Mercury Theatre on the Air was not that popular of a show (its lack of commercial sponsors was why the show could go on so long without any breaks). Orson Welles knew that the most popular show in the same time slot, NBC’s Chase and Sanborn Hour, finished up its first comedy skit after about 15 minutes. Many “channel surfers” would have been tuning into CBS just as reports from Grover’s Mill told of aliens coming out of the cylinder. Do you think Welles timed the show this way on purpose or was this just coincidence? Defend your answer.

Aly! italy! entirely and universally fascist! the italy of the blackshirt revolution, rise to your feet; let the cry of your determination rise to the skies and reach our soldiers in east africa. let it be a comfort to those who are about to fight. let it be an encouragement to our friends and a warning to our enemies. it is the cry of italy which goes beyond the mountains and the seas out into the great world. it is the cry of justice and of victory. this excerpt could best be used to support a document-based essay on mussolini’s fall from power. mussolini’s role as a charismatic dictator. italy’s high unemployment rates. italy’s alliance with nazi germany.