WISE WORDS:

 

WISE WORDS:

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: SUPERMAN VS THE MARTIANS

An Alternate Reality: Mars Attacks Grover's Mill...

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles, abetted by scriptwriter Howard Koch and a group of talented "Mercury Theatre On the Air" performers, offered H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” to what became a panic-stricken, radio audience.

The live, hour-long adaptation was part of the Welles-hosted, CBS anthology series and an intended, Halloween treat. However, some have disputed Welles' cause, claiming that he and his troupe wished to unhinge listeners for publicity. (The weekly program was no ratings winner.) Welles had hell to pay the next day from an incensed public. Whatever the show's intent, this particular “War of the Worlds” made many believe a veritable Martian vanguard had descended upon Earth, per its mock news reports and military-styled snippets.

In Koch's script, the initial cylinder crashes in Grover’s Mill (West Windsor), NJ, just a hop and a skip from where I reside. Listening to the recorded broadcast, as I did each Halloween as a boy, I was proud that my home, Trenton (and surrounding Mercer County) was referenced among events. This was, indeed, “War of the Worlds” refashioned for me, and to this day, I absorb the broadcast with unceasing, sentimental adoration. (Whenever I hear the "Mercury Theatre" theme music, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat, my mind turns to "War of the Worlds". That's how much the adaptation has impacted me.)

Throughout the presentation, Welles performs the periodic role of Princeton’s Professor Richard Pierson, who stands in lieu of the novel's journalist; in the play’s second half, Pierson meets a crass counterpart to the novel’s artilleryman, played by Carl Frank. William Alland, who went on to produce "The Creature from the Black Lagoon", "It Came from Outer Space" and "This Island Earth", voiced the Meridian Room announcer and an artillery gunner. 

Perhaps the most convincing vocalization comes from Frank Readick (the first actor to play the Shadow), who portrays on-the-spot reporter Carl Phillips. Readick based Phillips' tonality after Herbert Morrison, who covered the Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, NJ the year prior. Readick's empathetic fervor conveyed that something monstrous was, indeed, transpiring, even if its outlandish content should have signaled the contrary. 

At the time of the broadcast, it was common for listeners to turn their dials to other stations, if a commercial or uninteresting interlude occurred. Some speculate that when listeners switched from the popular "Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show", the "Mercury Theatre" utterances didn't sound like a standard program, but rather a cobbled series of urgent transmissions, and from that point, people stay tuned. Friends and family phoning one another about the "news interruptions" may have further contributed to the frenzy. (By the halfway mark, CBS confirmed that the presentation was, in fact, a "Mercury Theatre" adaptation of Well's novel, leaving the script to phase to a traditional, dramatic format for the rest of the story.)

Prior to the announcement, CBS had received an avalanche of calls demanding verification or dismissal of the simulated accounts. Many were outraged that they had been fooled. Broadcast regulations were modified in the program's wake to prevent any such recurrence. 

Some mass-media historians claim that reports exaggerated the program's resulting hysteria for any number of hypothetical reasons. Perhaps so, but the play's legendary influence continues to grow, in spite of (and perhaps because of) the skeptics. In 1988, a monument was erected in Grover's Mill to commemorate the program's 50th anniversary and its cultural repercussions.  

The play's specialized structure (and the air of altered reality it invokes) makes the "Mercury Theatre" version of "War of the Worlds" one of the novel's most revered. It still stands as one of Welles' greatest achievements, on a par with "Citizen Kane". 

Give this classic a listen today at ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzC3Fg_rRJM.  You're certain to succumb to its chilling ambiance, though as dear Orson reminds us at program's end: There's no need to panic..."It's Halloween."

RIP JARED MARTIN...

You covered lots of television turf, but to science-fiction fans, you'll be forever remembered as the diligent Dr. Harrison Blackwood of "War of the Worlds", not to mention the futuristic Varian of the unjustly short-lived "Fantastic Journey". You also made the memorable rounds in other imaginative productions, like "West World '73"; "Men of the Dragon"; "The Incredible Hulk"; "Project UFO"; "The Six Million Dollar Man"; "Tales of the Gold Monkey"; and "Wonder Woman". No matter what the genre, you never failed to be sophisticated and charming: a man's man whenever push came to shove and above all, a darn good actor. 

An Alternate Reality #1: War of the Worlds Goliath

Ever since I was a youngster, I've been an avid "War of the Worlds" fan, whether of the H.G. Wells' text or the various productions that have emerged in its wake. When I discovered a couple years back that an animated, "steampunk" version was on the horizon, I got overwhelmingly excited to say the least. Hot dog!--at long last, I finally got to see the film, having stumbled upon a copy at a local Walmart.

This particular entry is entitled "War of the Worlds: Goliath": a Malaysian made sequel (from Tripod Productions), with an English-tongued cast.

After a harrowing prologue linked to the original invasion, the story commences in 1914, just prior to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, whose death ushered in the Great War. In this instance, however, the reverberating effects of Ferdinand's ultimate demise prove fleeting, due to another pending Martian onslaught, which naturally brings all earthly factions together to fight for the obvious, common cause.

In the context of director Joe Pearson and writer David Abramowitz's epic, Earth's nations have, in truth, long since anticipated such a return. As such, an elite, multinational military group called ARES (Allied Resistance Earth Squadrons) has manufactured a fleet of towering, tripod machines based on Martian technology (which resembles the likes of "RoboCop'"s ED209s and "Star Wars'" AT-ST Walkers). Additionally, as a prevailing reminder of the Martians' eminent existence (and unsettling threat of re-occupation), NY is characterized by a distinct blend of steampunk and art deco characteristics: a radically modern world than would have otherwise surfaced without the alien influence.

As should come as no surprise, the Martians have also made advancements during the reprieve, having constructed super-sleek, flying machines (which resemble the original "Battlestar Galactica" Cylon Raiders or arguably the "Independence Day" alien crafts) to combat ARES' bi/triplanes and its awe-inspiring, war zeppelins, including the Leviathan, which figures into several of the film's rousing battle sequences. Also to their advantage, the Martians are now impervious to the bacteria that previously halted them, making it all the easier for them to stomp incessantly about, blasting structures with their Heat Rays and inserting humans into their weird, cylindrical cages to use as nourishment. 

Naturally, ARES wastes no time to cease such ghastly activities, and led by British Captain Eric Wells (who as a lad, watched his parents perish from a Heat Ray and later coins the term, "Goliath", for his own first-in-the-line,  mega-bulked, appendaged tank), they don't stand much a chance, particularly with the bullish, non-nonsense Secretary of War, Teddy Roosevelt encouraging him on. Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary Red Baron, is also there to enhance the "Hell's Angels"/"Star Wars" styled flight scenes, thus further bolstering ARES' ever staunch pursuits.

Ultimately, what permeates the tale is not so much an evident altering of history (though such most certainly progressively unrolls), but rather a meticulous experiment in steampunk imagery. Some of the scenes are, in fact, so beautifully rendered that most will find themselves easily lost in their destructive expanses. In the end, though, it's Roosevelt who readily implies that Earth, as we once knew it, can never be the historically the same, championing the notion that before the enemy can invade yet again, we must take the fight to Mars!

Incidentally, the film features the voices of many "Highlander" fan favorites (a franchise to which Abramowtiz holds a respected connection), which includes Adrian Paul, Elizabeth Gracen and Dick Wingfield, with Adam Baldwin thrown in for good measure. Additionally a cover of "Forever Autumn", from "Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of WOW", is heard during the opening and closing credits to a most atmospheric and bittersweet effect.

"WOW: Goliath" won't be every one's cup of tea. The peaceniks will surely scoff at it, and youngsters who don't have a handle on its historical time frame (whether the WWI insinuations or the brother-vs-brother IRA subplot), may have a hard time unraveling the overall context.

Personally, I'd like to see another installment (particularly for the potential steampunk possibilities), but then again, anything dealing with Martian invasions is my cup of tea, especially when such faithfully swings back to Wells' imaginative, eternal source!