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 Mercury Theatre on the Air’s

Julius Caeser: The Rehearsal

September 11, 1938

Produced, directed, scripted by Orson Welles

starring Orson Welles

Julius Caeser The rehearsal: these typically run slightly longer than the broadcast version  as it is uncut.

Check out the Julius Caesar rehearsal for a behind-the-scenes look at Orson Welle's personality as a director.

The September 11,1938 broadcast of Julius Caesar  is remarkable for several reason. To begin with, it offered an alternative to the not always inspired programming of the commerce and common denominator oriented networks. And not only was the radio-readied production an ingenious exercise in adaptation, but an poignant and timely commentary on the crisis in Europe that was about to plunge the world into war.

Running Time 66 minutes

The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a show featuring the acclaimed New York drama company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman. In its brief run, it featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris. The show is famous for its notorious War of the Worlds broadcast, but the other shows in the series are relatively unknown.

The show first broadcast on CBS and CBC in July 1938. It ran without a sponsor until December of that year, when it was picked up by Campbell’s Soup and renamed The Campbell Playhouse.

Approximate play time of 1 hour.