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' Magic Show Orson Welles' Magic Show Orson Welles' Magic Show is an unfinished television special by Orson Welles, filmed between 1976 and 1985. In it, Welles performs various magic tricks for the camera, promising that no trick photography is used. Welles had a lifelong interest in magic, having been taught his first magic tricks by Harry Houdini in the 1920s, when Welles was still a boy. He had already demonstrated his magic tricks in a number of films and television programmes including "Follow the Boys" (1944), "Magic Trick" (1953), "Casino Royale" (1967), and on his own unsuccessful 1979 pilot for "The Orson