The Night That Panicked America

"The Night That Panicked America" is an adaption of the famous War of the Worlds broadcast of October 30, 1938. I'm watching this on October 30, 2000, the 62nd anniversary of the actual broadcast. A 30-year-old Nicholas Meyer wrote the excellent screenplay and supervised the production of this made-for-TV movie, making sure it was done in an historically detailed and accurate way. I am very, very impressed by this production, and I doubt that it could have been done any better. The movie usually shows up on the Sci-Fi Channel around Halloween. Look for many future youthful stars such as Meredith Baxter, John Ritter, and Casey Kasem.

This is a must for anyone interested in the career of Orson Welles. Paul Shenar, who played the role of Welles in this production, is much too old for the role but his voice is close to the beautiful voice of Welles.