War of the Worlds Scandal (2007)

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Orson Welles's notorious and über-controversial radio broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' qualifies as one of the most legendary and pivotal media events of pre-war America. In addition to launching Welles's career and paving the road to Citizen Kane (1941), the broadcast, of course, allegedly… More Orson Welles's notorious and über-controversial radio broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' qualifies as one of the most legendary and pivotal media events of pre-war America. In addition to launching Welles's career and paving the road to Citizen Kane (1941), the broadcast, of course, allegedly triggered waves of mass panic, suicides, urban violence, and all manner of assorted mayhem. Or did it? Over the years, urban legends have sprung up around the events (including the specious idea that the mid-broadcast blackout was in some way planned). The historical documentary The Orson Welles' War of the Worlds Scandal cuts through the myth to investigate what really happened, inside and outside of the WABC broadcasting station, on October 30, 1938. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi