Orson Welles Welles had not been drafted. "The Mercury Wonder Show" ran August 3 – September 9, 1943, in an 80-by-120-foot tent located at 9000 Cahuenga Boulevard, in the heart of Hollywood. At intermission September 7, 1943, KMPC radio interviewed audience and cast members of "The Mercury Wonder Show"—including Welles and Rita Hayworth, who were married earlier that day. Welles remarked that "The Mercury Wonder Show" had been performed for approximately 48,000 members of the U.S. armed forces. The idea of doing a radio variety show occurred to Welles after his success as substitute host of four consecutive episodes (March 14 –
Orson Welles 28, 1941 – January 22, 1942. Throughout the shooting of the film Welles was also producing a weekly half-hour radio series, "The Orson Welles Show". Many of the "Ambersons" cast participated in the CBS Radio series, which ran September 15, 1941 – February 2, 1942. At RKO's request, Welles worked on an adaptation of Eric Ambler's spy thriller, "Journey into Fear", co-written with Joseph Cotten. In addition to acting in the film, Welles was the producer. Direction was credited to Norman Foster. Welles later said that they were in such a rush that the director of each scene was determined