The Panic Broadcast: Portrait of an Event.

by Howard Koch

1 HARDCOVER BOOK WITH DUST COVER

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science

163 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Howard E. Koch was an American playwright and screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.

Reviews

[Amanda Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and pleasant jaunt into a bite-sized slice of history: the Orson Welles radio show "Invasion from Mars." Author Howard Koch is also the writer of the infamous radio script, and this sort-of-memoir was published thirty years after the show's airing. In addition to the complete script, it includes copied pages of newspaper articles (both fact and opinion), satirical cartoons, black-and-white photos of Grover's Mill, NJ (where the "invasion" took place).

Two notable chapters are "The Aftermath," which details the response of both the public at large and of individuals who were listening to the presentation, and "A Martian Visits the Scene of His Crime," in which Mr. Koch and his wife travel to Grover's Mill to hear first-hand accounts of the townspeople who have lived in a place he accidentally made legendary. The final two chapters are dated now as they include speculation on colonizing Mars (by the 1980s, predicts Arthur C. Clarke in the book's introduction!) and an enthusiastic thumbs-up to "today's youth," namely the Woodstock generation, who Koch watched grow up and who he hopes might bring about permanent world peace sometime. The latter feels like a rabbit trail from the book's purpose (psychedelic cover notwithstanding), but on the whole this obscure little collection of archives and musings is well worth reading for anyone interested in the main topic.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great companion to "War of the Worlds," which I read in my book club in December. It gives the play "Invasion from Mars" that caused the panic on an alien invasion, and it was easy for me to see how that could happen, the broadcasts were realistic. It also had news articles and what happened after the broadcast, to those involved. It contains information and myth on Mars, which is now out dated but still interesting. The last chapter is a political/social statement by Mr. Koch, with a very liberal leaning, and seems to fit a common theme of the 1960s, when this was written. Really enjoyed reading this!

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a radio play of The War of the Worlds rewritten as a series of news bulletins and inadvertently caused a panic across the country. In 1970, the writer who adapted the play published his version, reminisced about the whole scandal, and reproduced newspaper articles and editorials and cartoons related to the panic. He also interviewed Arthur C. Clarke about when humans will go to Mars ("sometime in the eighties it should be quite feasible").

People's reactions to the broadcast varied from "The world is ending" to "We've got to fight them" to "At least now I won't have to pay my bills" to "We might as well eat this chicken now until saving it till tomorrow, since tomorrow will never come."

[Paul Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult to believe the reactions this broadcast caused, particularly when you read the script and notice the interruptions and the distorted time scale. But there's plenty of news paper clippings and interviews to say yes, people did leave their houses and see Martians in the sky.

A fascinating book.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made this intriguing discovery at McKay's the other day, and I'd say I got my 75 cents of enjoyment out of it. This thing is a brisk read, with the bulk of it comprised of a re-printing of the original radio play.

Koch provides some compelling insight into the tenor of the times (the thought that some believed it was actually Hitler, not the Martians, is one that I must confess hadn't occurred to me), but the whole thing ends with an odd screed arguing for peace and unity on the planet (in part because the planet Mars apparently fucking sucks).

I probably wouldn't go out of your way to track this down unless you're just hopelessly immersed in all manner of Welles ephemera the way I have been lately. A pretty grand find for a bargain bin, though.

[Jonathan Dowdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Koch, I'm struck again by the strange symmetry of progress: how we sprint forward across decades only to find ourselves circling the same anxieties, the same fears, the same fragile seams in the human mind. It's astonishing - and yet not surprising - that distance does not guarantee evolution.

[Libby Hufham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that this old books talks about the same problems we talk about today… wealth disparity/distribution, the lesser evil problems with elections, perpetuation of the “youth will bring world peace” theory, and more… very interesting and a fun read about the panic broadcast!

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review with multiple quotes from the text, which includes the radio play, can be found here at Booklikes. Reasons that I'm being rude (as making you have to go elsewhere to read a full review seems) can be found in my profile here or at Booklikes. If Amazon is going to start messing about with reviews (what users can and can't discuss) then that's too much bother for me - I'd rather be able to just write reviews than worry about what I should and shouldn't write about.

What all the text on the cover says, in case you can't read it on the jpg: The Panic Broadcast, The Whole Story of The Night The Martians Landed, Orson Welles' Legendary Radio Show Invasion From Mars, The Complete Script, With Many Photographs, Cartoons And Newspaper Articles of the Astounding Aftermath! An Introductory Interview with Arthur C. Clark

Howard Koch went on from the Panic broadcast to work in Hollywood, where (among other work) he was one of the screenwriters to work on Casablanca.

The book's contents:
[In parentheses is the quote that's at the start of each chapter.]

Introduction
I. The World Came To An End - Almost ("In a sense I myself was one of the victims...")
II. The Radio Play ("Incredible as it may seem...")
III. The Aftermath ("I thought it was all up with us.")
IV. A Martian Visits the Scene of His Crime ("...wild night.")
V. Mars: Fact and Legend ("A planet of ebbing life...")
VI. The Privileged Voice ("People can be made to swallow poison...")

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember learning about this infamous broadcast in school. I'm not sure how old I was, but I do remember thinking that it was so crazy that so many were tricked by such an unbelievable story. In this book, the man who adapted the original H.G. Wells story, "War of the Worlds" for broadcast, offers some interesting hypotheses as to why.

I found this book very readable, yet still very much a product of the time in which it was published (1970). It reflects the excitement about space and space exploration that characterized much of the 20th century. I assume the 1969 moon landing may have had something to do with that. "....sometime in the eighties it (landing on Mars) should be quite feasible" (snerk)

In this book, Howard Koch, the writer of the teleplay, does come off as a bit elitist, but for the most part "The Panic Broadcast" is a fun, interesting, quick read.

[Eric Cartier · Rating 4 out of 5]

In addition to the radio play script, Koch's critical essay, an interview with Arthur C. Clarke, and photos of Welles, this bright and compact paperback contains editorial cartoons and newspaper articles published within days of the broadcast. It's a fascinating and informative work about a work that rattled the States. Highly recommended for fans of Welles and The War of the Worlds.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surely you've heard of the famous radio adaptation of "The War of the Worlds". Howard Koch tells the story of how he came to write the script and how it drew him to Hollywood.

[Kirsten Simkiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very interesting read. I had heard the stories about it, but seeing all the contributing factors to the hysteria and learning about it was fascinating to me.