz Před 3 měsíci

      because its prob real and covered up.

  • @sharpshooter740
    @sharpshooter740 Před 10 lety +1362

    "1939, the war scare was over"
    If only Wells, if only.

    • @BenHopkins1000
      @BenHopkins1000 Před 9 lety +16

      Pretty sure he died just after WWII. Sucks to be him...

    • @Montw
      @Montw Před 9 lety +44

      He was referring to the present time when he says the "39th year of the twentieth century" which was 1938, just as 2014 is the 15th year of the twenty-first century. He was referring the belief in 1938 that "Peace in Our Time" had been achieved. Of course not everyone agreed.

    • @GideonGleeful95
      @GideonGleeful95 Před 9 lety +36

      BenHopkins1000 He died in 1985...

    • @BenHopkins1000
      @BenHopkins1000 Před 9 lety +20

      Randygandalf95 I meant HG Wells...

    • @GideonGleeful95
      @GideonGleeful95 Před 9 lety +4

      BenHopkins1000 Oh.

  • @bryanf6638
    @bryanf6638 Před 4 lety +772

    Skip to about 7:30 before you start listening and you'll get the real experience that most listeners had when they tuned in late

    • @Sprinkle_sprankle98
      @Sprinkle_sprankle98 Před 3 lety +16

      Thanks

    • @squirleyspitmonkey3926
      @squirleyspitmonkey3926 Před 3 lety +12

      Hardly anybody was listening at all though. The media greatly exaggerated what happened.
      Because they're the media. They lie. They always have lied. Since abraham lincoln shut down newspapers for speaking against him, it's been propaganda ever since.

    • @spiritualanarchist8162
      @spiritualanarchist8162 Před 3 lety +56

      Indeed. And it's easy for us to say 'i wouldn't be fooled ' , when there was no way to fact check anything they heard in 38'

    • @jasonfaber1463
      @jasonfaber1463 Před 3 lety +9

      @@squirleyspitmonkey3926 with all the libel the Fake News did to President Trump he should’ve done just as President Lincoln did to the press.

    • @jasonfaber1463
      @jasonfaber1463 Před 3 lety +20

      They attempted a nuclear bomb incident back in The mid 80s but they constantly had at the bottom of the screen THIS IS A DRAMATIZATION. But some people missed those few words and still freaked out. But not to the scale back then. But do take in account on that fake missile heading to Hawaii from North Korea about a year or so ago.

  • @user-yc8ym4er8y
    @user-yc8ym4er8y Před 8 měsíci +38

    Over 80 years and still a true masterpiece, nothing will ever come close to this and it will still be a masterpiece in the next 80 years (^+^)

    • @tambrosia9316
      @tambrosia9316 Před dnem

      When we think back look at the radio actors and shows like Gunsmoke, etc. These men and women and their team brought to life the stories without pictures, color or black and white. Just their voices, and creativity.
      These men and women have gone to their reward, but they have left one of the biggest legacies ever.
      Orson Welles pulled this off when he was just 23 yrs old, 23 yrs old!
      OW knew how to bring a great team of actors to pull this off.
      OW did scare the crap out of everyone listening.
      Thank Mr W for your talents and the best dang prank ever oh correction 2nd greatest prank on the USA
      1st greatest prank is Biden wining more votes than any other potus...

  • @Frankcastlepunisher74
    @Frankcastlepunisher74 Před 2 lety +143

    Those last lines. Orson as himself......still sends chills down my spine. Happy Halloween to all, From Castle Dracula!

  • @samanthajordan4017
    @samanthajordan4017 Před 7 lety +2373

    I love how realistic this is. I know throughout it all that it is fake, but the genuine acting throws me through a loop. The silence thats falls after a transmition is cut, it feels like that once it is cut the person actually dies. This story is PERFECT for radio. I applaud everyone who worked on this masterpeice

    • @willnichlas6317
      @willnichlas6317 Před 5 lety +18

      Samantha Jordan If you haven't seen "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" then I recommend it. This radio broadcast figures heavily in the plot of the movie.--from Hank Eason on a borrowed keyboard.

    • @dennisstaser4122
      @dennisstaser4122 Před 5 lety +4

      will nichlas ,What is the title of the classical song as the radio show opens?

    • @willnichlas6317
      @willnichlas6317 Před 5 lety +11

      @Dennis Staser It's an adaptation of Tchaichovsky's Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat major, and often called "Tonight We Love".

    • @dennisstaser4122
      @dennisstaser4122 Před 5 lety +4

      will nichlas ,Thanks for reply. I had heard that classical song many times, though could not recall the composer and popular title. Truly a beautiful melody.

    • @connorharrison1753
      @connorharrison1753 Před 5 lety

      Twat

  • @mattkillam2033
    @mattkillam2033 Před 5 lety +1229

    This is like the radio version of a found footage movie

    • @alperdue2704
      @alperdue2704 Před 4 lety +24

      I also thought of that when The Blair Witch Project was released.

    • @johnoram8619
      @johnoram8619 Před 4 lety +4

      Yes . I've just seen this version
      czcams.com/channels/5AcumTTb_oYQulrg6bQzFw.html its actually as good if not better

    • @gatheringleaves
      @gatheringleaves Před 4 lety +2

      Oh that actually makes sense!

    • @jonathanjonnylightning718
      @jonathanjonnylightning718 Před 3 lety +4

      @@alperdue2704 they kept that movie as real lost footage for 2 weeks while it was in theatres

    • @jenncollins3255
      @jenncollins3255 Před 3 lety +3

      Interesting way of putting it, nice

  • @cinerama62
    @cinerama62 Před 6 měsíci +4

    Aliens from the Planet Mars have just wiped out New Jersey. We now return you to the music of Ramon Raquello and his orchestra.

  • @robinemery
    @robinemery Před 2 lety +58

    I was born 1962, long after this production. I remember my parents talking about it. I had heard about it my whole life. At the age of 52, I finally borrowed this from the library on CD, I went home popped it in and sat down to listen. To my surprise the broadcast sounded so real, I was amazed! After listening, I understood why it caused such a response! I am now 58yrs old and about to share this with my 77 yr old mother. Very well done broadcast!!

    • @bladegriggs4090
      @bladegriggs4090 Před rokem +1

      Yeah it really does sound real so like you said, it's understandable why people started panicking

  • @M-Z-E-U-J-HB
    @M-Z-E-U-J-HB Před 7 lety +1224

    I imagine a lot of people panicked because they tuned in at the wrong time

    • @conspiracytheorista8988
      @conspiracytheorista8988 Před 5 lety +30

      ..as was the plan.

    • @musiccollector
      @musiccollector Před 5 lety +26

      And committed suicide!

    • @conspiracytheorista8988
      @conspiracytheorista8988 Před 5 lety +59

      @@musiccollector - Did you know they're trying to cover that up now? Trying to say it didn't happen that way?
      This was very valuable information to the Rockefellers. The power that media could have over the actions of the populace was duly noted...
      Today, the TV tells people what to do, how to feel, and 99% of the public falls right in line.
      Pretty scary, actually...

    • @TheGreenTaco999
      @TheGreenTaco999 Před 5 lety +64

      @paul w "If you listen to the broadcast from the beginning" do you know how radios work? and that there was a time that the radio was all anyone had? you seem very content to call people you disagree with "dumb fucks" and anyone who's evidence to your opponents argument an "uneducated American", I'll bet you're the only one you've never insulted lol

    • @arturocordova2354
      @arturocordova2354 Před 5 lety +5

      Ya stop trying to get a attention loser you know that's why they panicked

  • @hopelessromantic8682
    @hopelessromantic8682 Před 3 lety +482

    Reporter: *10:00** minutes in and the world is ending*
    Also: “Here’s some dance music.”

    • @marksinclair5927
      @marksinclair5927 Před 3 lety +9

      Lmfao

    • @pinkbeatle2012
      @pinkbeatle2012 Před 2 lety +3

      the dance music is to make is feel better

    • @rustykoenig3566
      @rustykoenig3566 Před rokem +5

      The chamber orchestra group abord the Titanic continued to perform for a long while as the panic spread through the ship b4 it sank.

  • @Bostonterrierslol
    @Bostonterrierslol Před 2 lety +36

    I can see how so many people thought the world was coming to an end. This should’ve been a movie at the time, but a radio broadcast where we only have audio to go by makes it all the more effective

    • @WalkerRileyMC
      @WalkerRileyMC Před 9 měsíci +1

      At the time radio was far wider reaching.
      But anyways, the actual panic was exaggerated by newspapers of the time, seeking to discredit radio as a source of news and information.

  • @revelationakagoldeneagle8045
    @revelationakagoldeneagle8045 Před 7 měsíci +8

    I love these old radio broadcasts. Growing up on my grandparents farm, the radio was all the entertainment we had , that, and our imagination.

  • @zadotterazo690
    @zadotterazo690 Před 4 lety +1216

    The acting in this is greater than anything today. The little cutoffs, distracting noises in the background, and the lack of information is probably why it made it seem so real.

    • @beatlejim64
      @beatlejim64 Před 3 lety +40

      It's so good because the people had talent...something that's missing today!!!

    • @johnoconnor1927
      @johnoconnor1927 Před 3 lety +8

      Ya I’d go with that

    • @centralcontrol6359
      @centralcontrol6359 Před 3 lety +6

      Shut up

    • @valeriataylor8337
      @valeriataylor8337 Před 3 lety +33

      they were actors that worked on radio theater. so they had the talent to make the scene real only by their voices. It is great

    • @Dravianpn02
      @Dravianpn02 Před 3 lety +8

      Orson welles created amazing things.

  • @jackodenthal2392
    @jackodenthal2392 Před 5 lety +1605

    Imagine listening to this back then and missing the intro. It would be terrifying!
    Edit: Wow, how'd I get so many likes!?

    • @kathylovespogo
      @kathylovespogo Před 4 lety +100

      I was in Houston ,Texas in the 70's and the radio station played it I thought it was real. Scared me to death. I called people to turn on the radio we are being invaded. LOL I am so embarrassed about it now.

    • @philiperdman5406
      @philiperdman5406 Před 4 lety +51

      It’s already happening now. The Coronavirus is the upgraded version of this prank.

    • @freshlybakedsadness9251
      @freshlybakedsadness9251 Před 4 lety +24

      It was. Many people were very scared, then *VERY* mad

    • @henryfranqui7236
      @henryfranqui7236 Před 4 lety +15

      ....mannnny people did kill them self....

    • @willtheprodigy3819
      @willtheprodigy3819 Před 3 lety +12

      The idea that thousands panicked because of this is a myth spun by journalists to discredit news broadcasting, a growing industry hurting newspaper profits.

  • @paulgolden8811
    @paulgolden8811 Před 2 lety +45

    Been listening to this every year since 2001, when my wife at the time realized there were no kids to trick or treat, and was a sad ghost on the porch.
    Now I listen on the 30th, but sometimes I listen again on the 31st.
    What an amazing event

    • @thewkovacs316
      @thewkovacs316 Před 2 lety +4

      ive been listening to this broadcast since 1968...it's a halloween eve tradition

  • @ijb7511
    @ijb7511 Před 2 lety +87

    Orson was a production genius. The pacing, the gravitas; it's brilliant.

  • @lisaheisey6168
    @lisaheisey6168 Před 4 lety +737

    My dad was 6 years old and living in Philadelphia, when he and my grandparents listened to this, on the radio. My dad said, that he remembered how the neighbors were all coming out of their houses, and looking up at the sky, to see if it was all really happening.
    P.S. It's kind of ironic, that I came upon this video, on October 8th, and it was something my dad had told me about. Today just happens to be the 10th anniversary of the day my dad died.

  • @Charliecomet82
    @Charliecomet82 Před 7 lety +622

    My grandmother always hated Orson Welles for scaring the bejeezus out her with this broadcast.

    • @Natalia-jy8nm
      @Natalia-jy8nm Před 7 lety +3

      Charliecomet82 loll

    • @royborrill2711
      @royborrill2711 Před 4 lety +19

      Your grandmother must have been a half-witted moron to fall for it then.

    • @frank_does_sing
      @frank_does_sing Před 4 lety +5

      @tan j maz u deaf

    • @alicehudson8079
      @alicehudson8079 Před 4 lety +2

      @tan j maz Thank you for that. I've watched a bit of it, and will watch it all, only wanted to say thanks. Interesting that people were so outraged at the studio and Wells for making something that could frighten people.

    • @alperdue2704
      @alperdue2704 Před 4 lety +45

      @@royborrill2711 You should consider the circumstances. Radio was the only broadcast media. News was considered reliable. They had announced a different play in this timeslot. The country ( and the world) were emerging from the Great Depression and it was becoming evident that WWII was coming. If someone tuned in already in progress, it's easy to see why they might be frightened for a bit.

  • @mikepointer5067
    @mikepointer5067 Před 2 lety +36

    That music at 39:14 is so hauntingly brilliant. Truly a special kind of 20th century desolation

  • @danawalsh247
    @danawalsh247 Před měsícem +3

    My grandmother told us about the night she listened to this broadcast. My mother was 10 months old at the time. My grandmother was very shaken up, her heart in her throat hoping this invasion wasn't true. She sat there in her living room, protecting her children. It wasn't until later that she heard the end of the broadcast that it all was a Halloween prank from Orson Welles. I couldn't imagine the fear she must of felt😢

  • @tararedstar9408
    @tararedstar9408 Před 6 lety +202

    I love at the end where he says, "If something rings your doorbell and nobody's there, it's not Martians. It's Halloween." Sassy Orson XD

    • @asafisher5202
      @asafisher5202 Před 6 lety +4

      Tara Redstar from the man who would give us Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil and F for Fake

  • @Mikeanglo
    @Mikeanglo Před 9 lety +812

    Troll Level legendary

    • @Dill_Pickle1997
      @Dill_Pickle1997 Před 9 lety +3

      Damn straight bro! High five!

    • @versaillestheband5178
      @versaillestheband5178 Před 8 lety +1

      WHA-PISH

    • @TheHaloGamer
      @TheHaloGamer Před 8 lety +7

      Love how humanity managed to defeat the martians in less than an hour of their arrival. Of that's not realistic, I don't know what it.

    • @Mikeanglo
      @Mikeanglo Před 8 lety +19

      SH4D0WXR33CONt1 Humanity didn't do shit. The Martians all got flu and fucked off forever. All humans had to do was live in disease and squalor.
      Which makes me wonder why the Martians wanted to come here in the first place.

    • @yolosock4459
      @yolosock4459 Před 8 lety +5

      Mike Zilla guess they didn't study earth before they came

  • @Ccc-to1wd
    @Ccc-to1wd Před 3 lety +45

    My mother told me about this. She was born in 1932, she was only 6 years old when hearing this on the radio. She said it didn't scare her. She knew Orson Welles' voice from other radio programs she listened to. Interesting. Lol

    • @davidmende4438
      @davidmende4438 Před rokem +2

      Now we hear this type of thing on the internet everyday. No biggee.

    • @Ccc-to1wd
      @Ccc-to1wd Před rokem

      @@davidmende4438 it's fake anyway

    • @jordanwardle11
      @jordanwardle11 Před 6 měsíci +1

      It sounds like that kids of that era were less scared than the adults

  • @sillerbarly4927
    @sillerbarly4927 Před 5 měsíci +2

    Man this was so ahead of its time

  • @davidbruce5524
    @davidbruce5524 Před 4 lety +244

    first thing my Grandpa did was switch the radio station. This was not being covered on any other station and he told my mom (8 y.o.) not to worry, it was all a joke. I wonder why so any people didn't just change the station and check?

    • @amylouise3242
      @amylouise3242 Před 4 lety +39

      david Bruce for the same reason there are warning labels on cleaning supplies 😂

    • @ksol1460tv
      @ksol1460tv Před 4 lety +7

      Many people did.

    • @louisedwards4023
      @louisedwards4023 Před 4 lety +8

      The Dimacrats did not😃

    • @louisedwards4023
      @louisedwards4023 Před 4 lety +3

      @mister kluge that's MR FLAMING ASSHOLE TO YOU. mister Kurd🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐔🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘

    • @louisedwards4023
      @louisedwards4023 Před 4 lety +6

      @mister kluge TRUMP 2020🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘wake up BOY !

  • @jhj22
    @jhj22 Před 10 lety +611

    The hour, when the whole America got trolled by one man. Big Respect for him.

    • @jerryonealonou812
      @jerryonealonou812 Před 6 lety +8

      That's what I thought too. Then I wiki-ed it and discovered the deception was deliberate. However, I'm sure no one could have known the intensity or magnitude that would follow. It's unfortunate, if one can just Imagine. I've heard people killed their families, kids, pets, and all, to spare them the imagined atrocities of being captured by "The Martians". So, can you imagine, after having just shot your family, hearing the announcement of this just being a RADIO SHOW???? Don't know about you, but I would probably feel like shooting the fkn radio show announcer, and anyone else responsible for failing to announce (as a reminder & to benefit those just tuning in) BEFORE, DURING, & AFTER, that...."THIS IS JUST A SHOW". I could ramble on, by saying "yes, I realize that action might ruin the continuity of the program, bla bla bla Yea, I get it! " Still, such a small price to pay, now realizing, the "Hind-sight, Being 20/20 Theorem", wouldn't ya say? Pardon me while I fart again....I'm back now....later on jerry

    • @aarontheperson6867
      @aarontheperson6867 Před 6 lety +3

      people were worried as all hell of course they'd believe it. and not everyone did believe it, so it wasn't all of america

    • @MrWibbley
      @MrWibbley Před 5 lety +5

      @@jerryonealonou812 Nothing happened. The panic story was a myth

    • @Supernormalbob
      @Supernormalbob Před 5 lety

      Never happened

    • @Frankincensedjb123
      @Frankincensedjb123 Před 4 lety +8

      @@MrWibbley nope, there's proof that it happened. You're too scared to accept it

  • @the1darknight
    @the1darknight Před rokem +18

    "If you doorbell rings and nobody's there, That was no martian! It's Halloween!"
    One of the greatest lines on the radio broadcast that frightened a nation. lol

  • @SheilaLS
    @SheilaLS Před rokem +31

    When I was little kid always going to the local library with my mom and younger brother I was thrilled when I was finally deemed responsible enough for the librarian to allow me to check out this LP. It enthralled me and I listened a number of times. Now at age 60 I realize the utter brilliance of normalizing the increasingly alarming news reports by continuing to play the scheduled dance music. I imagine in depression era 1938 with only radio and newspapers to rely upon, world tensions were on everyone's minds then suddenly martians are landing. It must have been shocking for those who missed the radio program disclaimer. The fear of the unknown is a most powerful thing.

  • @fry_3313
    @fry_3313 Před 4 lety +415

    Orson Welles, an absolute madlad.

    • @MegaJustGeorge
      @MegaJustGeorge Před 4 lety +26

      My friend, it was this broadcast that earned Orson Welles the sobriquet, "The Man Who Scared America To Death". Well earned, I say. Thank you, Mr. George Orson Welles.

    • @GTA5Player1
      @GTA5Player1 Před rokem +3

      Tbh, it's not his fault people got it wrong

    • @raymondhopwood9393
      @raymondhopwood9393 Před rokem +1

      @@GTA5Player1
      All they had to do was turn the dial. After all, there were three other networks. They could have been convinced after listening to Mutual, NBC Red, and NBC Blue, that what was going on on CBS was just a show.

  • @PCCphoenix
    @PCCphoenix Před 5 lety +240

    55:35--"This is Orson Welles, ladies and gentlemen, out of character, to assure you that 'The War of the Worlds' has no further significance than as the holiday offering it was intended to be: the Mercury Theater's own radio version of dressing up in a sheet and jumping out of a bush and saying 'Boo!' "

    • @MrMech_
      @MrMech_ Před 3 lety +10

      so stop acting like kids now

  • @lw3646
    @lw3646 Před 2 lety +56

    This is great, I love the realism, the way the broadcasters make mistakes when interviewing, how interviews are interupted, the cuts away to musical parts as they switch between locations, the initial denial of intelligent life on Mars.

  • @michaelgalea5148
    @michaelgalea5148 Před 6 měsíci +8

    Love this episode. Orson Wells was a genius.

  • @DARKHUNTER130
    @DARKHUNTER130 Před 8 lety +812

    I think the most disturbing thing about this is that when someone dies there isn't a loud scream, or explosion or burning. It's just... silence.

    • @TheMercyah
      @TheMercyah Před 8 lety +8

      damn

    • @MaskedMan66
      @MaskedMan66 Před 8 lety +34

      +Stax Maye Well, except for that first attack with the heat ray.

    • @firefliesecho186
      @firefliesecho186 Před 7 lety +29

      That's what modern day movies miss

    • @nathansleight412
      @nathansleight412 Před 7 lety +1

      Stax Maye ❤️

    • @glencadieux886
      @glencadieux886 Před 6 lety +4

      UR watching too many movies - In IRL, When some ody gets shot, they DON'T SCREAM FIRST ???

  • @valles_marineris8955
    @valles_marineris8955 Před 4 lety +481

    Listening to it right now, October 30, 2019. Legendary
    Edit:
    I came back a year later. October 30, 2020. A lot has change.. wish you all the best

  • @Damaged262
    @Damaged262 Před 8 měsíci +9

    As a child, this was recreated every Halloween on WKBW with the actual news people of Channel 7 on a local channel, I’m assuming it was their affiliate, but who cares. It made my year, every year. Even after I’d reached puberty and girls meant more to me than nutrition, I never missed the replayed version of this. Hell, every time we go camping, I bring this cd and it never fails that there’s 30 people around our fire pit every time. Just good, GOOD sh*t!

  • @GICrazyJoe
    @GICrazyJoe Před 6 měsíci +6

    I Must Admit That The Voices In This Broadcast Were Amazing, It Wasn't Just Welles They All Did A Great Job ,No Wonder People SOME PEOPLE Got Tricked And Fooled Into Thinking It Was Real!!!

  • @brycevo
    @brycevo Před 5 lety +545

    This is an amazing radio drama. It's so entertaining, even all these years later

    • @turkeygod6665
      @turkeygod6665 Před 4 lety +3

      Damn, you all over the place aren't ya? Kinda impressed.

    • @mclovin9578
      @mclovin9578 Před 4 lety +1

      @@turkeygod6665.....I don't get it? 🤷‍♂️🤨✌

    • @turkeygod6665
      @turkeygod6665 Před 4 lety +7

      @@mclovin9578 Bryce here, always see this lad everywhere I go, guess we enjoy similar videos. Kinda like a smaller Justin Y, at least for me.

    • @mclovin9578
      @mclovin9578 Před 4 lety +7

      Turkey God ....That’s funny. I’ll keep my eyes open for you guys. I’ve run outta stuff to watch so I’m going old school and checking out old radio dramas. 👍

    • @turkeygod6665
      @turkeygod6665 Před 4 lety +4

      @@mclovin9578 Heh, Well I'll keep my eyes peeled for you as well. See ya around!

  • @carolsceniak9673
    @carolsceniak9673 Před 8 lety +493

    What a great voice Orson Wells had.

  • @carissakirksey6606
    @carissakirksey6606 Před 6 měsíci +3

    Back again! Happy 85th anniversary!

  • @Kettie5
    @Kettie5 Před 2 lety +41

    People don’t understand: This wasn’t supposed to be a prank. It was a story/reenactment of the novel. However, they only stated a couple of times that it was fiction (at the beginning and end) and so people either tuned in at the wrong time, or simply didn’t hear it. To be fair, stories are meant to be enticing and engaging, and are meant to feel real, so you can’t constantly interrupt it to remind that it’s fictional. There were a few hints that it was all a play (The transatlantic accent that almost all radio shows used, and a few instances of strange logic) but the mass hysteria was understandable, since science was far less advanced, religion was much more practiced, and there were no other media sources to check the authenticity.

    • @Patryc
      @Patryc Před 9 měsíci

      i briefly researched this and the mass hysteria is not supported at all. a fun notion but an urban legend nonetheless

    • @darnstewart
      @darnstewart Před 9 měsíci +5

      Were you not here for the biggest mass hysteria in 2020? Led by science with all mainstream media the most hysterical of all.

    • @saucevc8353
      @saucevc8353 Před 9 měsíci

      @@darnstewart The same methods that we've been using to contain diseases for centuries are now "mass hysteria"? Yes, there certainly was Covid hysteria, but it wasn't led by the scientists or the mainstream media: I don't remember the CDC telling all those panicked shoppers that the cure for covid was toilet paper.

    • @WalkerRileyMC
      @WalkerRileyMC Před 9 měsíci

      @@darnstewart I wonder who was right....thousands of scientists, researchers, doctors, almost every other country on Earth....or one sore loser who brainwashed an entire group of entitled self-important children.
      Hard choice. I might have to think on it a bit.

    • @papawx3
      @papawx3 Před 9 měsíci

      @@darnstewart They ran a psy-op in 1938, and they ran another in 2020.

  • @cyrusjohnson6050
    @cyrusjohnson6050 Před 5 lety +226

    The fact that he’s playing Chopin in between the broadcasts just makes this so much better

    • @brian30wicca
      @brian30wicca Před 4 lety +1

      Sounds like clock tower 3 song lol

    • @AreGeeBee
      @AreGeeBee Před rokem +1

      @@brian30wicca Alyssa, where are you...

  • @Get_rid_of_u_248
    @Get_rid_of_u_248 Před 3 lety +329

    As a young 25yr old, I love coming to the comment section and reading comments by the older generation that recall this while it was broadcasted on radio. I'd love to learn more how their lives and American society was during that era.

    • @Become_A_Paid_Electronics_Tech
      @Become_A_Paid_Electronics_Tech Před 3 lety +17

      i'm 60. do listen please, this 1938 broadcast, the timing of the silence when the man with the microphone died, Orson was timing and directing all of the cuts and starts. Timing still happens but on a grand scale between FOX - CNN - NBC - ABC - CBS and so on.

    • @robertfolkner9253
      @robertfolkner9253 Před 2 lety +13

      Back then, the American public was worried about events in Europe- there was a definite “war nervousness” thanks to the hostility and cruelty of Nazi Germany and the USSR. In keeping with this program, the economy in the USA was better and “More men were back at work.”

    • @fedupwithfedforever4151
      @fedupwithfedforever4151 Před 2 lety +9

      You're a fine young man Jose ....Keep LISTENING, WATCHING and especially READING HISTORY !...It will serve you well....Too many of our so called "LEADERS " DON'T !

    • @billtomson5791
      @billtomson5791 Před 2 lety +8

      I can only tell you that my now-deceased mother told me she heard this broadcast in Detroit that night and she knew it was a radio play. Our local public radio station used to play this every Halloween years ago, but no longer do.

    • @tomcrews1
      @tomcrews1 Před rokem +3

      I’m 39 and I find it fascinating 🧐

  • @djo5773
    @djo5773 Před 6 měsíci +6

    Listening on Halloween night, 2023. Still amazing.

  • @allthenamesiwantedweretaken

    What a revolutionary radio broadcast for immersive horror..

  • @TopDog69
    @TopDog69 Před 9 lety +374

    Orson Welles has THE best voice.

    • @klyzn
      @klyzn Před 8 lety +9

      +TopDog69 *Had
      since he is RIP.

    • @andresacosta4832
      @andresacosta4832 Před 8 lety +3

      +klyzn His last role was Unicron in the Transformers movie.

    • @loxthehood
      @loxthehood Před 7 lety +5

      Burton was THE MAN!! OW sounds like beginner

    • @UltimateThanos
      @UltimateThanos Před 6 lety

      TopDog69 "YES! Always!"

    • @RA-dm1yn
      @RA-dm1yn Před 5 lety

      TopDog69 I agree.

  • @macgruber8876
    @macgruber8876 Před 4 lety +155

    "war of the worlds" is the greatest radio broadcast in the history of the universe.

    • @yukadoo
      @yukadoo Před 3 lety +7

      At least.... in the history of this Solar System.

    • @JLKDOOM
      @JLKDOOM Před 3 lety +3

      Now how could you possibly know that? Lol

    • @warriorchild
      @warriorchild Před 3 lety +2

      Yet

    • @chinookvalley
      @chinookvalley Před 3 lety +1

      And the Martians are still laughing.

    • @nirv
      @nirv Před 3 lety

      Well, Phil Hendrie is better, but this was pretty good.

  • @rubenskiii
    @rubenskiii Před 10 hodinami

    The end of the radio play is so damn poetic and well written, thoroughly impressed.

  • @pablobarosa27
    @pablobarosa27 Před rokem +12

    Orson Welles was a national treasure and an absolute master of media, particularly the spoken word. He spoke with an eloquence and integrity we lack in modern English. Many of his broadcasts are available as podcasts. Treat yourself to several. I recommend his broadcast of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It’s become a yearly tradition for my wife and I.
    Thank you, Orson.

  • @clairewyndham1971
    @clairewyndham1971 Před 8 lety +578

    This is the recording that hooked me into discovering old time radio programs. I am addicted to them. There is very little on TV today that can frighten me like some of those programs can. No matter how often I listen to this one, I can still find an inflection, nuance or a phrase that still excites. Orson Wells rocked this in a way no one else could have.

    • @kingofrapture
      @kingofrapture Před 8 lety +14

      Couldn't have said it better myself, I love the old radio programs myself. They're a lot more entertaining to me. :)

    • @kingofrapture
      @kingofrapture Před 8 lety +5

      *****
      Listen to the 1930s Dick Tracey radio programs, they're great. Found them on Spotify.

    • @jonahdrake5885
      @jonahdrake5885 Před 7 lety +5

      +poorestrichman Anything with Orson Welles as The Shadow is superlative, especially "The Silent Avenger."

    • @dennispetroni1021
      @dennispetroni1021 Před 7 lety +6

      Go to your local library. They usually have a collection of old radio programs. The detective broadcasts are, IMO, they best.

    • @Joe_Panes
      @Joe_Panes Před 7 lety +6

      If you're looking for old time radio programs I'd suggest X-1 which is a collection of stories with a wide variety of writers.

  • @danmax67
    @danmax67 Před 3 lety +167

    Listening to this in 2020 just to make sure it's not actually occurring

    • @retnavybrat
      @retnavybrat Před 3 lety +6

      With everything else that's happened this year, I don't think I would've been too surprised if Martians had landed on Halloween.

    • @shayZero
      @shayZero Před 3 lety +8

      Listening in 2021 when it actually IS occurring

    • @MD_the_MC
      @MD_the_MC Před 3 lety

      @@shayZero yeah I'm freaking out a little

    • @shayZero
      @shayZero Před 2 lety

      @@MD_the_MC they could have blown us all up years ago and didn't, so I guess thats encouraging

  • @johnpulaski6725
    @johnpulaski6725 Před 11 měsíci +11

    One of the greatest stories of all time! 👍🏻🇺🇸👽

  • @angelcat2865
    @angelcat2865 Před rokem +11

    What I love about this is that it could fit right in with the Twilight Zone

  • @jmcquown
    @jmcquown Před 9 lety +171

    I took radio broadcasting classes when I was in high school in the 1970's. Of course I'd already heard of Welles 'War of the Worlds'. Our instructor turned off the lights, had us lay our heads down on our desks and close our eyes. He told us to just listen, to simply IMAGINE radio is the only communication a small town could get...
    Happy Halloween! Kudos to Orson Welles for scaring half of America in 1938 telling this HG Wells story.

  • @geneva760
    @geneva760 Před 5 lety +388

    About 25 years ago this was played on one of the radio stations when I was living with my family in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. I had an old valve radio and it was early evening and I sat with my wife and four kids listening to this - it was fantastic fun and the old radio and overcast late evening sky provided a perfect backdrop.

    • @alperdue2704
      @alperdue2704 Před 4 lety +19

      I bet that was fantastic. I remember listening to Mystery Theater radio plays when I was a kid. During the summer, a bunch of us boys would sleep in a tent in the backyard. Creepy fun!

    • @_pricey_7122
      @_pricey_7122 Před 4 lety +6

      I’m just honored that I have found a fellow Bendigonian!

    • @davidstover5651
      @davidstover5651 Před 3 lety +3

      My dad was listening to this when he was 3 yrs old in 1938, what a prank.

    • @patrickgriffiths8238
      @patrickgriffiths8238 Před 3 lety +2

      I also live in Bendigo, and had the album played to use by Grade 6 teacher at Gravel Hill Primary School. Just now introducing it to my son :)

    • @johnoconnor1927
      @johnoconnor1927 Před 3 lety +1

      Have you still got radio ... of corse you say all the best digger

  • @kassyyar97
    @kassyyar97 Před rokem +20

    Not gonna lie, I got goosebumps every once in a while, this was so good!
    100% sure I would’ve fallen for this broadcast back then.

  • @abmmattmaine
    @abmmattmaine Před 7 měsíci +2

    Technology ruins Imagination…. This is amazing …

  • @sharonballantyne1735
    @sharonballantyne1735 Před 4 lety +257

    I love Orson Wells...He is probably one of the finest actors of his time And Had such a commanding voice!

    • @skorgezagreat2462
      @skorgezagreat2462 Před 3 lety +7

      Be careful-there’s a ton of conspiracy theorists here...and they fucking hate opinions

    • @megatron8449
      @megatron8449 Před rokem +1

      @@skorgezagreat2462 buddy, this caused a conspiracy theory when it came out.

    • @ericmatthews2313
      @ericmatthews2313 Před rokem

      *Welles

  • @Sephirothskr
    @Sephirothskr Před 5 lety +225

    "we continue now with our piano interlude!~"

    • @TheKonga88
      @TheKonga88 Před 4 lety +3

      We continue now with some advertisements about moon pies and Bazooka Joe bubble gum.. 🏃🏃🏃🏃🌙🌜🌛🚀🚀🌕🌕🌕🌕🎑🎑🛀😘😘🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍌

    • @glennso47
      @glennso47 Před 3 lety +2

      Norma Bates The Hotel Sheets. There’s music, gaiety and laughter in the Hotel Sheets every morning.

    • @marishort6871
      @marishort6871 Před 3 lety

      The ultimate “Oh no! Anyways.”

    • @jonduke4079
      @jonduke4079 Před 2 lety

      Haah

  • @rubenskiii
    @rubenskiii Před 11 hodinami

    Even now living in 2024 and fully knowing it is a radio play it feels surprisingly real.

  • @austinchaseofficial
    @austinchaseofficial Před 2 lety +11

    Orson Welles was incredible.

  • @jcee6886
    @jcee6886 Před 4 lety +100

    Holy shit. I'm not sticking around. I knew this day would come. Head for the hills people!

    • @Brianna-gr2he
      @Brianna-gr2he Před 2 lety

      Hey maybe you should keep your language down people are watching this for school

  • @Legba85
    @Legba85 Před 8 lety +327

    It's going to take an act of God for anyone to mimic this and get an exact outcome that happened in 1938.

    • @raincore80
      @raincore80 Před 7 lety +15

      It's already happening friend.

    • @koil3s
      @koil3s Před 7 lety +1

      Reptilians, am I right?

    • @scaper8
      @scaper8 Před 7 lety +11

      It has happened again. www.radiolab.org/story/91622-war-of-the-worlds See, especially, act II "Could It Happen Again? (And Again?)". Really, listen to the whole thing though. It's well worth it.

    • @bryanneideffer3969
      @bryanneideffer3969 Před 7 lety +1

      Rudy Juarez what you speak of is coming!

    • @JazzKeyboardist1
      @JazzKeyboardist1 Před 7 lety +4

      Funny that kids in Portland and other places mimicked this when Trump was elected and got the exact outcome... They think Trump is an alien

  • @mythicalreid998
    @mythicalreid998 Před rokem +14

    Given the state of the world at the time of broadcast, I can understand why people were terrified. But it is incredible to listen to

  • @Artaxian_Debacle
    @Artaxian_Debacle Před 2 lety +7

    The screams starting at 17:39 are utterly terrifying

  • @finlaybishop5974
    @finlaybishop5974 Před 4 lety +210

    I just know that if i was around when this was originally being broadcasted, I’d be completely swept up in the hysteria. It makes me nostalgic for a time i never experienced.

    • @louisedwards4023
      @louisedwards4023 Před 4 lety +1

      When time was time and that's all folks😄

    • @TheKonga88
      @TheKonga88 Před 4 lety +2

      You would have been taken to Arizona by the giant ants and forced to mate with the queen 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜👸👑🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃

    • @sonyapeach
      @sonyapeach Před 4 lety +2

      Like everyone is today.

    • @finlaybishop5974
      @finlaybishop5974 Před 4 lety

      sonyapeach yes ma’am

    • @peepop6258
      @peepop6258 Před 3 lety +1

      Funny number of likes lol xD

  • @jayrome6397
    @jayrome6397 Před 4 lety +109

    Thank god somebody recorded this

  • @robertlinva9503
    @robertlinva9503 Před 7 měsíci +2

    My father listened tobthis as a boy. He knew from the beginning it was a play. Despite later claims that there was mass panic, he didnt recall anyone panicking. People he spoke to at the time all new it wasnt real. That, however, didnt change his sense of fun amd enjoyment at the production. He said the 1975 movie, The Night That Panicked America wasnt much of a faithful reproduction with regard to the panic. Still, it made him laugh at the portrayal of panic and confusion the film showed.

  • @gabrielshear4298
    @gabrielshear4298 Před 3 lety +5

    As a kid I used to listen to these old mysteries on my
    radio at night going to sleep ..
    What was even better was that I listened to them on an old
    Hallicrafters radio I had set up next to my bed ..
    I’d listen to shortwave stations from around the world and
    then switch over to the radio station
    that carried these old radio shows to go to sleep by ..
    At the time I listened to a radio station out of L.A. that broadcast them ..
    I’m looking to buy that same model radio once again ..
    Great memories ..
    I love those old tube radios ..

  • @cinnamanstera6388
    @cinnamanstera6388 Před 7 lety +201

    I love Welles final assurance that the program is fake
    "Its not a martian, its haloween."

    • @markw3598
      @markw3598 Před 4 lety +1

      It isn't "haloween" either, ........ It IS Halloween!!!!!

  • @TheEpic22
    @TheEpic22 Před 7 lety +30

    This is a good example of why it's important to always tune in at the beginning. Miss one minute and suddenly the world is ending

  • @SporianSummit
    @SporianSummit Před 2 lety +1

    i have no idea why i was recommended it in like 2013-2014, but i can see why now.

  • @chrismoody1342
    @chrismoody1342 Před 11 měsíci +4

    This broadcast absolutely made my paternal grandmother freak out so bad. She had no idea it was a radio show and not real news.

  • @jessiecator1740
    @jessiecator1740 Před 4 lety +754

    Anyone else of the Corona corralled listening because we have literally nothing else to do?

  • @fflambeauutube
    @fflambeauutube Před 8 lety +61

    "Interrupting" the music of Ramond Raquel playing in the Meridian Room in Downtown New York was genius. This is one of the reasons people thought this was real: it was made to sound it.

  • @Not_Officially_Boyfriend
    @Not_Officially_Boyfriend Před 2 měsíci +1

    Man what a classic way to cause a mass panic to the people of NYC. I love this radio broadcast.

  • @anitaross5478
    @anitaross5478 Před 4 lety +41

    My mom told me about this when I was a kid; she heard the original broadcast, but she wasn’t fooled...don’t believe everything you hear on the radio. RADIO...the internet of her day! RIP Mom, your generation WAS indeed the greatest!

  • @MentalParadox
    @MentalParadox Před 7 lety +61

    I love how he gives you a bit of innocuous news, the jets of gas on Mars, and then goes back to music - to let the audience stew on it for a bit.

    • @thomaspick4123
      @thomaspick4123 Před 5 lety +1

      Tim Suetens Those jets of gas are not from Mars. It’s from my butt. I ate some terrible spoiled food from a restaurant in New Jersey. As I wet fart my pants, I am concerned for the safety and health of the people who sniff my bowels excretion. I am getting dehydrated. I will take medicine and try to combat this foul ill disease. Wish me luck.

    • @hwm1398
      @hwm1398 Před 5 lety +2

      Uhhhh thank you for letting us know that.... thomas??

    • @danielrinsemandawson500
      @danielrinsemandawson500 Před 4 lety

      How far away is mars 4 billion miles away oh that's a a long way haha

  • @hollybishop484
    @hollybishop484 Před 2 lety +6

    I learned about this when I was in my teens so I bought this on cassette and brought it camping with me. One rainy day when everyone went to town I decided to listen to it in my tent. Alone. Bad idea... Lol In that type of environment you can understand why everyone panicked!

  • @jordanwardle11
    @jordanwardle11 Před 6 měsíci +2

    Listening to it for the first time on its 85th anniversary

  • @bobhingst65
    @bobhingst65 Před 3 lety +72

    I had talked to my mom about this and the original broadcast. Even in a small town in northern KS, they were scared to death. Men jumping in trucks forming militias to protect their town. The mothers and children gathered food and water and headed to the tornado storm shelters. It was a very real deal to them.