Escape Episode Guide: Part 18

Welcome back to my episode guide to the fantastic old-time radio series Escape!

• #171: "Classified Secret" (April 12, 1953) Starring: Parley Baer. Story/Script/Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: USA.
  Plot: A hired spy decides not to complete his assignment; the enemy agents refuse to let him escape.
  Review: I criticized Ellis' earlier attempts at penning espionage drama but this time he really came through - this is one of the best spy stories Escape ever told and Baer is terrific as the likeable yet cold-blooded spy. My Rating: 4.5/5 stars.
• #172: "El Guitarrero" (April 19, 1953) Starring: Eddie Firestone. Story/Script: E. Jack Neuman. Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Mexico.
  Plot: A poet needs the help of a guitarist to rescue his wife.
  Review: This episode wasn't helped by the abrupt news break that interrupts the beginning of the drama; since Escape was transcribed I guess it's possible a non-broadcast copy might turn up with the full drama. As it is, the story is very underwhelming - it takes half the runtime to reach the premise (wife kidnapped; the two leads don't like each other) and it's just too thin to hold my interest. Nice guitar playing, though. My Rating: 2.5/5 stars.
• #173: "The Derelict" (April 26, 1953) Starring: Charlotte Lawrence. Story: Victor Schwartz. Script: Larry Roman. Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Indian Ocean.
  Plot: A crew stranded in the ocean with a fortune begin in-fighting to possess the wealth and the one woman present.
  Review: A different kind of high seas adventure; Lawrence portrays a woman who could have been a typical femme fatale but to a great extent, I came away thinking the problems were really the fault of the men's inability to cooperate and solve their mutual problem. My Rating: 4/5 stars.
• #174: "Lily and the Colonel" (May 3, 1953) Starring: Ben Wright. Story/Script: John Dehner. Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Kenya.
  Plot: In the midst of the Mau Mau uprising a British officer's bored wife takes note of the newly-arrived officer.
  Review: The 2nd of 3 episodes written by actor John Dehner; it's very much in the style of W. Somerset Maugham. I have to say, it does nothing for me. I think Dehner wanted to make some kind of critique about British colonialism but since it climaxes on the Mau Mau murdering a defenseless woman it lacks a perspective I can actually sympathize with. My Rating: 2/5 stars.
• #175: "The Vessel of Wrath" (May 10, 1953) Starring: Parley Baer. Story: W. Somerset Maugham. Script/Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Indonesia.
  Plot: A missionary is terrified of an infamous high seas drunkard - then becomes fascinated with him.
  Review: A decent enough adaptation of a rather comical story, albeit one that's presented in dramatic fashion. It all feels very outdated by the standards of the 1950s. My Rating: 2.5/5 stars.
• #176: "North of Polaris" (May 17, 1953) Starring: William Conrad. Story/Script: Charles Smith. Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: USA.
  Plot: Astronauts on another world find the planet is nearly deserted.
  Review: There are plenty of radio science fiction plays which tell more-or-less the same tale (see "The Planet Zevius" on the Mysterious Traveler), but Escape handles this pretty well just thanks to its great stable of performers, led by Conrad. The climax didn't surprise me but I thought it was entertaining getting there. My Rating: 4/5 stars.
• #177: "A Good Thing" (May 31, 1953) Starring: Tony Barrett. Story/Script: Kathleen Hite. Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Philippines.
  Plot: An unstable drunkard goes exploring for headhunters with his brother.
  Review: Another episode that's slow to get moving and only really speeds up in the last third. It's okay, but with a snappier pace it might have been great. My Rating: 3/5 stars.
• #178: "The Voyages of Sinbad" (June 7, 1953) Starring: Ben Wright. Story/Script/Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Arabia.
  Plot: Sinbad the sailor narrates about his adventures on the high seas, including the time he was buried alive and beset by the Old Man of the Sea.
  Review: Another oddity; we heard another script by Ellis - "Robert of Huntingdon" (#151) that seemed like a pilot for a juvenile adventure series - perhaps this one is another. But as a departure for Escape it's a welcome one; the music by Rimsky-Korsakov does an excellent job of setting the stage and similarly marking this episode as something quite different. My Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
• #179: "Clear for Action" (June 14, 1953) Starring: William Conrad. Story/Script/Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Caribbean.
  Plot: An American Naval officer leads his crew against British and French warships.
  Review: Another high seas adventure in a historical vein. The only real colour in this tale is when Conrad's captain orders one of his men to masquerade as a woman in order to deceive the British ship. Although Conrad helped prove in "Pressure" (#168) that submarine drama worked well on radio, I'm less convinced that traditional naval combat makes for interesting radio. There's only so many times you can stand to hear Conrad bellow out instructions for the sail. It would be stronger radio drama if Conrad had been a first-person narrator. My Rating: 2.5/5 stars.
• #180: "The Far Away Island" (June 21, 1953) Starring: Ted de Corsia. Story/Script: Charles Smith. Director: Antony Ellis. Setting: Polynesia.
  Plot: A man on the run from the law finds his own son is one of the men pursuing him.
  Review: Ted de Corsia had a great rough voice, but I don't find this high seas tale engaging. The twist that the pursuer is his son doesn't come up until the halfway point and it's about as close as the story gets to being interesting. My Rating: 2.5/5 stars.

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