The War of the Worlds and Sailing to Cape Horn

This Week
Mercury Theater Radio
Treacherous Cape Horn Waters
Writers Notebook: Somerset Maugham

Orson Welles and the War of the Worlds:
The Mercury Theater company was founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and John Houseman. After a string of live theatrical productions, in 1938 the Mercury Theater moved into their best-known period as The Mercury Theater on the Air radio. It was during that time when one of their most notable and infamous radio broadcasts of all time was produced. The War of the Worlds, adapted from an H.G. Welles story was broadcast on October 30, 1938. The Mercury Theater on the Air produced live radio dramas during the years of 1938–39 and 40.
The Mercury Theater troupe included Welles, Houseman, Carl Frank, Joseph Cotten, Martin Gabel, Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Hans Conreid, Paul Stewart, Will Geer, George Coulouris, Olive Stanton, and Everett Sloane.

Welles had already worked extensively in radio drama, playing the title character in The Shadow and directing a seven-part adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables for the Mutual Broadcasting System.
In 1938, he was offered a chance to direct his own weekly, hour-long radio series. Wells didn't take the first offer, but later worked out a deal for The Mercury Theater on the Air. His intent was to put a revolving repertory company of actors together. That was why
Welles insisted his Mercury company actors and crew be involved in the radio series.
The Mercury Theater on the Air was an hour-long dramatic radio program which began in the summer of 1938 on the CBS radio network. Welles was given complete creative control by CBS over the new series. Collaborating with John Houseman and other writers, Welles wrote, directed and performed in the productions. Some of the most memorable Mercury Theater productions were adaptations of great novels. Several good examples are the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tale of Two Cities, and Heart of Darkness. John
Houseman wrote the early scripts for the series, but later turned the job over to Howard Koch. Music was conducted by Bernard Herrmann. Their first radio production was Bram Stoker's Dracula, and other adaptations included Treasure Island, The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Count of Monte Cristo.
The show was originally scheduled for nine weeks, but the network extended the run and moved it in as the summer substitute for the Lux Radio Theater on Sunday night opposite Edgar Bergen's popular variety show.
The early dramas got high praise by the critics, but even so their ratings were low. However, the airing on October 30, 1938 of an adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds changed all that.
No one can be sure, but the chances are that thousands of people listening to the show were taken in by the realism of the production and thought Martians were invading the earth. It was amazing how much publicity was generated by the show and as a consequence The Mercury Theater quickly became one of radio's top-rated shows.

The show's new found popularity had a huge side effect as the Campbell Soup Company signed on to sponsor the show guaranteeing Mercury's survival.
The company moved to Hollywood and settled in at the RKO Studios with Welles' final performance on the radio series coming in March 1940.
A number of the original group were cast in Welles' films that were produced at RKO Studios in Gower Street, Hollywood.

Tungee's Gold (Excerpt)
The Clipper Ship MFC is on a southerly heading down the west coast of South America toward Cape Horn.
The barometer had been steadily dropping along with the temperature. And not to be caught with his sails billowing out full when the gale struck, Foster had done the prudent thing by taking off large sections of canvas. All the sailors in the rigging were holding on a bit tighter as the running sea preceding the high wind caused the masts to sway like some giant pendulum swinging it's circle and exerting enormous centrifugal force.
Tungee was on the port side of the fore royal yard and saw the sky light up with a flash followed by the rolling crack-bang thunder bouncing off the building waves. Jeff was on his right Dobbs and the kid were below on the fore upper topsail completing their furl.
"Hang onto to what you've got now, men. The wind from the squall line is going to hit any minute," Tungee yelled.
Dobbs declared, "I've got me a grip on this here foremast that lovers just dream about, mate."
Cheny raced from the quarterdeck and took a position halfway between the main and foremast, leaned back and yelled new orders. "Yo, fore and main top men spill and secure your outer and inner jibs and all stays.
The men in the rigging had just gone to work on Cheny's order when the man in the crow's nest bellowed, "Land ho."
"Give me a point and what you see," Captain Foster ordered.
"Broad on the port bow, sir. They are distant, sir, but they are hills, make no mistake about that, sir."
The skipper knew that Wellington was behind them, present position had to put them off the Strait of Magellan. The crow's nest must be reporting the hills of Punta Arenas.
"Give me a distance," Foster demanded.
"I'd reckon a score of miles, sir."
"Helmsman, we'll wear ship to a starboard heading of one hundred ninety five degrees."
The MFC was nearer land than the skipper had intended and with that starboard maneuver the ship would likely be on a collision course with the storm. But Captain Foster figured it was better to stick his bow into the turbulent waters rather than drift toward the shoals and in the end be broadsided and slammed onto the rocks by the storm's fury.
All top men had returned to the deck and ducked inside the forecastle by the time white pebbles began to bounce off the mast and decking.
Tungee held onto a lifeline and made his way back to the quarterdeck where Foster and Cheny stood just outside the chart room observing the helmsman. They would soon find out how the ship handled in a real storm. She had weathered some rain and gale force winds, but nothing like old Cape Stiff could dish out.
Tuck Rogers was at the wheel and was as good a helmsman as you'd ever want to see, especially on tack and close haul sailing. By the time hailstones began to collect in the scuppers, intermittent sprinkles of freezing rain started to fall. The sea was running wild and a monstrous roller built up and moved ominously toward the starboard bow. The big one missed, but all of a sudden the men on deck were looking down at a trough below.
Captain Foster yelled, "We can tie the wheel down, if you'd like, Mr. Rogers."
"If you don't mind, I'll stick with her for now, sir."
"You feel you have some steerage then."
"Aye, she's a bit cranky, but that's to be expected in these crazy cross seas."
The ship rode the top of that giant wave for a few brief moments and then she plunged and dove down into a canyon. Dirty gray walls of water churned up on either side of the ship and they still hadn't hit bottom. When those huge walls collapse we'll be overwhelmed, Tungee thought. They bottomed out and he was forced to his knees. He knew the sides would come crashing in, but they didn't. Those gray walls held. The ship was in the pit of the trough and just as fast as they had fallen to the bottom they were spat up and out again.
The wind was not much more than gale force and it was somewhat dryer than they had expected, so the skipper ordered a modest sail change. "Call out the watch, Mr. Cheny. "I'd like to set the stays and jibs."
Tungee peered into the black night and worried about the overcast and how the captain planned to navigate when there was no chance to shoot the stars.
And before the night was done, the MFC had collected a veneer of ice that covered both deck and rigging. The storm raged and screamed as it blew in off the South Pole and sent the thermometer's mercury retreating far below zero.

Writers Notebook:
A few words from Somerset Maugham about story form.
‘I think you must make sure not to divide the interest in a story; Checkov, however haphazard his appear sometimes, took care never to do this. In fact, in a story as in a play, you must make up your mind what your point is and stick to it like grim death. That is just another way of saying it must have form.’

Tom's Books and Blogs:
Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.

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