Interesting to note that 70 years ago today, someone far more talented than either Brand or the eminently punchable Ross was busy creating a storm that literally had people taking to the streets with guns in their hands. Orson Welles always claimed that his news bulletin-style radio version of War of the Worlds—complete with shrieking eye-witness reports of death-ray slaughter—was an innocent Halloween entertainment, feigning bewilderment at the mayhem he had caused. The resulting publicity made his name and he probably knew exactly what he was doing. We are used to the media's blurring of fact and fabrication, but in 1938 that was unheard of. Welles, only 23 at the time but a veteran of experimental drama as well as self-promotion, understood the power of the media and grasped the opportunity with both hands.
Many years later he compared his fate with that of an Ecuadorian broadcaster who copied the idea and wound up in prison as a result, "I didn't go to jail; I went to Hollywood."
Many years later he compared his fate with that of an Ecuadorian broadcaster who copied the idea and wound up in prison as a result, "I didn't go to jail; I went to Hollywood."
