Studio One, a long running anthology series on CBS television, broadcast The Night America Trembled on September 9th, 1957. It was a one hour television recreation of the supposed effect of Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of The War Of The Worlds on October 30th, 1938.
Conspicuous by it’s absence is the man himself. The actor portraying Orson Welles is described simply as the “host of the Mercury Theatre”. The cast includes a number famous actors in small roles, including James Coburn as a father who has his nioght out rudely interrupted by a hysterical teenage girl. Looking around the web I note that The Night America Trembled has garnered nothing but tremendously positive reviews. Thankfully you can decide that for yourself as the entire play PUBLIC DOMAIN and is available via Archive.org.
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My favourite part of it was all the Westinghouse commercials. Household appliances seem to have stopped evolving. My modern toaster looks like the Westinghouse model and cost about the same too.
Watch right to the end to see the intriguing descriptions for the next two shows (one a murder mystery based on a short story by John D. MacDonald and another a drama set on an atomic submarine).
I should also mention that there is second TV adaptation of the same story, entitled The Night That Panicked America, broadcast in colour on October 31, 1975. It has never been officially released but is available via torrent.
Posted by Jesse Willis