The War of the Worlds (radio drama) The War of the Worlds (radio drama) "The War of the Worlds" is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series "The Mercury Theatre on the Air" directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles as an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel "The War of the Worlds" (1898). It was performed and broadcast live as a Halloween episode at 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 30, 1938 over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. The episode became famous for causing panic among its listening audience, but the scale of that panic is disputed, as the program had
The War of the Worlds (1953 film) machines have a quality of real terror, their sinister apparitions, prowlings and pulverisings are spectacularly well done, and the scenes of panic and destruction are staged with real flair". Richard L. Coe of "The Washington Post" called it "to put it gently, terrific," and "for my money, the 'King Kong' of its day". "The War of the Worlds" won an Academy Award for Special Effects (it was the sole nominee that year). Everett Douglas was nominated for Film Editing, while the Paramount Studio Sound Department and Loren L. Ryder were nominated for Sound, Recording. "The War of the Worlds" still