Interesting cause of panic!

Woooooooooooooooooooooo!

Just laid out the immense sum of £2.99 for a CD........

"The War of the Worlds" (the H G Wells tale), as broadcast by CBS on 30 October 1938, starring, and directed by, Orson Welles.

Actually, I can't quite make out why it caused the panic it did - huge chunks of the US public fled their homes, even blocking Interstate highways - the "news reports" which pepper it seem far too relaxed. I really doubt that the immense spoof would have had the same effect on this side of the Pond, but it's an interesting bit of "history" and well worth the small price (at Play.com)

Snorri

We bought a copy too!! My kids thought it sooo funny (they are all teenage girls) they have been brought up with the Jeff Wayne version, not realising there was a book first LOL

Lynn

Ah but we must remember this was 1938 and maybe people took things far more literally then.

I haven't heard the original one but we've had the Jeff Wayne version for many years, the first one was a double LP!! Now we have the cd and its on my ipod too.I love the music and Richard Burton as narrator.

I think the pannic was caused cos there was a show on the other station that ran late so people missed the start of war of the worlds and then just came in at a newsflash

Love the Jeff Wayne one - but the movies suck! the Tom Cruse one I was yelling at the telly - Wrong! then again there are v few films I like after I have read the book

Likewise, with the exception of "Lord of the Rings", the film of which is a magnificent acievement for all involved! The "problem" is that when you read a book, your imagination provides a mental picture of the character/place/action, and a film is very unlikely to match it. Part of the brilliance of "LOTR" is the way the cast gets close to everyone's mental picture!

Snorri

I saw a film about it on TV some years ago. As has been said, it wasn`t clear at the start that it was a play, and people suddenly realised that a News Announcer had just warned them of a national emergency, and panicked. It nearly finished Wells` career.
The same thing happened not so long ago with a TV programme for Halloween called Ghostwatch. I admit we did sit watching it for a while wondering if it was real or not, because it came over as a fun `Spooky` live broadcast for Halloween. There were loads of complaints afterwards.