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Extra Credit 024 - War of the Worlds Adaptations (Patreon)

Published:
2024-06-30 15:00:08
Imported:
2024-06
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Join us for a discussion of the MANY War of the Worlds adaptations!

Listen here to Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast.

And here is the uncut interview between Orson Welles and H.G. Wells.

And of course - the 1978 Jeff Wayne musical!

WILL OUR PODCAST HOSTS RETURN?!?!?!

Files

Comments

Allison Albright

I, for one, welcome our new Martian overlords. Though I do find it a bit of a stretch that a species that uses phrenology could master interplanetary travel. I always love interviews with Orson Wells. I bet he was great at parties. Awesome to hear the two Well(e)s together. Just a really cool interview.

Dave Machin

I had a bunch of deep thoughts on things but now I can’t stop laughing and can’t remember what they were.

robert oszakiewski

Given a choice between the 1953 George Pal version or the Spielberg's 2005 version, I'll take the 1953 one anytime. Part of the fun in watching the film is watching the character actors filling the minor roles, such as the three characters approaching the Martian ship rising out of the crater, which itself is a great scene, since the way it's staged the Martian heat ray is aimed at the audience in the theater watching the film. That's not to knock the Spielberg version, which has a good performance by Tom Cruise and has the red plants growing all over the place, creating an almost surreal atmosphere, heightened by the scene of cars waiting at a railroad crossing watching a flaming train go by. The 1953 version also has those beautiful manta ships, possibly the best alien vessel ever designed. As for the 1988-89 television series, the less said the better. While it had potential, it just never worked.

Matt Heerdt

Ughhh, how did I miss the WOTW-MST3K link after all these years? For shame!

Ann Knight

There was an episode of American Experience, maybe 10 or more years ago, about the Welles' radio broadcast. It suggested that Welles himself promoted the idea there had been a panic, at least in the period immediately following the broadcast. Perhaps a not so subtle bit of self-promotion on his part. (?) My mom listened to it with her family, she told me it was abundantly clear it was "just a show" and to be enjoyed. She said she never knew of anyone panicking because of it. Sorry, for me there is only one Dr Clayton Forrester, and it ain't Gene Barry. ;)

MonsterTalk

I've also heard it said that some of the "panic" was from the newspapers who were freaking out that radio was eating their lunch. However, like many "explanations" I can't help but think that this story had its own legs that ran without guidance from any mastermind or particular influencer. The panic itself may have been exaggerated, but it has a recursive quality to it that the more one says it was *merely* a media panic, the more it grows examples of how it manifested in various ways and gets new attributions for potential causes. When are we going to recognize that stories are evolving monsters who only use us as hosts to gather material for their everlasting mutating bodies?

Pearce Duncan

About to listen to this. Hope you managed to watch the 1981 satirical Polish version, which was banned for decades for political subversion and has one of those amazing posters that every movie seems to get in Poland.

Robby H.

I watched the 2005 War of the World's in theaters with my Das when I was 11. It scared me so much! Between that and Signs, I love alien invasion movies, despite the many (oh so many) bad ones. Two of my favorite alien invasion movies are Jordan Peele's Nope (2022) and Brian Duffield's No One Will Save You (2023), only on Hulu.

Steve

The chances of any bears coming from Mars is a million to one he said. But still they come!

Steve

Can't wait for the next episode of Zemlek watches Star Trek.

MortalGlare

That might be one of the best outros I have ever listened to on this show, oh my god.

Jason Thompson

Oh my fucking god. That interview between Wells & Welles is both such a love fest and also feels so REAL. These two famous guys talking like you could imagine people talking today. And they both nail it on defending the value of horror and disaster stories, while recognizing it’s not so funny when you’re in the middle of a war.

Rob Valentine

I picked the wrong Extra Credit episode to change my Patreon tier. Oh, well. There goes the planet.

Prince Prawn

I have no children, so I guess there is ya'll and my grindin teef. Take my money!

Eldritch Scerry

If we have to have Martian overlords, so be it. But I don’t feel comfortable sponsoring their Martian phrenology via Patreon.

It's a Ghost.

As a kid, the 1977 animated Hobbit movie totally creeped me out, and after listening to some of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds, I’m guessing it would have totally creeped me out, too.

lazyelvis

I was 19 back in 1978 and I do remember that Jeff Wayne “War of the Worlds” album when it came out. I was a freshman at Temple University at the time. A few songs actually got a decent amount of airplay on Philly’s FM radio stations, particularly “Forever Autumn” sung by Justin Hayward. Progressive radio stations would sometimes play the full album as a late night special event. It was well thought of at the time. Not really my thing, but a friend of mine bought the album and played it often.

Colm Kearns

Ironically the unauthorised sequel to War of the Worlds (mentioned by other listeners in previous episodes), written by Lovecraft's favourite astronomer, Garret P. Serviss, depicts the Martians as having essentially perfected phrenology. They artificially grow particular parts of their brains to increase skills in a given field (war, administration, etc.) rather than teaching and studying those skills. This is discovered by phrenologists who are part of the all-star team of scientists Edison assemble for Earth's counterstrike against Mars. Can't win a war without a few good phrenologists on your team.

Keith Allison

My parents bought me the Jeff Wayne album when I was a kid, and I absolutely loved it, so it got enough traction in the US at the time that even a farm boy from Kentucky owned a copy. Self-serving plug: a spell back, I wrote an article about it, still up on an old site I don't really maintain anymore. Link at the end. Possibly the most important adaptation of the story was the Great Illustrated Classics abridged version, which was the first version I read an dwas beloved by many an elementary school student in the Scholastic Book Fair Day days. The other not-exactly adaptation that meant a ton to me as a kid: John Christopher's TRIPODS trilogy. Granted, it's not exactly or even barely an adaptation of WotW, but it does have humans dealing wth sluggy chaps in tripods. https://teleport-city.com/2013/01/25/jeff-wayne-war-of-the-worlds/

Drix

Oh my gods the podcast has been invaded. I'm panicking, there's a panic stirring up.

Josh Bell

Oh well, we had a good run.

Ben A

Greetings, Martians. Since you’re interested in conquering podcasts on your way to subjugate humanity, I should point you to an old episode of Radiolab, where they discussed the many adaptations of The War of the Worlds. The adaptation that counts as the most alarming, and that really did cause a panic (and deaths) was a fake radio broadcast in Quito, Ecuador in 1949. It’s worth listening to the interviews in the Radiolab episode. The short version is that the fake broadcast (a la Orson Wells’) created a panicked mob, which burned down the newspaper building that also housed the radio station. Over a dozen people died and a few escaped with severe injuries. Needless to say, the prank went a bit too far. On an unrelated note, speaking of alien invasion stories, I’d recommend Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End. It was also a forerunner in the genre and had interesting ideas about free will and humaneness. (His Rendezvous with Rama is excellent, but not an invasion and definitely more of a scientific mood piece than an action filled tale.) Here’s more info on the riot: https://historyradio.org/2017/01/21/the-war-of-the-worlds-in-ecuador/ And a link to the Radiolab episode: https://radiolab.org/podcast/war-worlds

Ko-Wahi Kit

Dang. Election season in the US, AI programs creating unbreakable secret languages to talk with each other, and now my favorite and oldest podcast has been invaded by alien draculas! Well I guess it’s not so bad, I’m now deeply invested the sordid interpersonal lives of Chikatron 7, Zimlacc 24, and Martian Keith. I hope WiFi can penetrate their stomachs so I can keep up with the podcast after being devoured.

Fred Bednarski

Such a shame that the Martians took over so close to Chris ascending and becoming the "benevolent dictator" he promised in the past. Just minutes before in the episode he mentions that "time means nothing to him" which was a clear indication of achieving superhuman status. Well, I guess we now should learn a bit more about our Martian overlords, and what better way than with this really well made War of the Worlds "mockumentary" (and one of my favorite adaptations): The Great Martian War 1913-1917 (psst... it's available to watch on archive.org)

Scott Butler

I absolutely love the Jeff Wayne album. My parents had the album (along with others in their rock opera collection), and I was hooked on this amazing story. I hadn't read the book at this stage, and the album formed my first introduction to the story. I agree it can sound a little hokey to a modern ear, but in the early 80's it was awesome to a young sci-fi geek like myself. The amazing sound choice in some of the tracks really captures the feel of different scenes, especially the Red Weed with its strange creeping sound track, it vividly conjures the scene of this creeping, growing, spreading strangeness. It also has the best rendition I have heard of the Martian sounds. But the absolute pinacle for me is the awesome Thunderchild! It pulls you along with this hope and can feel the cheers of the crowd as they watch the tripods get taken down. And then the final, doomed closing as the melt the little ship's valient heart. Spurred by the podcast, I have it on now for a re-listen and it still holds up. At least to me. UUUUULLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAA!

Aaron La Vene

I straight up went full eye roll and audibly “these f-ing guys” as soon as the “abduction started”. And whatever the heck followed was ….. man. Y’all just prove u can do whatever silly dumb stuff u want and we will just eat it up . Loved this chat about war of the worlds and I agree about how people seem to constantly miss what makes the book so riveting and good

superkeaton

I remember watching the 2005 movie at a drive-in theater in Pennsylvania as a teen. The movie was mediocre, even at the time, but man there was something special about watching an okay science fiction movie on a big outdoor screen.

Jeremy Impson

On a personal note, I have a very fond memory of managing to record the Mercury Radio Company's adaptation when I was a young teenager, some time in the early/mid 1990s. I listened to that tape until it wore out. Being both the 90s and a kid, I had no idea how to replace it. (Today you can get it from The Internet Archive.) It awoke an interest in both "Old Time Radio", or what I now refer to more generally as audio drama, and to the "epistolary" from of narrative fiction (e.g. as found in Call of Cthulhu and Stoker's Dracula) where the action is relayed in a second person narrative style. In particular my favorite variation of that style is the alarming public broadcast subgenre that, after War of the Worlds (1938) got employed in Ghost Watch (1992), Without Warning (1994), and my absolute favorite (because I stumbled across it unwittingly on late night cable, at a time I was just barely old enough to suspect it wasn't real but couldn't be sure) Special Bulletin (1983). All of these are on YouTube and should be watched. Finally, I should add that after this whole Internet thing kicked off a few years later, my interest led me to discover the HPLHS' Dark Adventure Radio Theatre by our treasured reader Andrew Lehman (and rare reader Sean Branney). Their version of Call of Cthulhu remains the best ever. (YES I FOUND IT ON NAPSTER, AND YES I HAVE SINCE PAID FOR WHAT I STOLE, AND ADDITIONALLY HAVE PURCHASED EVERY ALBUM SINCE.) Many years later, their adaptation of Dagon is the pinnacle of this style. And on top of all that, it was the HPLHS' who drew my attention to HPPodcraft some time in 2009, and here we are. So basically HG Wells is why I'm a Strange Stories for Strange Listeners (or whatever) supporter to this day.

Robert Reineke

The last time I watched the 50s movie I was struck that they were trying to do a contemporary Biblical epic. There's even a Biblical epic playing at the local theater in the movie.

James D

In 1978 a pair of chunky black headphone cans were placed on my five year old head, the album art booklet handed to me and that was it, mind blown for life. I have a strong memory of thinking, for a little while, it was an actual event that happened in history. The 50's movie remains the best screen adaptation I reckon. The one to avoid though is the 2019 BBC miniseries, which strays so far from Wells' narrative, to it's detriment, I can't even... However in recent years BBC Radio 4, Big Finish and Sherwood Sound have each produced excellent new audio drama productions.

ChiveOnOCM

Fantastic coverage, and discussion.

ChiveOnOCM

ZimLack24 is a player.

James Anthony

Pfeifer: "can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?" Me: "🎶You better run, you better take cover🎶"

Bryony Marsh

Orson Welles? More like 'Orse 'n' Cart, amirite? Actually, I loved this study and I binge-listened through the four original parts. Few stories from so long ago retain so much relevance. Thanks, guys.