Escape Episode Guide: Part 4

Welcome back to my episode guide to the marvelous old-time radio series Escape! Here we have a change in production as series creator William N. Robson steps away from directing while Norman Macdonnell (who had previously been assisting Robson) steps up as the new producer/director. Robson will return, however.

• #31: "Jimmy Goggles the God" (March 7, 1948) Starring: Luis Van Rooten. Story: H. G. Wells. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: Papua New Guinea.
  Plot: To save his life a deep sea diver poses as a god with the aid of a medicine man.
  Review: Back on the high seas! I think the episode works because the protagonist finds himself in a situation he didn't mean to arrive in and desperately wants out of; yes, he impersonates a god, but even he can see that he can't sustain it for very long. The double-cross at the climax is most satisfying. My Rating: 4/5 stars.
• #32: "The Log of the Evening Star" (March 14, 1948) Starring: Jack Webb. Story: Alfred Noyes. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: Pacific Ocean.
  Plot: A ship's captain lives in the shadow of his wife's first husband, his predecessor as captain; this inevitably leads to tragedy.
  Review: An eerie high seas story that hints at the supernatural but is all the better for staying on this side of the veil. Webb has a great everyman quality to his performance in this story which helps ground the proceedings as dead men seem to walk. And like an earlier Escape with Jack Webb (#10: "A Shipment of Mute Fate") it all comes down to the actions of a cat! My Rating: 5/5 stars.
• #33: "Misfortune's Isle" (March 21, 1948) Starring: Paul Frees. Story: Richard Matthews Hallet. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: William N. Robson. Setting: Philippines.
  Plot: A trader assists a Spanish noble against Dayak headhunters.
  Review: We're again on the high seas but this time I'm afraid we're looking at my pick for the worst episode of Escape - even though we're still in my favourite era of the series. At best, this episode is dull. On my first listening, it was mostly confusing. Paul Frees is great as the protagonist - he's never bad, he grants the drama an energy that the plot itself lacks. The characters are just a bit too silly to take seriously and the situation is not well-established. As a story of privateers fighting pirates it's really lacking in the "theater of the mind." We also have the unfortunately racist portrayal of a Chinese character by William Conrad in what might be his worst role of his career; note that the Chinese characters in the original text spoke fine English, while on the radio their voices are clipped with 'pidgin English' speech. Just awful. My Rating: 0.5/5 stars.
• #34: "A Shipment of Mute Fate" (2nd version March 28, 1948) Starring: Harry Bartell. Story: Martin Storm. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: Norman Macdonnell. 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! Welcome back to our story of snakes on the high seas! Harry Bartell does fine in the lead role, if not as strong as Jack Webb in the previous outing (#10). This is still a perfect production. My Rating: 5/5 stars.
• #35: "Action" (1st version April 4, 1948) Starring: Joseph Kearns. Story: Charles Montague. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: Norman Macdonnell. Setting: Switzerland.
  Plot: A man whose health is in decline seeks to end his life mountain climbing by going beyond his margin of safety.
  Review: This is somewhat different than the majority of Escape story; usually the series pits either man against man or man against nature. In this story the struggle is psychological; the protagonist throws himself into danger thinking it's the best way out of a slow death. I think the script does a marvelous job at resolving his conflict and even adds a little twist (not found in the original short story). My Rating: 5/5 stars.
• #36: "The Brute" (April 11, 1948) Starring: Dan O'Herlihy. Story: Joseph Conrad. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: Norman Macdonnell. Setting: England/Atlantic Ocean.
  Plot: Two brothers serve aboard a ship that seems to possess a spirit bent on destroying life.
  Review: I have moments where I briefly think this is the other high seas Conrad episode, "Typhoon." I don't find "the Brute" to be nearly as engaging but it's still a great yarn about the anthropomorphized vessel; I'm not sure if the last act - where the protagonist's brother sails the ship to its destruction - really works for me but it does seem like the only way this story could possibly end. My Rating: 4/5 stars.
• #37: "The Drums of the Fore and Aft" (1st version April 18, 1948) Starring: Gil Stratton Jr. Story: Rudyard Kipling. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: Norman Macdonnell. Setting: Afghanistan.
  Plot: Two young army musicians who believe in the glory of combat try to inspire their comrades.
  Review: I appreciate that this story begins in a place of high adventure and hijinks yet ends on a somber note. It is, after all, the tale of two boys who get themselves killed by snipers while playing their instruments. Although in a different time and place than the World War II theaters I think it suits the post-war mood pretty well; the boys believe that war is glorious but the war itself is brutal and uncompromising. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #38: "The Fourth Man" (2nd version April 25, 1948) Starring: Berry Kroeger. Story: John Russell. Script: Irving Ravetch. Director: Norman Macdonnell. 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: Another very good adaptation of this high seas story. Macdonnell's direction is as good as Robson's (#8), although the cast is not quite as sharp as the first attempt; Berry Kroeger just wasn't as strong as Paul Frees. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #39: "John Jock Todd" (May 2, 1948) Starring: Wilms Herbert. Story: Robert Simpson. Script: Les Crutchfield. Director: Norman Macdonnell. Setting: Niger River.
  Plot: A Scotsman working in Africa insists that he's a peaceful man but his superior seems intent on drawing him into a fight to test his mettle.
  Review: A bit of an odd duck; the Scotsman protagonist is wonderful, I could listen to him talk all day; the antagonist is cruel just for cruelty's sake and so not very interesting. It's a satisfying drama but needed something extra to really stand out. My Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
• #40: "The Time Machine" (1st version May 9, 1948) Starring: Erik Rolf. Story: H. G. Wells. Script: Irving Ravetch. Director: Norman Macdonnell. Setting: England.
  Plot: Two men test their time machine by journeying into the future where they find humans have evolved along two very different paths.
  Review: Obviously the entire text of Wells' novel is too much for a half-hour program so this pragmatic adaptation is only concerned with the sequences concerning the Eloi and Morlocks. For good measure, a 2nd time traveler ("Fowler") is added so the protagonist ("Dudley") has someone to talk to. I'm not so sure about that decision since Escape protagonists usually narrate their adventures in the 1st person. It results in a lot of awkward dialogue as the duo constantly shout out what they see to each other. Yet for all that, I think the production works as a fine science fiction adventure. My Rating: 4/5 stars.

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