Editing Orson Welles (section)

=== ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' ===
{{Main|The Mercury Theatre on the Air|The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama)|The Campbell Playhouse (radio series)}}
[[File:Orson Welles War of the Worlds 1938.jpg|left|thumb|Welles at the press conference after "The War of the Worlds" broadcast (October 31, 1938)]]
After the theatrical successes of the Mercury Theatre, [[CBS Radio]] invited Welles to create a summer show for 13 weeks. The series began July 11, 1938, with the formula that Welles would play the lead in each show.<ref name="Museum of Broadcasting" /> The weekly hour-long show presented radio plays based on classic literary works, with original music composed and conducted by [[Bernard Herrmann]].

The Mercury Theatre's [[The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama)|radio adaptation of ''The War of the Worlds'']] by [[H. G. Wells]] October 30, 1938, brought Welles instant fame. The combination of the news bulletin form of the performance, with the between-breaks dial-spinning habits of listeners, created confusion among listeners who failed to hear the introduction, although the extent of this confusion has come into question.<ref name="McFarland" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism |url=https://archive.org/details/gettingitwrongte0000camp |url-access=registration |last=Campbell |first=W. Joseph |year=2010 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-26209-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mediamythalert.wordpress.com/tag/war-of-the-worlds/|title=The spoof in Georgia: Evocative of the 'War of the Worlds?|publisher=wordpress.com|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-date=November 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123043751/http://mediamythalert.wordpress.com/tag/war-of-the-worlds/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.single.html | title=The Myth of The War of the Worlds Panic | journal=Slate | access-date=October 31, 2013 | date=October 28, 2013 | archive-date=October 30, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030212245/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.single.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Panic was reportedly spread among listeners who believed the fictional news reports of a Martian invasion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-1779286 |title=War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast Causes Panic |publisher=www.thoughtco.com |access-date=May 7, 2020 |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529235731/https://www.thoughtco.com/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-1779286 |url-status=live }}</ref> The myth of the result created by the combination was reported as fact around the world and disparagingly mentioned by [[Adolf Hitler]] in a speech.<ref name="hand">"evidence of the decadence and corrupt condition of democracy" – {{cite book |last=Hand |first=Richard J. |title=Terror on the Air!: Horror Radio in America, 1931–1952 |year=2006 |publisher=Macfarlane & Company |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-2367-5 |page=7}}</ref>
[[File:Orson Welles by Harry Warnecke and Lee Elkins, 1939, color carbro print, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 94 50Welles-000002.jpg|thumb|''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' became ''The Campbell Playhouse'' in December 1938.]]
Welles's growing fame drew [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] offers, lures that the independent-minded Welles resisted at first. ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'', which had been a sustaining show (without sponsorship), was picked up by [[Campbell Soup Company|Campbell Soup]] and renamed ''[[The Campbell Playhouse (radio series)|The Campbell Playhouse]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/-/The-Mercury-Theatre-on-the-Air/16905 |title=Learn Out Loud |publisher=Learn Out Loud |access-date=March 30, 2010 |archive-date=February 11, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211083357/http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/-/The-Mercury-Theatre-on-the-Air/16905 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' made its last broadcast on December 4, 1938, and ''The Campbell Playhouse'' began five days later.

Welles began commuting from California to New York for the Sunday broadcasts of ''The Campbell Playhouse'' after signing a film contract with [[RKO Pictures]] in August 1939. In November, production of the show moved to Los Angeles.<ref name="Welles TIOW" />{{Rp|353|date=January 2014}} After 20 shows, Campbell began to exercise more creative control and had complete control over story selection. As his contract with Campbell came to an end, Welles chose not to sign on for another season. After the broadcast of March 31, 1940, Welles and Campbell parted amicably.<ref name="Brady" />{{Rp|221–226}}