The Night America Trembled The Night America Trembled "The Night America Trembled" is a top-rated television dramatization of the public reaction to the 1938 radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" that aired September 9, 1957, as an episode of the CBS series "Studio One". Hosted by Edward R. Murrow, the live documentary play was written by Nelson S. Bond and uses excerpts of the radio script copywrighted by Howard E. Koch. The film centers on the panic created when "The Mercury Theater on the Air" presented a radio adaptation of an 1897 H. G. Wells science fiction novel, "The War of the
Orson Welles experience, allowing Welles to concentrate on subjects that interested him. Welles performed and staged theatrical experiments and productions there. "Todd provided Welles with many valuable experiences", wrote critic Richard France. "He was able to explore and experiment in an atmosphere of acceptance and encouragement. In addition to a theater the school's own radio station was at his disposal." Welles's first radio experience was on the Todd station, where he performed an adaptation of "Sherlock Holmes" that was written by him. On December 28, 1930, when Welles was 15, his father died of heart and kidney failure at the age of