The Day That Panicked America: The H.G. Wells War of the Worlds Scandal
List Price:
Our Price: $4.59
You Save: $10.39 (69%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.20 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: John RossDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); French (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, Limited Edition, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 70 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Highland Ent.
Movie Reviews of The Day That Panicked America: The H.G. Wells War of the Worlds Scandal
Movie Review: An essential DVD/CD set for the Orson Welles aficionado
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very good and inexpensive DVD/CD combination, one essential for the Orson Welles (1915-1985) fan. The DVD rogram is very well done and is essentially a minibiography of Welles, with emphasis, of course, on the circumstances surrounding the 30 October 1938 Halloween radio broadcast of Welles's adaptation of H.G. Wells's (1866-1946) novelette, The War of the Worlds (1897). The DVD is copyright 2005 and was newly written, directed, and narrated by John Ross, who also did the music--facts not noted on the packaging (this information is from the credits).
The DVD runs for 75 minutes, not the claimed 70 and is a mix of B&W and color; format is 4:3, and sound is in Dolby digital stereo. There are 8 scenes:
1) Sign of the times [5:13]
2) Orson Welles [6:08]
3) The Mercury Theater [10:58]
4) Grover's Mill, New Jersey [6:37]
5) 1930's sci-fi [7:31]
6) Are we alone? [13:27]
7) Panic on the streets [6:53]
8) The aftermath [18:24]
The actual program has lots of biographical and historical ackground, including extensive clips from Welles's two early films, Hearts of Age (1934) done when he was only 19, and We Work Again (1937), done for the WPA (Works Projects Administration). Scene 5 on "1930's sci-fi" is interesting,but the overlong scene 6, "Are we alone?," on alien phenomena, including the 1947 Roswell affair, is rather tedious. Scene 8 includes clips from Welles's The Trial (1963) as well as his interview remarks on War of the world.
The CD is of the complete 30 October 1938 radio broadcast of the hour-long Mercury Theater show (the CD runs 58 minutes, 7 seconds). The quality is very good. The scratchiness in the beginning part adds to the atmosphere. The CD is not subdivided. Thus don't lose your place or you will have to fast forward from the beginning to resume listening.
What's missing? There is no inner paper insert. It would have been classy to list the characters and actors of the radio broadcast and perhaps reproduce the 31 October 1938 article in The New York Times about the controversy. However, this information is readily available from the Internet. I printed it out to insert into the DVD case.
Similar DVD Movies
Damnation AlleyVIS; Release date: 2011-07-12; DVD
Best price: $10.76
Price in other shops:
Breakheart PassSony; Release date: 2000-12-19; DVD
Best price: $0.71
Price in other shops:
Duel (Collector's Edition)Universal Studios; Release date: 2004-08-17; Published: 2004-08-01; DVD
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (Two-Disc Special Edition)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2003-05-20; DVD
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
H.G. Wells' First Men in the MoonSony; Release date: 2002-03-26; Published: 2002-03-01; DVD
Best price: $4.28
Price in other shops:
Artist Not Provided - The Orson Welles' War of the Worlds ScandalKoch International; Release date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $14.01
Price in other shops:
War of the Worlds (Widescreen Edition)DreamWorks; Release date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
Studio One: Sentence of Death/ The Night America TrembledRelease date: 2006-06-06; DVD
Best price: $6.15
Price in other shops:
Orson Welles - War of the Worlds-Original Radio Broadcast 30 OctoRelease date: 2006-12-19; Music CD
Best price: $6.15
Price in other shops:
The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2005-11-01; DVD
Best price: $26.88