Escape Episode Guide: Part 1

Escape was one of old-time radio's all-time best programs, in my estimation. I frequently call either Escape or Quiet, Please the best series I've heard, depending on my mood. It ran on CBS for 7 years, 1947-1954. It seldom had a sponsor but CBS wisely kept footing the bill; it bounced all over their schedule yet kept being renewed. The producer/director positions were very solid, usually rotating between William N. Robson and Norman Macdonnell and the other producer/directors (the most notable being Antony Ellis) maintained the same feel. Sometimes they adapted popular stories, other times they featured original scripts. There was a particular love for telling stories set aboard ships (or boats, rafts) at sea; although some scripts were set in the USA, usually they were set at an overseas locale. And when you really needed peril, just add a snake!

Escape demands more than one of my simple Radio Recap blog posts. I've indicated in many previous posts what a few of my favourite Escape episodes are, but I think it will be interesting to go through the entire series and write up my short thoughts on every surviving episode. I'll include a rating from a total of 5 stars as well, but again, I think a lot of Escape so I doubt I'll go below 3 stars very often - and there should be many 5 star episodes.

Over the next few months I'll post my entire episode guide, 10 episodes per week. I hope you enjoy!

• #1: "The Dead of Night" (March 21, 1947) Starring: Art Carney. Story: John Bains. Script: Charles Gusman. Director: John Moseman. Setting: England.
  Plot: A struggling ventriloquist has a falling out with his dummy.
  Review: This is the pilot episode of Escape and it isn't quite the series we know yet - it was created by different hands than the series proper, which kept little more than the title "Escape." As well, this is an adaptation of a film story whereas the series primarily adapts from prose. The pilot was also produced as Out of This World but I suppose Escape proved the better name; there are also many differences between the two scripts (Out of This World is closer to the original film) although the creators seem to be mostly identical. In either version, this is a great horror story in its own right and possibly the best "evil dummy" story ever told. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #2: "The Man Who Would Be King" (1st version July 7, 1947) Starring: Raymond Lawrence. Story: Rudyard Kipling. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson Setting: India.
  Plot: Two adventurers seek to make themselves kings but suffer the misfortune of becoming gods as well.
  Review: And here we have the actual start of Escape under the auspices of William N. Robson. It's a very fine adaptation and demonstrates how able the series will prove at condensing the most important parts of novels and short stories into a half-hour format. The exotic locale and sense of high adventure are in full effect in this program, it's handled just right. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #3: "Operation Fleur de Lis" (July 14, 1947) Starring: Jack Webb. Story: S. J. O. Alsop. Script: William N. Robson. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: France.
  Plot: During World War II two OSS agents seek the identity of a mole within the French underground.
  Review: Perhaps it was a deliberate choice by Robson to make his 2nd episode very different from the 1st (indeed, different from much that followed). Rather than a well-known piece of classic fiction, Robson adapted a true story about World War II just recently published (in Sub Rosa). Thus, this episode signals very early that Escape won't always be set in the past or remote locations, it will also tell stories from contemporary times. And certainly in this instance, the story is a winner; Elliott Lewis provides a bit of jocularity as Webb's sidekick but it's ultimately a grim story about the necessity of protecting the resistance from an enemy within. Very well-done. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #4: "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" (1st version July 21, 1947) Starring: Jack Edwards Jr. Story: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: USA.
  Plot: An obscenely-wealthy family invite a college man to their home.
  Review: A great first effort at adapting Fitzgerald's dark comedy. It's certainly far from the realism which Escape would devote most of its space to! All the performances here are very fine, with Jack Edwards Jr. hitting just the right note of naivete as the protagonist. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #5: "Typhoon" (July 28, 1947) Starring: Frank Lovejoy. Story: Joseph Conrad. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: Pacific Ocean.
  Plot: A sailor contends with his captain whose simple-minded thinking appears stupid to him.
  Review: At last, Escape brings us to the high seas! We'll have many episodes to come in which water travel is the means by which the protagonist finds adventure or is the location of the adventure. In this case, we have a rousing adventure tale about a calamitous voyage through stormy seas; Lovejoy was always great at being cynical and that's role here - the practical man versus his high-minded captain. The captain's gentle demeanour also injects some welcome light-heartedness. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #6: "The Sire de Maletroit's Door" (August 4, 1947) Starring: Elliott Lewis. Story: Robert Louis Stevenson. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: France.
  Plot: A young adventurer tries to hide through an open door and finds himself accused of being a woman's suitor.
  Review: An early favourite of mine. Elliott Lewis is perfectly cast as the earnest young protagonist who finds himself trapped by a simple matter of mistaken identity. And yet, the punishment - marrying a beautiful young woman - isn't exactly a fate worse than death (although that's his alternative). Fun and romantic. My Rating: 5/5 stars.
• #7: "The Ring of Thoth" (August 11, 1947) Starring: Jack Webb. Story: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: France/Egypt.
  Plot: A museum visitor meets an old man who recounts his first-hand experience of ancient Egypt and the curse of immortality.
  Review: Our first true venture into the supernatural as a man cursed with immortality relates his sad story. This script adds another tragic element to the finale that wasn't present in the original short story. My Rating: 5/5 stars.
• #8: "The Fourth Man" (1st version August 18, 1947) Starring: Paul Frees. Story: John Russell. Script: Irving Ravetch. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: New Caledonia.
  Plot: Three men attempt to escape a penal colony on a raft. The raft's indigenous pilot is their best hope of escape.
  Review: Although merely a raft, we return to the high seas! We also welcome author John Russell, who is not remembered today but was apparently a favourite of Robson's - and the producer/directors who followed Robson would likewise adapt from Russell's fiction all the way to the final run of episodes 7 years later. This is easily Russell's best story as the convicts clash with each other while talking of their superiority over the indigenous pilot. The cast is very strong in this version with Frees perfectly cast as the lead convict. My Rating: 5/5 stars.
• #9: "The Most Dangerous Game" (October 1, 1947) Starring: Paul Frees. Story: Richard Connell. Script: Irving Ravetch. Director: Richard Sanville. Setting: Caribbean.
  Plot: A famous big game hunter is stranded on an island whose owner has found a new form of game to hunt: humans.
  Review: A phenomenal adaptation of one of the greatest adventure tales ever written. The script is mostly the same as a version used by Suspense but this version is much better than that; Frees is especially adept as the protagonist. Oh, and the story opens upon the high seas! My Rating: 5/5 stars.
• #10: "A Shipment of Mute Fate" (1st version October 15, 1947) Starring: Jack Webb. Story: Martin Storm. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: Venezuela.
  Plot: A man transports a bushmaster aboard a ship; the worst-case scenario happens when the snake gets loose.
  Review: Featuring Escape Snake#1! And it's set on the high seas! Could there be a more perfect scenario for Escape than a snake on a boat? This is the only version with Jack Webb and I feel he does the best job of portraying the protagonist, although the copy circulating has some audio defects that cut a few seconds from the recording. A perfectly tense thriller with an excellent climax. My Rating: 5/5 stars.

You can listen to episodes of Escape at the Internet Archive! I'll be back with more next week!