kinescope review the night america trembled

This week on The Kinescope Podcast, John and the panel revisit the gripping 1957 Studio One production “The Night America Trembled.” Hosted by Edward R. Murrow and featuring a remarkable early cast — including Warren Beatty, Ed Asner, Warren Oates, James Coburn, and John Astin — the teleplay dramatizes the nationwide panic sparked by Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast. While the story amps up the hysteria for television, it remains a fascinating look at how a single night of radio blurred the line between fact and fiction for millions of listeners.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, there you good time again for a great episode.
Also a tease episode scandal which you know a lot
of toll. Gabe and I were talking. I stay every
time I hear about we really love the Van Dorian
and her provision and tell Barry it tak me one.
And we're talking about his after the fact. I mean

(00:21):
he can't you know, hey man, if there's even in
the nis, you want to do him so down for that.
Now we have an exile great Missing seventies the end
of another show and shows JA give details you know
you can ridiculously guards I think, which is too much
about it, but also actually yourself. We're talking about his

(00:42):
studio one. Thanks for listening. Of the night coming up
this week. America is going to be back on Tuesday seventies,
Eddie blay Snyder's head be back on good Project and
then All Day Surprises. So give a reaction on word
blow next time. The Great Balloon and Account two. A

(01:03):
significant amount of people. They never got a real count,
but there just were all these stories and you know
how things are, but it was a real thing. So
Edward R. Murrow is in this, ed Asner is in this.
Uh so many great people James Coburn, Warren Batty really
really cool. I think you're going to enjoy it, and
by all means, watch it on YouTube and then if

(01:26):
you haven't already, and then come back and listen to
Gab and I talk about this on this edition of
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(02:55):
Thanks for listening and thanks as always for your support. Everybody,
Welcome back. It's time again for word Balloon and Kinescope
as we look back to the age of live television
in the from the forties through the early sixties. John
Centrus here, William Meyer here, Gave Hartman here, and Jeff
Parker heres. Brill Yeah, and I hear I hear somebody.

(03:17):
I think that's your speaker.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, my browser kicked me out. I'm like, is this
bad for anybody?

Speaker 3 (03:23):
And I checked your Twitter to see if we're ironically,
I felt like the guy asking you for like two
XL is everyone out there?

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, it's all alone, which is what we're going to
talk about.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
Yeah, so what is it we're talking about, John Well
We are talking today about a great episode of Studio one,
and I'm getting to my photos to give you the
title card. Of course. Here it is the Night America Trembled,
which is a look back a dramatization of the broadcast
of the Mercury Theater from nineteen thirty eight October thirtieth

(03:58):
of the War of the War World's which was of
course a very legendary broadcast and sent some of the
lunatic fringe into the streets believing that a real Martian
invasion was happening, all due to the genius of Orson
Wells and the Mercury Theater. So pretty pretty interesting topic
for tonight's discussion.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
Yeah, and certainly this is one of those things that
growing up I always felt like, oh, come on, this
is overplayed, that people aren't this credulous, people aren't this stupid,
Like there's no way that you know that they would
believe stuff like this.

Speaker 5 (04:35):
But then look at the world we live in.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
It's all true, right, it's.

Speaker 5 (04:40):
This is I'm I now.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
I believe it probably was much more widespread and much
bigger than they actually portray it. But this, as much
as we talk about Orson Wells, this particular adaptator, or
your dramatization of of of them.

Speaker 5 (04:57):
Recording a thing, it completelyly ignored.

Speaker 4 (05:01):
They talk about the Mercury Theater, but there's there are
no specific we don't get any specific characters based on
Wells or any anybody else, Paul Stewart or whoever else
from uh, you know, from the Mercury Theater. Uh, it's
all kind of they're they're all kind of just the director,
the announcer and uh and and Wells is you know,

(05:21):
is de emphasized, and that he was uh you know,
he was the you know, he was the director who
also played the uh the uh yeah, the professor Pearson
and uh and so, but the way that that's dealt
with in the show is sort of parsed out to

(05:41):
different actors and or you know, to uh uh you know,
to the announcer to you know, uh and I mean
it's a kind of interesting way to go. And I
still I you know the first time that I watched this.
I just kind of stumbled on it on YouTube a
while ago, and I thought, uh, it seemed to be like, oh,
this is a big cop out because they're not even
talking about orson well But as I got through the
through the episode, it's actually it's a pretty entertaining, you know,

(06:05):
good take on this. I really enjoyed it. I think
it's a well made episode of television, you know, apart
from the weird gloss. I still don't understand exactly why
Wells and everybody are you know, are not a part
of this and if anybody else has any you know,
I mean I read something about Wells trying to assue
CBS after the fact, but why he was not included

(06:28):
in the first place.

Speaker 5 (06:29):
It's a little puzzling.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
Also the marketing of the world, and I don't know
at what level that was at in fifty seven. But
as you guys well know, somebody recorded it off the
air and made an album on of it, and I
know in interviews with Peter Bogdanovich, Wells is like, yeah,
pirated copy of it exists, and I've never seen a dime.

(06:52):
I don't know, given that he made the show for
CBS with the Mercury Theater. What kind of rights he
would have to it. I have no idea, but it
is it's interesting, and I mean it's one of the
things he's most famous for. And as usual, it kind
of on the one end, it succeeded for him because
beyond the lunatic fringe and it's really not a spoiler

(07:14):
for what we're talking about, but because the show made
such a national moment, he got a sponsor out of it,
because prior to that, the Mercury Theater on the air
was what they call the sustaining show, where it didn't
have sponsors.

Speaker 4 (07:28):
And it had very very low numbers.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yes, you know, well because.

Speaker 4 (07:34):
Well, I mean because of the competition, because because of
a ventriloquist on the radio.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yeah, right, And they cover that actually in the teleplay,
because a lot of the people that hadn't heard the
beginning of the show, we're listening, according to accounts, we're
listening to Charlie McCarthy. At one point he had an
opera singer on or some sort of dramatic singer, and
everybody went down twist and and again. Because Wells chose

(08:03):
to make War of the World's is a modern play
with news interruptions. Uh, it does sound like a reasonable,
just regular broadcast of cutting to a hotel where Ramon
Reck whatever his name was, ish, Yeah, Raquel and his
or something like that. Yeah, Yeah, they're playing, they're playing

(08:24):
their pop music. And then every now and then there's
a news thing that starts with oh, weird explo explosions
on Mars to wait a minute, weird shit's happening in
Grover's Mill, New Jersey, and then I think hilarity.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
For our purposes here, it probably does make a lot
of sense to just talk about the original you know,
radio show first and then you know, then get into
the TV on optictionis. But uh yeah, but yeah, I
mean it's it's really effective. I actually, I mean I
don't even know. I mean, it's the most famous of
these because of the way that of those Mercury Theater
radio plays, because of what happened, because of the controversy

(08:57):
around it. I don't know that it's the best. I mean,
it's a good stuff, but you know, but there but
there are some amazing episodes of the show that you
know that are probably even more ambitious in other ways.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
Part of darkness the original Apocalypse Now story Dracula version
of practice.

Speaker 6 (09:15):
Yep, what's that? And William he did Amberson's before he
did as well.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah, no, and it became the Campbell Playoffs, this Campbell
Campbell super Bowl. Things are like, hey, we like this,
I worry, right.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
So if you can convince people that Martians are real,
if he can convince people to.

Speaker 4 (09:33):
Want so.

Speaker 6 (09:34):
Yeah, Since since three people have talked about the veracity
of the radio play tricking people or fooling people, I
just want to suggest that if the most popular radio
program is a ventriloquist, which you cannot see that, perhaps
the environment.

Speaker 5 (09:52):
Is the bar. The bar is start with. Yeah.

Speaker 7 (09:56):
Also, the this production kind of like leaves out the
fact that they really did keep checking and letting you
know it was the that there theater doing the show throughout,
but people are talking too much during those parts to
listen to it or whatever.

Speaker 4 (10:17):
But here they don't say it until the end. I believe. Yeah,
I mean this is I mean, certainly in the in
this nineteen fifty seven TV adaptation, it's it's a lot
more condensed, it's a lot less, you know, and it's
a lot less about the process of making the radio
play than it is about and later we'll talk about
the seventies adaptation of it, which is actually quite a

(10:37):
bit more about the nuts and bolts of putting on
the radio play as well.

Speaker 5 (10:41):
They also had more time to spend.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Right, and I think the superior production when we talk
about it.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
But yeah, I think it's very I mean, I think
they're very both, very interesting. But I think the seventies
one was really good too.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
But so sorry, yeah, Pat, Yeah, as opposed to Trembled, Trembled,
he is the original nineteen fifty seven Studio one. It's
on YouTube. Unfortunately, and honestly I checked today. Last week
when we said we're going to do this, the very

(11:13):
blurry copy of the TV movie was on Daily Motion.
I look today and I can only find promos for
the TV movie.

Speaker 5 (11:20):
No, it is there.

Speaker 4 (11:22):
It Actually if people are interested in watching that very
glory copy, the way to do it is to just
leave the the off of the front.

Speaker 5 (11:30):
It's not it's not the full title. The way it's
on there.

Speaker 4 (11:34):
I see that said, I mean, we're getting way ahead
of oursels here, but that seventies version that's on there
is just like you're watching a fog of mud. Like
I know, Tom Bosley is in it because I recognize
his voice, but I couldn't pick him out on screen. Right.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
Well, there are parallels, although Bosi was obviously a veteran
actor by the time he did the TV move, But
there are parallels to the fifties one in that there
are a lot of recognizable faces in both productions. And
let's stick with the early fifties one and right off
the bed, it was amazing to see there on the left,
and he looks amazing, the late Ad Asner. And it's
so funny because we were obviously discussing we weren't sure

(12:12):
if there were live teleplays that existed still to show
Asner's early work. So here he is in nineteen fifty
seven as one of those radio actors. There on the
right is another one of my favorites to always point
out in these teleplays, and that's Frank Marth. And Frank
Narth was a big character actor and best known if

(12:33):
you watch the classic thirty nine of the Honeymooners. He's
done a lot of episodes, but his career continued well
into the eighties.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
And there's just a million people in the nineteen fifties version.
Warren Beatty, war and more notes.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Are born out.

Speaker 4 (12:51):
In a scene playing cards together, and Warren Batty distinguishes
himself in this by giving probably the worst line reading
I've ever heard when he gets up in like leaves
the table for what I mean, Like, he's terribly and
I like, I'm a huge fan of Ward video. He
obviously grew into grew into being an actor later. But uh,

(13:12):
you know even in Debbie Gillis, he's he's pretty studd
But the.

Speaker 1 (13:15):
But like, my right though, is that is that Warren
oates on the left there in this in this shot.

Speaker 4 (13:19):
Of yeah, yeah on the far right camera right.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, but yeah, you're right,
I mean that's and again there's still a hell of
a lot more. Uh, there's a newspaper scene. There's John
Aston right there at the typewriter, Gomez from Adam's family,
and a million other things.

Speaker 5 (13:41):
Yeah, I mean, if.

Speaker 4 (13:42):
If John asked, and apparently he's difficult to get as
an interview but but he's still around, right, and uh,
you know, he he had his live TV experience of
right after we do our new min interview bonus episode.
But we should definitely go for John.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
Assen absolutely, And of course we've forgotten to mention giving
the gravitas of the of the presentation is my favorite.
One of my real heroes in broadcasting. Edward R. Murrow
very dry in this, and it's weird, well, I would say,
by today's standards, you might say, isn't it weird that
they're learning the line between the news division and entertainment. Actually,

(14:18):
this was very commonplace and another live show that I
hope we will explore in weeks ahead or if not
months ahead, is You Are There, which was historical re
enactments with modern reporters and literally the fall of Rome
and Willa or Walter Cronkite and other CBS newsmen would

(14:39):
be on the scene of the crucifixion.

Speaker 4 (14:42):
Yes, and many and many of those were written by
you know, blacklisted writers, Abraham Polonski and you know, all
sorts of interesting people injected a ton of social commentary
into those. So that's definitely something that you cover.

Speaker 6 (14:56):
But Murrow's inclusion in this was an interesting mirror to
the authority figure of the of the War of the
World's because we recognize Muraw and he's sitting in the
chair looking like Bella Legosi and Glennard Glenda Yes, and
pull a string and and and so I thought, well,
they're doing the same thing the radio show did, which

(15:17):
is I'm the voice of authority and everything you're about
to see is true.

Speaker 4 (15:21):
Well, it's also, isn't it also a little bit, whether
it's intentional or not, it's a little bit sort of
mettextual there, because it's it's you know, it's something that
you know, because the radio show had this kind of
feeling of it's a real thing, right, we're really reporting something.
And then there's by extension, have Murrow and there's like that.
I don't think that it really, you know, it doesn't
have that effect obviously because it's not that's nobody's being

(15:43):
fooled by this thing. But but like I, you know,
I think that the Murrow part of it is a
weakness in this, not not just because he's dry or whatever,
but because it's it's explaining shit at you that you
don't need. It's we could have had, you know, there,
we could have just had more dramatic stuff, more more

(16:05):
you know, detailed second half in the show than than
have him explain and ship at the beginning.

Speaker 7 (16:11):
The first half is a lot of people saying, man,
nothing happens on a Sunday night.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, from UH in the newspaper to the
police department, the fire department, all the all the state police. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (16:24):
From a production standpoint, do you think though he was
used to cover for camera adjustments?

Speaker 4 (16:30):
And I'm sure because I mean, also this is you know,
but one of the cool things about this is it's
pretty ambitious about the number of sets they have. And
absolutely it's certain real projection.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
It looked like, yeah, the.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
Opening, I was unclear whether that was pre roll film
or if the if that was if they were doing
rear projection live, I don't know.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
I couldn't really.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah, but it starts with it starts with the car
crash and then goes Intomorrow's narration for people who haven't
seen it, UH to suggest that somebody listening to the
broadcast was so panicked as they were driving that they
killed themselves, which is a.

Speaker 5 (17:04):
Cool opening, I think.

Speaker 4 (17:05):
I mean, it does get into some really, you know,
it's a little of a slob, like Jeff was saying
through the you know, the earlier part of it.

Speaker 5 (17:12):
But but that is a cool way to get into it.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
But it is cool because we you know, we've got
the radio studio and everything happening there, and then we've
got a bar where we see Vincent Gardenia among others. Yeah,
and all guys about Hitler pre World War two again
nineteen thirty eight.

Speaker 5 (17:33):
And I think that.

Speaker 4 (17:34):
Part of it is really effective, and I think that
it's actually that that's one of the areas I think
that's maybe a little bit more effective than the seventies
TV movie, you know, I mean connecting it more directly
with that, I mean it would be Yeah, I'm not
saying that they didn't do stuff like that. I just
think that the way that it's presented in this is one.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
That's one of the stronger matter.

Speaker 4 (17:52):
Right, Yeah, that is definitely one of the stronger But
that's also why you don't need fucking Edward R. Murrow.
They're explaining the same thing at the very beginning, right,
I mean, you didn't they it was it's organic within
the story.

Speaker 6 (18:05):
That's the structure. That structure reminded me very much of
disaster films, for atomic holocaust films with the day after
or a testament, where you establish these desperate groups of
people who are unrelated and they never meet up, but
they're all reacting to the same instruct.

Speaker 4 (18:22):
Well and same, same, or at least Nicholas Meyer directed
The Day After right and uh and then he's one
of the writers on the on the seventies version.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
Of the seventies version of this story. Yeah, yeah, I
was surprised. It's his third credit on his IMDb, which
I find amazing.

Speaker 5 (18:39):
Yeah, I mean I think that.

Speaker 4 (18:39):
He uh wait, is Attack of the B Girls on
there or whatever that's called the.

Speaker 1 (18:45):
Uh th it is? I think that was the first one.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
Yeah, that's that's everybody needs to watch that. It's not
not because they'll enjoy it.

Speaker 6 (18:53):
Are the girls, but they're actually Beast or the letter B.

Speaker 4 (18:57):
You just you have to watch it. But the uh yeah,
it's it's like a cheesy exploitation movie.

Speaker 5 (19:06):
But the but yeah no.

Speaker 4 (19:08):
I actually went and looked up in his in Nicholas
Meyer's autobiography if he had anything to say about it,
and what he had to say about it was my
title was the day the Martians landed and they changed
it for CBS changed it for what reason? I don't know.
He doesn't acknowledge that there was any you know, I
mean you you barely you it almost you know, like

(19:30):
you know, with a lot of Nicholas Meyers stuff. It
almost sounds like he made up the entire thing and
there's no acknowledgement of the earlier one or version of it.
But uh, you know, but and then he talks about
how he bought a house with the money, so he
doesn't really go into any depth at all what he
what he did.

Speaker 6 (19:44):
On it wasn't that Versionville based on the Howard Coch play.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
So yeah, I mean, I I think that that's correct.
I actually don't know though maybe if you have better
information about that.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, I mean it really it travels in the same
h milius as the fifty seven version, and I think
you're right that it might have had more Cotch influence.
And soon again it fleshes out a lot more of
Wells's involvement. I loved all the the Bosley scenes and

(20:17):
everything leading up to the broadcast are real things that happen.
And I've read Kotch's book. Yeah, And in fact, like
originally Wells wanted a Roosevelt imitator and refer to the
President has a you know, we taken out of the
White House for a speech and CBS is like, no,

(20:37):
you can't do that, so they negotiated down to Secretary
of the Interior, but they had Kenny Delmar. Kenny Delmar
was a Fred Allen comedian but also worked on a
show called The March of Times and many times would
imitate President Roosevelt when they would do this kind of
docu drama of current events. So and there's a great

(20:57):
scene in the seventies movie when they're like, sorry, it's
got to be the president or the Secretary of the Interior,
and uh, the actor goes, who does he sound like?
And he goes Roosevelt and then it's a great and
that's how they And if you hear the broadcast, it
does sound like it's wrong.

Speaker 4 (21:11):
So the but if if we did not make this clear,
Howard Cokoch wrote the original uh you know, War of
the World's uh audio adaptation, and uh you know, apparently
you know, in like, of course, as with every fucking
thing about Orson Wells, like there are a million versions
of things, the.

Speaker 5 (21:31):
Uh, the but of these stories.

Speaker 4 (21:33):
But like you know, John Houseman says that not that
he neither he nor Wells were interested in this story
at all, then, you know, Uh, but also Howard Koch says.

Speaker 5 (21:43):
That he didn't he didn't want to write it. He
wanted to write Lord of.

Speaker 4 (21:46):
Doone instead, and then uh the but then and and
complain to uh, to the producer John Houseman, who then said, no,
this is Orson wells favorite episode.

Speaker 5 (21:57):
You have to do it.

Speaker 4 (21:58):
And you know, like all the all the stories about
Wells and the Mercury Theater, all that stuff, for all
these kind of contradictory stories where someone is emphatic about something,
you know.

Speaker 5 (22:08):
But uh, but I mean I think that.

Speaker 4 (22:12):
Uh, the part where uh yeah, Kotch is sort of
the through line through all of this, right he. I mean,
he's not directly named in the fifties version, but he's
not you know, but like, uh, you know him somehow,
like it feels it's you know, in some ways it's
as much him as it is Wells. There was a
uh and he he also you know, was one of

(22:34):
the writers on Cosablanca and multiple other things later.

Speaker 5 (22:37):
But like he it's it doesn't the Oh fuck, I
lost my thought.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
Go ahead, Okay, I was gonna answer. Steven had a question,
and that was was this broadcast live on the West
coast or delayed? I believe this is in Television city
in La I think by that, I got to look
up Studio one. I know eventually it moved to the
West Coast, and let's find out when I am not.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
Yeah, I'm not sure about that, but if it did,
then this would be there because this is season ten,
so this is like.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
Very That's again, that's kind of why I believe.

Speaker 6 (23:13):
The surviving print is a kinescope though.

Speaker 4 (23:16):
Right, yeah it is.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Well, but they might have at that point even you know,
sent stuff to the West coast, or rather to the
East coast, having shot it live on the West Coast.
I don't know. I'm gonna specifically, you don't have to
if it's but well, I don't.

Speaker 4 (23:30):
Know if there's there wasn't a QUACKSI caable, hell have
I don't know, but the like if I'm sorry, William,
go ahead, Oh.

Speaker 6 (23:38):
I was gonna say it because the uh, there's a
barreling effect on the edges, and you know, normally I
would say it was a lens choice, but since it
was possibly a kinescope, I assumed it was the actual
screen they were shooting the film.

Speaker 5 (23:50):
I think that you can see them.

Speaker 4 (23:52):
I think it's I think that the like as far
as I understand it, Uh, videotape came in and it
was sort of perfected in fifty six, but they didn't
it didn't really come into great use until fifty eight.

Speaker 5 (24:07):
So so this was most likely a kinescope.

Speaker 4 (24:10):
Yeah, but yeah, so I think the you know, the
actual like, uh, you know, this is you know, but
none of these really, none of these adaptations really focus
on Orson Wells as much as you would think, like
as much as he's a big deal. I mean, you know,

(24:30):
he's he's there's a director character in the fifties one,
there is a you know, and Orson Wells is in
the seventies one. But he's you know, he's not front
and center in any way. He h and he's not
really uh and certainly the actor who portrays him doesn't
any way resemble him.

Speaker 1 (24:46):
So I have two theories on that one. Wells was
out of favor with the government and kind of fled
to Europe. And wasn't he still in Europe at this time?
And even though this was after, ironically Murrow took down
Joseph McCarthy, I do think that the fear of the

(25:07):
basic fear of communism or connections to such might still
have been in the air, and that might be another
reason why they kept it so CBS and not really
talk about orson.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
Yeah that maybe, I mean, he well, he was he
came back for a Touch of Evil around the same time, but.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
That was that was a little after this, wasn't it. Well,
they would have been.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
Shooting a movie about the same time as this, because
it's the movie came on in fifty eight, so it's
you know.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
Oh, okay, I thought it was. I thought it was
fifty nine for a Touch of Evil, but okay, Well.

Speaker 6 (25:37):
It's interesting that Tremble left out not only mentioning Wales,
but his character Professor Pearson, who anchors the second half
of More of the Worlds, where it's a much more
orthodox approach to radio plays where a narrator who's giving
you direct monologue, but then he interacts with other characters

(25:57):
and that, would you know, give away the entire facade
of the actual reportage.

Speaker 4 (26:04):
Yeah, yeah, and uh it's yeah, I mean, like the
the way that the that the all of that stuff
is dealt with, I mean, the you know, there there's
a lot of different people about you know, people say
different things about the inspiration for this. Apparently there was
an Archibald mcleach play that was about you know about

(26:25):
like war and speculative war in Europe. Stuff that was
that was uh uh you know that was treated in
the same way. But it you know, uh and Wells
may have heard about it, but it actually only aired
like four days before.

Speaker 6 (26:37):
He starred in it.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Oh he did.

Speaker 6 (26:40):
It was called the Fall, is called the Fall of
the City, and he played the reporter who was reporting
live on the scene.

Speaker 4 (26:46):
Has that is.

Speaker 5 (26:51):
Yeah, it's called air raid.

Speaker 4 (26:53):
So the you know Archibald you said, he's the same guy, Yeah,
I mean writer he did.

Speaker 6 (26:59):
He had two pieces in the same hunch.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
I guess.

Speaker 4 (27:02):
So I don't know, I mean, I don't know. I
don't know the chronology for the one that you're talking about.
The but the the air that was you know, uh
was right before this. Maybe that's you know, and maybe
that earlier one is also an inspiration. But you know,
but the but they also say that that you know,
the fact that there was uh, you know, there were updates,
you know, there were like news breaking news things about

(27:25):
the war in Europe that that you know broke into uh.
The you know, well zoned broadcast was also part of
the inspiration so I'm sure just always the inspiration for it.
I mean, it's like as if that you have to
have some like, you know, one singular thing.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
I'm sure it's just all kind of in the air
at the moment.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
And something historical that people don't bring up is that
the Hindenburg crash happened the year before this, the Hiddenburg
crashes in New Jersey, and I wonder if that's why
they chose New Jersey as the place, because that must
have been, you still fresh in people's mind.

Speaker 6 (28:00):
But the actor playing the reporter in More of the
World cited that as is his character, right, Yeah, that's correct.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
More uh More cameos again from like, oh my god,
how how did we not? That's the interesting thing is
the leads are all fine in what they do, but
looking back at it retroactively now it's really more. Oh
my god, I can't believe Vincent Cardenia is in this.
I can't believe James Coburn is in this as part
of a couple that leaves the When a stranger calls

(28:33):
babysitter in complete panic.

Speaker 6 (28:38):
I was upset the way her parents those are her parents, right,
the way they talk.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
That was that's are those are the makeout kids in
the car. Yeah, okay, you idiots, it's a radio play.

Speaker 7 (28:51):
You you teenagers, teenagers and drugs were fooled by the thing.

Speaker 4 (28:59):
All the parents to be better.

Speaker 8 (29:01):
Yeah when you're our age who was freaking out and
thank god she and her parakeet were saved, so that
there's a happy ending there.

Speaker 6 (29:15):
That reminds me of something Ian and I were talking
about behind the scenes. Why did this show claim Grover's
Mill does not exist?

Speaker 5 (29:23):
Well, I mean it's well says it in his uh.

Speaker 6 (29:26):
Uh that's also bizarre.

Speaker 4 (29:28):
Yeah, well, but so he he probably You know why
I think that is because I think that he what
what Wells did over and over and over again was
barely know about a thing that somebody asked him about
and then give an authoritative answer. So, like, I mean,
I really don't I bet that he probably just had
no idea and somebody suggests I mean, like I think

(29:48):
the reporter asked him why it was a real place,
he led him into it, and so then Wells just
over commits to this concept that he doesn't know a
damn thing about because he probably was bare really paying
attention to this particular one. I mean, I don't know that.
I mean, you know, he was doing a million things
and it made you know, and this one may or
may not have been or super important to him.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
I don't know. Man. There's that footage of of the
day after the newsreel footage of him answering questions and
I and I do believe.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
He was aware he came from.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
Yeah, I'm right. But also I'm saying, though, whether he
knew about the existence of Grover's Militia or not at
the time or whatever.

Speaker 4 (30:28):
Yeah, I mean, this was this is like big, right,
But that's after the fact. I'm talking about, like how
much prep he actually did for this, right?

Speaker 1 (30:39):
Uh?

Speaker 5 (30:39):
You know, I mean and certainly after the fact.

Speaker 4 (30:41):
One of the great things I think about about that
press conference, which is on YouTube and you can easily find,
is that while you know he's doing his incredibly concerned act,
you can you could almost just see through it to
him going, this is the greatest fucking thing, right, Like
he like you can tell that he's relishing all of this,

(31:02):
playing this character of you know, being so concerned about
you know, about the people being upset and everything.

Speaker 6 (31:08):
You know, it feels like an extension of the meta narrative. Yeah,
there's bleeding out of War of the World.

Speaker 3 (31:15):
There's so much not sarcasm, but a sardonic feel in
that p s a that he.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Reads at the end.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
It's like this is the equivalent of dressing up in
a white sheet and jumping out food.

Speaker 2 (31:30):
Yeah, it's like he comes like this close to say, yeah.

Speaker 7 (31:37):
When they clearly picked the Grover's Mill thing just because Okay,
this is sounds like a vague sticks place in New Jersey,
nobody will be able to check, right, We're not sitting
at somewhere that sounds important where everybody can check it.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
Yeah, exactly, it's not I mean, and there. I mean
maybe there was some intention of it being Newark initially,
but like I think that that's one thing I read,
but like and that they ended up you know, changing
but like that's a it's a good move to change
it to that. It's a good move to change it
to something that's like a little obscure and people aren't
really gonna you know, like you'd have to live back then.

(32:13):
Maybe you could get somebody on the phone, Maybe you
have to like send a car out there or something
to you know, to figure it out. In nineteen thirty eight.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
You know, no question, I want to bring up a picture.
I love the depiction of old radio being acted out live.
I mean, you got everybody surrounding the mic, you got
you got the sound guy going nuts and everything. I mean,
I got the sound guy here for a second. Sadly,
I have worked with equipment that was probably ten years

(32:42):
beyond what you're looking at right there now, with the
turntables and the the pots, the potentiometers. Uh they're on
the on the front of the turntables and stuff. Yeah,
and it's still work great. But yeah, I mean it's
I love that. And again again, it was things like
this that I would see as a kid that really
made me want to get into broadcasting. I mean it

(33:03):
was just like, wow, that is amazing. I mean these
are these were my firemen and fire trucks and everything,
Like wow, I want to get involved with that and
I didn't.

Speaker 4 (33:11):
Yeah, and and really all of it, all that stuff
like I would love it if. I mean, and there's
a there's a fair amount in the seventies version, but
like I am the uh, like I I love all
of the process stuff of you know, like the you know,
the sound guy. I think the seventies one where they're like,

(33:32):
you know, uh, you know, using the pace and jar.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
Yeah, the pickle jar and the toilet. It's so awesome.
And she's like, please don't make me go back to
the touch.

Speaker 5 (33:39):
Yeah, why don't you do it in the toilet?

Speaker 1 (33:40):
That's a great idea.

Speaker 4 (33:42):
It's like if I, you know, if I made a
remake of this, I would spend just way too much
time detailing exactly how all of his business work, because
I love process. I love it, you know, to me,
that's that stuff is super fun. No, I mean, that's
what I mean.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Honestly, if you can handle the blur, I do recommend
watching Yeah, anyway you can, because it's very entertaining.

Speaker 4 (34:03):
Yeah, I mean honestly, I actually called around to the
couple of existing video stores trying to get a copy
of it.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, is it on eBay anywhere? Well?

Speaker 4 (34:17):
This, yeah, this is DVD from two thousand and seven
or whatever. ILL time to get it so to you know,
to get it shipped. So I mean, I would probably
recommend watching that DVD because I think, Yeah, seventies one
is actually really good and it's and it's directed by
Joseph Sargent. He directed uh taking a pelam On directed
the Corba Mite Maneuver from The Star Trek, absolutely, you

(34:39):
know a lot setting the tone of that show. You know,
he was he was a really solid director.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
Vic Morrow is in it. John Ritter is in it,
uh to off the top of my head, Vic Morrow
is really really good in it. And I lean Brennan
uh and there and and and.

Speaker 4 (34:53):
The honestly, I I literally could never see I mean
Brennan throughout the entirety of the of the blurry version
right like I had I read she was in and
I was like, really like, I God that no, No.

Speaker 1 (35:05):
It's lat She's totally playing Eileen Brennan, which I love
about her. Man.

Speaker 5 (35:09):
It's also not it's even.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
The version of the version of Daily Motion is also
it's a you know, it's a seventies TV movie. It
should be the shape of the screen that I'm in
right now of four x three and it is cropped
on the top and bottom as well as being unbelievably blurry.
So it's a rough watch. It's a TV but it's mean,
if the if the world can figure out how to
watch this fucking thing in a better version, I think

(35:33):
that it's it's worth it. It's it's pretty painting.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
I think the stories I mean, and again, nineteen fifty
sensibilities compared to seventies. I like the personal stories a
little bit more in the seventies version. And I want
to know, being old enough that I did see it
first back in the day, I do remember seeing this
when it was on TV the first sure.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
And I'm going to argue with you here, okay, because
one thing is, one thing that we've seen over the
course of this thing is that they are all about
telling personal stories in uh you know, in these fifties
live it's this particular you know, uh adaptation that I
don't think like, I feel like the fact that they

(36:20):
have to spread it out so finn you know, it
gets spread thin because, you know, because we have to
cut around to all these different characters, and it doesn't
like they don't quite have the room or space, or
at least they don't use the space that they have
well enough to catch personally the way that they could Otherwise.
I think it's really well made. I think it's a
you know, but I just think that the script is

(36:41):
kind of lacking, and you know, in the presentation of
the fifties one.

Speaker 7 (36:46):
The three Jersey drunks stumbled out of the Patty Chefski yeah,
and fell into this right right their thing. There are
last line of defense. They're the only ones ready to go.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
Yeah, a Marty tangent if I may, Because, as we said,
Tom Bosley is in the seventies version of this. I
was watching his Academy interview and I had no idea
and stumbled on the fact that he made a pilot
for a Marty television series where he was Marty and

(37:21):
gave a really like five minutes on this and said
that whatever the original pilot was. I don't know if
Chayevsky wrote the pilot or not. But the network is
like he did not. Okay, well you know about this?
Do you know about this thing?

Speaker 4 (37:37):
No, I'm just I'm here. I'm just choosing to make
the decision that he did not.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
Thank you. But no. It's hilarious because in typical network fashion,
they're like, yeah, Marty's not interesting enough. Why don't we
get it like a cousin to like counterbalance mart And
it's like, yeah.

Speaker 4 (37:54):
To serialized Marty, it's them and not going, hey, what
do you want to do Marty? Like then yeah, not
meeting a girl and knowing the moonlighting.

Speaker 6 (38:03):
It's the moonlighting strategy. They never get together.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
Well, but I could honestly see, I could honestly see,
and especially it back then, the thinking that well, you
got his mother, you even got the other couple that
Betsy Palmer and I forget who played her husband in that.
And then I could see a kind of sixties Goldberg's
kind of slice of life show where Marty is dating

(38:31):
Nancy Marshawan and you know, whatever again, Yeah, shake your
head all you want, hardman, this is terrible and it
didn't make it, so yeah, thank god cooler heads prevailed.
But I could easily see them trying to make I mean, god,
they did. Mister Smith goes to Washington with Fess Parker

(38:51):
in the Jimmy Stewart role, right where so I guess he.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
Never succeeds at changing Washington, So that be a much
more naturalistic, sensical show. Right. Okay, there's a Gather.

Speaker 3 (39:06):
Universe where Marty went off for for several seasons, and
the versions of us in that universe are saying, how
could they have made a TV show and a mash
that would.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
Have never worked? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (39:16):
Exactly in that universe place, Howard Cunningham like he did
in the original Happy Days pilot that was made for
that was shown on Love American Style.

Speaker 6 (39:28):
American Style, Right, Alice, Alice doesn't live here anymore? Would
also be a very bad television.

Speaker 4 (39:34):
Oh that's very Wait a minute.

Speaker 5 (39:37):
Many Loves of Mary.

Speaker 4 (39:43):
Yeah, that's funny.

Speaker 7 (39:46):
Actually, the really interesting thing, which is the Westinghouse.

Speaker 4 (39:51):
Commercials, that's where you learn about nuclear energy. Yeah, what
we like talk about the nineteenth if these were the
nineteen fifties were apparently irony did not exist. There we
are talking about the wonders of nuclear power and nuclear
powered submarines and you know, the basically the threat of

(40:13):
the end of the world. While we're talking Wow during
as a commercial for a show about people panicking about the.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
End of the Yeah, but they're saying, don't worry about
nuclear powerland your.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
Money because if there ever was a macht vision, we
would irrigate them with nuclear power.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
Here's the head of our nuclear division, the guy who
when he appears on camera.

Speaker 2 (40:36):
Looks like he was just like caught and be like yes.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Something.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Well.

Speaker 6 (40:44):
One thing I love about the commercials during live television, though,
is they demonstrated how the product worked.

Speaker 4 (40:50):
Yeah, I appreciate that.

Speaker 7 (40:53):
All I could think was, like, what house had a
door wide enough to get this washer and dryer? And
there they were enormous. They just had these I mean,
they look really cool and they look like they'd probably
still work today.

Speaker 4 (41:08):
They were so.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Well built, exactly exactly and survive a blast. Yes, it's true,
very favorable. You're killing me. That's awesome. What else can
we say about the actual play? I mean, again, Burrow,
I I agree with you. Definitely a little loggie and
and and sortainly gets in the way of the.

Speaker 7 (41:31):
The best part is when uh, he's uh, the actor
is doing the reporter describing the alien coming out.

Speaker 4 (41:40):
I feel like he does that really well.

Speaker 7 (41:43):
And then they got back to people going being harrid
because they're just imagining, because when you listen to radio,
you were always imagining.

Speaker 4 (41:51):
Extremely hard to follow the stories.

Speaker 1 (41:54):
Yeah, I loved the I was gonna say, I love
the postscripts of I know it all along. I don't
know what you're talking about. Yeah, I didn't find it
funny at all. And then hey, CBS, you scant me
so much. I ran three hundred miles away with no
money on node and I have a gun and you're
responding story Buffalo.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
I know.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
I mean, and there's you know, supposedly somebody you know,
threatened to blow up the building, the CBS building and
stuff like that. You know, like, uh, they well, it
does feel like we should have followed that guy though
with the driving.

Speaker 6 (42:31):
Through uh when. One thing I really like about this
is the nested adaptations. We have a television show that's
about an adaption of a radio play that's an adaptation
for novel. And it's like like every time you get
a new medium, someone is going to We're gonna have
a holographic version of this TV show of the radio

(42:53):
play of the novel. It's just going to keep going.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
Have we all watched the PBS documentary about War the World?

Speaker 3 (43:00):
You won't talk about bad recreations after it's doing bad recreations.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
That one got a lot of.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
It of people going like we had heard of such
a thing, like what is this? But there's interesting stuff
in that. As a documentary, it's just every ten minutes
they'll have someone and you know that they got in
like Western cost going like the coolest eye was a fool.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
He's got it, he's got his Roosevelt Kim's nez On
and stuff like that.

Speaker 7 (43:32):
I do love that they rub it in with the
well you feel for this when it's clearly Halloween. Halloween
was the next night, Yeah, the fools choke, you know,
and the day before cheating.

Speaker 4 (43:47):
Yeah, except for the part where it's a fucking radio
play that they say is a radio play the entire
way through.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Yeah, you'd have to be happening.

Speaker 4 (43:56):
Murrow leaves that out. Yes, you know, they don't.

Speaker 6 (44:00):
I like the suggestion in the show that if you
just you know, walked into your house turned on the
radio and you've heard that the Nazis are making moves
in Europe and you hear something and you don't catch
the part about the aliens or the spaceship, you just
hear people dying.

Speaker 5 (44:13):
I mean, yeah, yeah, that's true.

Speaker 4 (44:16):
I mean, and I do think that that you know
that that that context is really relevant. I mean, everybody
points it out, but you know that that people would
be freaked out about this idea in general, and it
is relatable that that you know that there would just
be this heightened sense of you know, worriedness among rational people,
and then knuckle dragging morons would believe it was real.

Speaker 7 (44:40):
Burn On Americans. Is the fact that this was an
extremely popular book in the world. None of you clearly read, yes.

Speaker 4 (44:47):
I know, and not not. It's Look, I'm a big HG.
Wells fan, but it's like one hundred and eight pages long,
like it's it's not it ain't it's a warn piece.

Speaker 1 (44:58):
You know.

Speaker 5 (44:59):
You could have read this.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Book, you well, and it's it's the earliest electronic media
version of fake news. It's I don't understand how this
could get on the air. It's deplorable.

Speaker 4 (45:10):
Yeah, I wonder it really wasn't, you know. I mean,
like it really was just people putting on an an play,
you know, And I wonder too stupid to get.

Speaker 6 (45:17):
It if the original radio play spiked the sales of
the of the book at all. It's that's interesting question.

Speaker 4 (45:25):
Yeah, I did see that when Wells went to Hollywood,
he uh, one of one of the like it's it's
basically a footnote in uh, the Patrick McGilligan biography. But
apparently he considered doing an adaptation of War of the
World as a follow up to Kane. So, you know,
but what if many projects that.

Speaker 7 (45:45):
I mean, at this point, how long had the George
Paalll movie been out four years. Yeah, yeah, yeah, which,
by the way, I still love that movie.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
The great movie.

Speaker 5 (45:58):
I like a lot of it.

Speaker 4 (45:59):
I certainly like a lot of the you know, the
the production of it is great. The part at the
end where everybody goes to church and praise for the
Martians to go away and then they do is the
most fifties you know, I don't remember that. Yeah, then
they get it's very pronounced in it. But a great
looking movie. Really, do you guys have the germ? Yeah,

(46:19):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (46:19):
I don't remember the title of it, but I know
what Steven is talking about. In the eighties they broadcast
say it Again, special bulletin, Special bulletin, Thank.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
You Edwardsick before he became a director.

Speaker 1 (46:30):
Yes, interesting, and it's I've seen that on YouTube, So
I do know. What are you talking about? That HBO thing, Stephen, the.

Speaker 7 (46:39):
See the there were the Nostra Damus predicted the.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
No, this is a I don't know if it's on HBO, but.

Speaker 3 (46:49):
This was any of the eighties, Uh tell TV three
for TV movie that was on NBC.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
Yeah, it was was that was like a news was
like uh something.

Speaker 3 (47:01):
Like RBS news about terror, said uh in Charleston, South
Carolina and they would it played out and they blow
it up and it was like that.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
Version War of the Wolves.

Speaker 3 (47:15):
And with that one, I think they interrupted it, you know,
every time they went to commercial with.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Robotization.

Speaker 4 (47:22):
You know, we don't want to get through it.

Speaker 1 (47:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:26):
There's also a ghost Watch, a BBC thing that's great
about a fake haunting.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
Right, Yeah, that was that's something that I know.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
Yeah, yeah, so there go on.

Speaker 6 (47:40):
Uh, if we're just about done, I'd like to say
I I wish because Professor Pearson wasn't in uh trembled.

Speaker 1 (47:48):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (47:49):
My favorite part of the original radio play was not included,
which is when Professor Pearson runs into that stranger who's
hold up and he's got a really old mind and
this strange comes up with a plan and he's telling
Orson and Orson is skeptical. But the part that I
love so much, the stranger says, just imagine those Martian

(48:09):
machines and they start moving, but there's no Martians in them, see,
but men, men who learned how. And we turned those
death rays on martians and we turned it on men
and then just like.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
Whole New World Order.

Speaker 5 (48:24):
Yeah, this guy's writing the sequel.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 6 (48:27):
I love that part.

Speaker 1 (48:29):
What a world not my world friend? Good bye, Yeah, awesome, awesome,
so hilarious. No man I again. Uh And and because
of War the I mean that was my initial exposure
to Mercury Theater and it only made me seek out
more productions as a kid and even as an adult.
And luckily, if you go to in archive dot org,

(48:51):
a lot of the surviving ones are there, of both
Mercury Theater and Campbell playoffs, and they're.

Speaker 5 (48:56):
Good, they're great.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
Like I, you know, I'm super interested in you know,
like you know, radio drama and you know, and listening
to more recent radio drama stuff like it.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
I it's it led.

Speaker 4 (49:11):
Me back to listening to those you know, Mercury Theater
Campbell playhouse things, and they are often more ambitious than
a lot of you know a lot of modern like
podcast radio drama type stuff. And like he was, they
were just doing shit, so like just textured and ambitious
and great. Like I recommend everybody.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Go back and listen to people wonder like why was
Citizen King, you know orson Well's this is his first movie.
Why was this so confident? Why I was so groundbreaking?
Because he had those years of thought practice he was
actually doing something. But years of experience in radio.

Speaker 4 (49:48):
In radio on the stage and yeah, and bringing multi
media stuff into the stage stuff. I mean, he was
just a ridiculously ambitious, like and you know, talented person.

Speaker 6 (50:00):
And it was simultaneous. Like the night they did War
of the Worlds, he went back to the theater because
they were rehearsing the.

Speaker 4 (50:07):
Natons de yeah, which was just apparently sort of a
disaster play. But yeah, yeah, no.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
But again, the reason why I think the thirties and
forties stuff is superior to today's audio drama in a
lot of ways is it was the dominant medium, unlike
television in this part. Well, by fifty seven it certainly
was up and running and very established. But you go
back to forty nine, well, like last week with Captain Video,
you know, you were getting these people who couldn't find

(50:36):
jobs in film and in theater. And in the case
of you know, old time radio, it was the dominant
daily right like television is today, and so they had
very talented writers and sound men and actually.

Speaker 4 (50:52):
But it is also entirely about the people that made it.
Everybody has the same damn tools, right, so you know,
you garbage move or you can make Citizen King with
the same damn camera, right, So absolutely, you know it
is about the people who made it.

Speaker 1 (51:07):
Sure, Omira, I didn't know about this, apparently, Miles says
there was a nineteen sixty eight k w KB version
of The War of the World's I didn't know about that.
I do remember again from the seventies, the rock opera
that was an album version of the original War of
the World story, and that was kind of like that,

(51:29):
what's that?

Speaker 3 (51:30):
But so that that guy got doing his rock opera
about War of the Worlds. That apparently tied up the
rights for War of the Worlds for like ages, and
everybody wanted to do War of the World likes. Apparently,
like wow, Wilburg version came out, he had to pay
that guy some money. Wow, the War of the World's

(51:50):
rock Opera had just you know, for some reason, he
had I think it's like War Worlds's public domain by now,
but he had.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
Up some lights or something like.

Speaker 4 (52:03):
That's crazy.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
I'm looking at if you want some.

Speaker 3 (52:05):
Good uh you know, copyright money, like see some assist
money make a rock opera, I guess.

Speaker 4 (52:11):
Yeah, you make that rock opera about what's just about
you know what, what's what's just barely not in the
public domain right now? You know your rock opera about
the Great Gaspier in nineteen seventy eight, Jeff Wayne is
the rock version of War of the Worlds and it's
really Yeah, I'm still going to give it a try.

Speaker 1 (52:36):
All right. So like those kind of like those early
animated films of the eighties that tried to grift off
of you know, heavy metal and the like and stuff,
and some of the unbelievable crappy animated sci fi movies
we got from like you know, eighty three through eighty
eight or so.

Speaker 5 (52:54):
I'm unaware of these. So rock and rule Rule.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
What's a what's the one George Lucas did upon something?

Speaker 1 (53:07):
Oh right, twice a time twice a bout of time
is actually funny, Okay.

Speaker 3 (53:13):
Christopher Guest is a voice of that.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
He might be Oh look what William has?

Speaker 6 (53:18):
Can I recommend these if you if you want to
learn more about Wells. Yeah, the three books set my
Son and cut Cow, and he's writing the fourth book
right now.

Speaker 4 (53:31):
Also, also the the Patrick McGilligan Young Orson book is
excellent as well. I'm a big fan of his right.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
And honestly, I would say the Bogdanovich this is orson
well oh sure, yeah, and yeah, man, I mean and
got if you there you go, and really if you
can get the audio, the audio actually is available on YouTube,
and those are the actual interviews, so you really hear
Wells in his own words talking about everything.

Speaker 5 (53:54):
Yeah, it's really good stuff.

Speaker 4 (53:56):
There's you know, there's there's tons of well stuff out there,
and it's all really pretty entered ating for the most point,
you know, so I would I would only avoid, uh,
the lunches with horts and book which.

Speaker 7 (54:09):
Henry Henry the only place he talks about Transformers the
movie though.

Speaker 5 (54:14):
Oh I got to read it.

Speaker 1 (54:16):
I just did.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
He just he calls it terrible Japanese trash.

Speaker 4 (54:20):
I think that's yes, sure, I like, uh, come on,
like the I mean that that. I'm only saying, don't
read that thing because it's exploitive.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (54:30):
You know, Henry Jacqueline.

Speaker 4 (54:32):
Doesn't have an ounce of talent this entire body, and
like he is, and he was also recording these things
without telling Wells and then put together in a book
much much later, so not not above board sort of
shipp there like, but yeah, the uh so, anyway, we're
done with this and uh the so so next week

(54:52):
we'll be covering uh the uh the quick scandals, you know,
uh you know, so uh you know, we'll post particular
episodes to take a look at and but that should
be fun and you know, and we can look at
the movie quis show as well, and you know.

Speaker 1 (55:08):
Yeah, I think luckily the episode of twenty one where
we see Charles van Dorin and watch him give the
answers that he was given by the show producers and stuff,
we can watch that episode. I would also recommend that
we watch a sixty four thousand dollars question episode because

(55:30):
they would have and then you see this in the
in the Redford film as well, that if they didn't
like a contestant, they would try and push him off.
And I suggest we watched one of the episodes with
doctor Joyce Brothers because well, also near and dear to
my heart, her subject was boxing. Oh yeah right, and
she won This is the game show is what really

(55:51):
made her career, and they didn't like her and they
tried really hard to stump her with really hard boxing questions. Okay,
there you go. Not only a great episode of Kinescope,
and also a tease for the following episode about the
quiz show scandal, which fascinates the hell out of me.
I gotta tell you, every time I hear about Charles
Van Dorin and Herb Stemple and Jack Barry and twenty

(56:15):
one and his other game shows after the fact, I
mean he came back even in the sixties. He really
wasn't gone that long of an exile period. So and
then of course in the seventies he had The Joker's
Wild another show. All these shows you can watch on YouTube.
You can really find an old ridiculous game shows. I
think they're hilarious to watch, the fashions, everything about them.

(56:37):
But there you go. An episode of Kinescope. For today's
Word Balloon, Thanks a lot for listening. Really fun stuff
coming up this week. Dino Haspot Bill is going to
be back on Tuesday, Jesse Blase Snyder is going to
be back with a new project on Monday, and lots
of more surprises. So join us this week on word
Balloon until next time. Word Balloon is a copyright feature

(56:58):
of Shaky Productions. To be Right twenty twenty five