Orson Welles "First Person Singular", with the formula that Welles would play the lead in each show. Some months later the show was called "The Mercury Theatre on the Air". The weekly hour-long show presented radio plays based on classic literary works, with original music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann. The Mercury Theatre's radio adaptation of "The War of the Worlds" by H. G. Wells October 30, 1938, brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance with the between-breaks dial spinning habits of listeners was later reported to have created widespread confusion among listeners who
Orson Welles and People pilot was unsuccessful: no series was ever commissioned, the pilot was never broadcast, and the one copy owned by Welles has now been deemed lost. However, film historian Joseph McBride believes it to be significant, as it was "an early example of the 'essay film', a genre that would increasingly occupy Welles." Orson Welles and People Orson Welles and People was a 1956 pilot for a projected documentary series by Orson Welles, which is now believed to be lost. The pilot was a portrait of Alexandre Dumas, entitled "Camille, the Naked Lady and the Musketeers". It was filmed in just