I'm sure it seems passé to other OTR fans to be talking about "War of the Worlds" - or even cliché with Halloween upon us. Still, I'm linking to an article about "War of the Worlds" because it appears at my employer's website, and how often do they post anything about OTR? With quotes from one of my colleagues? That's worth celebrating!
Halloween Broadcast of Notorious War of the Worlds Radio Drama Turns 85
Welcome back to Boris Karloff month! Today I'm looking at an episode of NBC University Theatre. This was an odd series where listeners could hear radio adaptations of great novels to assist themselves in correspondence classes. It led to a lot of adaptations of works which you would have otherwise never hear on radio! In this instance, it's an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel "The History of Mr. Polly", starring Boris Karloff in the lead role. Although Wells is still a widely-read author, this humorous novel is mostly forgotten today. The episode is from October 17, 1948. You can hear it at Youtube by clicking here!
Some time ago I blogged about the H.G. Wells short story "Pollock and the Porroh Man," a jungle tale set in Sierra Leone on the subject of native witchcraft and revenge - perhaps the first story of its type? It's certainly a story of its time but made for a good radio adaptation on Escape.
Recently a copy of the Alfred Hitchcock short fiction collection Bar the Doors crossed my desk. Not only did the book republish the Wells story but on the back cover for some reason it depicts a map of the story's location:
Now, the map is pretty much useless - there is no point in the story where you are benefited from knowing how one location relates to another. It's enough to know that Sierra Leone is in Africa, frankly. And yet, simplistic as the image is, it was such an unexpected discovery that I find I kind of like it. Shows me for a sucker, eh? You've just got to slap 'Sierra Leone' on something and there I am...
Ah, cable television, an outlet to worlds beyond the mere confines of what came over broadcast television and what my parents were willing to rent from the video store. But then, who would complain about The War of the Worlds 1953 film by George Pal? This was one my parents happily watched with me and it caused a minor sensation in my imagination as I sought out my own copy of the H.G. Wells novel. Better still, it led to my father sharing his two-record copy of the 1938 Mercury Theater on the Air adaptation by Orson Welles, proving an important moment in the development of my interest in old-time radio.
Depictions of the Martians may have varied from one adaptation to another, but to this day the only one which freaks me out is the 1953 film version and I'm not convinced my youth is the reason why. Pal showed his creatures only briefly and the Martian's sudden appearance gives an electrifying jolt because it's both unexpected and, obviously, quite inhuman what with the Simon Says board it has for a face. Even as I went to add the image of the Martian you see above I had to repress a shudder. For 1953, that is a mighty monstrous Martian.
It's taken me years to realize it, but this story is set within Sierra Leone! Some of you may recall I visited Sierra Leone in April, 2012 and consequently, I have a better idea now of what Wells was trying to establish in this story. I don't know if Wells ever visited Sierra Leone, however. If you'd like to read an authentic account of mysticism in Sierra Leone, I recommend Tim Butcher's Chasing the Devil: the Search for Africa's Fighting Spirit (Chatto & Windus, 2010).
You can download a copy of this radio show from archive.org here.
