Vic Morrow

Cliff DeYoung

Michael Constantine

Walter McGinn

Eileen Brennan

Meredith Baxter

Tom Bosley

Will Geer

Paul Shenar

John Ritter

Granville Van Dusen

Burton Gilliam

Joshua Bryant

Liam Dunn

Shelley Morrison

Walker Edmiston

Marcus J. Grapes

Casey Kasem

Ron Rifkin

Byron Webster

Clarke Gordon

Linda Dano

Tracy Brooks Swope

Hanna Landy

Robert Lussier

Ed Bakey

Bob Harks

Michelle Stacy

Jules Brenner

Howard Koch

Joseph Sargent

Charlie Picerni

Monty Elliott

Drama

TV Movie

The Night That Panicked America

The Culzean Corporation

Paramount Television

United States of America

**_The Martians are coming, the Martians are coming!!!_**

On the night before Halloween, 1938, Orson Welles directs a radio adaptation of HG Wells' novel The War of the Worlds from forty years prior. The "breaking news" style of ominous storytelling convinced many listeners throughout America to take it seriously, causing a panic. The illusion of realism was reinforced by the lack of commercial interruptions, which meant that the first break didn’t come until after all of the alarming "news" had been given.

A television production, “The Night that Panicked America” (1975) works well enough to help you see how Welles’ show could deceive those who failed to hear the opening announcement indicating that the show was a work of fiction. Paul Shenar does a good job playing Welles and there are several familiar faces, like Vic Morrow, Eileen Brennan, Meredith Baxter, Will Geer, Tom Bosley and John Ritter just before his success with Three’s Company.

The ending fittingly mentions the town of Concrete, Washington, which is located 96 miles northeast of Seattle. During the midpoint of the broadcast a coincidental power failure plunged the town of (then) one thousand people into darkness. Needless to say, they were probably the most terrified listeners in America.

It runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B

English

WLS Channel 7 - The ABC Friday Night Movie - "The Night That Panicked America" (Opening, 1975)