It's October 30th, đ¸ War of the Worlds Day! It was on this evening in 1938 that radio listeners across the United States heard a startling report of mysterious Martian creatures and their terrifying war machines advancing toward New York City. But the hair-raising broadcast was not a real news bulletin â it was Orson Welles' sensational, realistic dramatization of the H.G. Wells 1898 classic science-fiction novel, "The War of the Worlds." In the 21st century, life would imitate art when the diabolical Putin creature attacked Ukraine with his war machines.
âThe War of the Worldsâ wasn't the world's first fake-news radio dramatization, but it was certainly the most successful. Everybody involved with the broadcast's development and production, Welles included, thought the presentation was going to be too silly for people to take seriously. Boy, were they wrong â a great many did!
The Federal Communications Commission responded to the deluge of complaints that poured in, but ruled that no law had been broken. Radio networks did, however, agree to be more cautious in their programming in the future. In the aftermath of the broadcast's notoriety, Welles landed in Hollywood. In 1941, he directed, wrote, produced, and starred in one of the greatest American films ever made, "Citizen Kane." âŽď¸ Peace⌠Jamiese of Pixoplanet
