Escape


I guess you'd have to say that there were two great suspense- mystery-adventure series in the Golden Days of Radio. The greatest would have to be SUSPENSE, with ESCAPE being a close second. Where SUSPENSE was star-oriented, ESCAPE was all about the story line. The difference between the two was that while ESCAPE concerned itself with everyday adventurous situations, with sometimes awful results, SUSPENSE shows were mystery and crime stories. In its heydey movie stars clamored to be part of Suspense but in the background there was ESCAPE with its unforgetable: Three Skeleton Key, An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge, A Shipment of Mute Fate, Evening Primrose, The Most Dangerous Game, and on and on. These stories and many others have been retained in the minds of many listeners. ESCAPE opened with the gripping voice of William Conrad booming out over the airwaves: "Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you - ESCAPE!". Moussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain", the show's theme, assisted Conrad in creating the right opening atmosphere. (The actual series of questions used in the opening varied from week to week, frequently to match the goings-on of the times.) The show featured spine-tingling tales from such masters as Joseph Conrad, Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allen Poe. It was produced by William N. Robeson, and featured many seasoned radio actors. ESCAPE was heard on CBS from July 1947 to September 1954. There were two pilot shows before it's first run. The first pilot was OUT OF THIS WORLD: "Dead of Night" on February 28, 1947. This show was repeated as ESCAPE: "Dead of Night" on March 21. ESCAPE, as a series, started as a summer replacement for half of the hour normally occupied by THE LUX RADIO THEATER. It then aired for the 1947-1948 season, on Sundays. During the early half of 1948, broadcast day was different on east and west coast. Although the same scripts were used for both east and west cost shows, the opening was different. The west coast versions used organ music in place of the full orchestra of the east coast versions. The series again went to different days for east and west coasts in 1950, but in this case, the show was the same for both broadcasts. Unlike the other CBS adventure series, SUSPENSE, which ran from June 1942 to September 1962 almost without interruption, ESCAPE seemed to have a rough life. It was frequently moved to different days through out it's run. There were even a couple of long gaps where ESCAPE left the air, for example, from August 30, 1951 to October 12, 1952. Still, thanks to solid scripts, excellent acting and high production values, ESCAPE is remembered as one of the best radio action adventure series.
47/03/21 0 Dead of Night (Audition) 47/07/07 1 The Man Who Would Be King (Raymond Lawrence) 47/07/14 2 Operation Fleur De Lys 47/07/21 3 The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (Jack Edwards, Jr) 47/07/28 4 Typhoon 47/08/04 5 Sire De Maltroit's Door 47/08/11 6 Ring of Thoth 47/08/18 7 The Fourth Man (Paul Frees) 47/10/01 8 Most Dangerous Game 47/10/15 10 Shipment of Mute Fate (Jack Webb) 47/10/22 11 Fall of the House of Usher 47/10/29 12 Pollack and the Parrah Man 47/11/05 13 Evening Primrose (Elliott Lewis) 47/11/12 14 The Young Man with the Cream Tarts 47/11/19 15 Casting the Ruins 47/11/26 16 Country of the Blind 47/12/03 17 Taboo 47/12/10 18 Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 47/12/17 19 Wild Oranges (William Conrad) 47/12/24 20 Back for Christmas 47/12/31 21 Confession 48/01/07 22 Second Class Passenger (East Coast)(Harry Bartell) 48/01/10 22 Second Class Passenger (West Coast)(Harry Bartell) 48/01/14 23 Leiningen vs the Ants (East Coast) 48/01/17 23 Leiningen vs the Ants (West Coast) 48/01/21 24 Papa Benjamin (East Coast) 48/01/24 24 Papa Benjamin (East Coast) 48/01/28 25 Three Good Witnesses (East Coast) 48/01/31 25 Three Good Witnesses (West Coast) 48/02/01 26 Vanishing Lady (East Coast) 48/02/08 27 Snake Doctor (East Coast) 48/02/14 27 Snake Doctor (West Coast)(Barton Yarborough) 48/02/15 28 Ancient Sorceries (East Coast) 48/02/21 28 Ancient Sorceries (West Coast) 48/02/22 29 How Love Came to Professor Guildea (East Coast) 48/02/29 30 Grove of Ashtaroff (East Coast) 48/03/06 30 Grove Of Ashtaroff (West Coast) 48/03/07 31 Jimmy Goggles, the God (East Coast) 48/03/14 32 Log of the Evening Star (East Coast) 48/03/21 33 Misfortune's Isle (East Coast) 48/03/27 33 Misfortune's Isle (West Coast) 48/03/28 34 Shipment of Mute Fate (Harry Bartell) 48/04/04 35 Action (Berry Kroeger) 48/04/11 36 The Brute 48/04/18 37 The Drums of the Fore and Aft (Gil Stratton, Jr) 48/04/25 38 The Fourth Man (Berry Kroeger) 48/05/02 39 John Jack Todd 48/05/09 40 The Time Machine (Jeff Corey) 48/05/16 41 The Match 48/05/23 42 Leiningen Versus the Ants (William Conrad, Jay Novello) 48/06/06 43 Beau Geste 48/06/27 44 Country of the Blind (Paul Frees, William Conrad) 48/07/04 45 A Tooth for Paul Revere 48/07/11 46 She 48/07/18 47 Habit 48/08/01 48 The Man Who Would Be King (Ben Wright) 48/08/15 49 The Fugitive 48/08/22 50 SS San Pedro 48/08/29 51 Diamond as Big as the Ritz (Sam Edwards, William Conrad) 48/09/05 52 Dream of Armegeddon 48/09/12 53 Evening Primrose (William Conrad) 48/09/19 54 The Man Who Could Work Miracles 49/02/12 55 The Lost Special 49/02/19 56 The Orient Express 49/02/26 57 Red Wine (Jeff Chandler) 49/03/05 58 Conquerer's Isle (David Ellis) 49/03/12 59 He Who Rides the Tiger 49/03/13 60 Shipment of Mute Fate (John Lund) 49/03/19 61 Finger of Doom 49/03/20 62 Country of the Blind (Edmond O'Brian) 49/03/26 63 Adaptive Ultimate 49/03/27 64 The Diamond as Big as the Ritz (Sam Edwards, Helen Thomas) 49/04/02 65 Confidential Angent 49/04/09 66 When the Man Comes, Follow Him 49/04/16 67 The General Died at Dawn 49/04/23 68 The Great Impersonation 49/07/07 69 The Fourth Man (Wilms Herbert) 49/07/14 70 The Drums of the Fore and Aft (Ben Wright)) 49/07/21 71 Action (Joseph Kearns) 49/07/28 72 Second Class Passenger (Parley Baer) 49/08/04 73 Leiningen Versus the Ants (Tudor Owen) 49/08/11 74 Red Wine (Willard Waterman) 49/08/18 75 Snake Doctor (Ira Grossel) 49/08/25 76 Evening Primrose (Harry Bartell) 49/09/21 77 Fortune of Vargas 49/09/28 78 Wild Oranges (Van Heflin) 49/10/15 80 The Sure Thing (William Conrad) 49/10/22 81 Night in Havana 49/11/01 83 Flood on the Goodwin (Jack Edwards) 49/11/08 84 Plunder of the Sun 49/11/15 85 Three Skeleton Key (William Conrad) 49/11/22 86 Maracas 49/11/29 87 Letter from Jason 49/12/06 88 Command (Elliott Reed) 49/12/13 89 Border Town 49/12/20 90 Figure a Dame 49/12/27 91 Seeds of Greed 50/01/03 92 The Pistol 50/01/10 93 Vanishing Lady (Del Castillo) 50/01/17 94 The Sure Thing (Anthony Ross) 50/01/24 95 Treasure Inc 50/01/31 96 Present Tense 50/02/07 97 The Outer Limit 50/02/14 98 Two If by Sea 50/02/21 99 The Red Mark 50/02/28 100 The Man Who Won the War 50/03/10 101 Port Royal 50/03/17 102 Three Skeleton Key (Vincent Price) 50/03/24 103 Danger at Matecumbe 50/03/31 104 Green Splotches 50/04/07 105 Ambassador of Poker 50/04/14 106 Golden Snake 50/04/21 107 Shanghai Document 50/04/28 108 Something for Nothing 50/05/05 109 The Man Who Stole the Bible (Ben Wright) 50/05/12 110 Rim of Terror 50/05/19 111 Pass to Berlin 50/05/26 112 Command (Harry Bartell) 50/06/02 113 Mars Is Heaven 50/06/16 115 Serenade for a Cobra 50/06/23 116 Sundown 50/06/30 117 Blood Bath 50/07/07 118 Shipment of Mute Fate (David Ellis) 50/07/14 119 Shark Bait 50/07/21 120 Yellow Wake 50/07/28 121 Poison 50/08/04 122 Two Came Back 50/08/11 123 Red Forest (Ben Wright) 50/08/18 124 The Footprint 50/08/25 125 Crossing Paris 50/10/01 126 Sleeping Draught (John Dodsworth) 50/10/08 127 Roulette 50/10/15 128 Power of Hammer 50/10/22 129 Time Machine (John Dehner) 50/10/29 130 Seven Hours to Freedom 50/11/05 131 Earth Abides Part 1 50/11/12 132 Earth Abides Part 2 50/11/19 133 Journey into Fear 50/11/26 134 Funeral Fires 50/12/03 135 This Side of Nowhere 50/12/10 136 A Passenger to Bali 50/12/17 137 Wild Jack Rett (John Dehner) 50/12/24 138 The Cave 50/12/31 139 Man Who Could Work Miracles (East Coast Broadcast) 51/01/07 140 Conquest 51/01/14 141 A Bullet for Mr Smith 51/02/11 142 Killer Mine 51/02/18 143 The Follower 51/07/11 144 The Island (Harry Bartell) 51/07/18 145 Macao 51/07/25 146 The Earthman 51/08/01 147 The Gladiator 51/08/08 148 Up Periscope 51/08/15 149 Rough Shoot 51/08/22 150 The Silent Horror 51/08/30 151 The Man Who Stole the Bible (Sam Pierce) 52/10/12 152 Gringo 52/10/19 153 Price of the Head (William Conrad) 52/10/26 154 Robert of Huntington 52/11/02 155 The Running Man 52/11/09 156 The Return 52/11/16 157 The Loup-Garon 52/12/07 160 Incident in Quito 52/12/14 161 Four Went Home 52/12/21 162 The Man Who Liked Dickens 53/01/11 165 Conquerer's Isle (Harry Bartell) 53/01/18 166 A Matter of Conscience 53/01/25 167 Diary of a Madman 53/02/01 168 A Study in Wax 53/02/08 169 Jetsam 53/02/15 170 Wild Jack Rett (Harry Bartell) 53/02/22 171 I Saw Myself Running 53/03/01 172 The Tramp 53/03/08 173 The Island (William Conrad) 53/03/15 174 The Man with the Steel Teeth 53/03/22 175 Pressure 53/03/29 176 The Invader 53/04/05 177 A Sleeping Draught (Alec Harford) 53/04/12 178 Classified Secret 53/04/19 179 El Guitarero 53/04/26 180 The Derelick 53/05/03 181 Lili and the Colonel 53/05/10 182 The Vessel of Wrath 53/05/17 183 North of Polaris 53/05/31 185 A Good Thing 53/06/07 186 The Voyages of Sinbad 53/06/14 187 Clear for Action 53/06/21 188 The Far-Away Island 53/07/05 190 A Source of Irritation 53/07/12 191 The Out Station 53/07/19 192 The Open Boat 53/07/26 193 The Notebook 53/08/02 194 The Red Forest (Tom Tully) 53/08/09 195 Three Skeleton Key (Antony Ellis) 53/08/16 196 The Thirteenth Truck 53/08/23 197 The Man from Tomorrow 53/08/30 198 The Game 53/09/06 199 Train from Olbiefelde 53/09/13 200 The Abominable Snowman 53/09/20 201 The Log 53/09/27 202 The Untouchable 53/10/04 203 Zero Hour 53/10/11 204 Elementals 54/03/11 205 Bird of Paradise 54/03/18 206 Violent Night 54/03/25 207 The Second Shot (repeat) 54/04/01 208 The Return 54/04/08 209 The Scarlet Plague 54/04/15 210 Affair at Mandrake 54/05/06 211 The Adversary 54/06/03 212 An Ordinary Man 54/06/10 213 Benchillina and the Fisherman 54/06/17 214 Blood Waters 54/06/24 215 Judgement Day at Crippled Deer 54/07/01 216 The Dark Wall 54/07/10 217 The Birds 54/07/17 218 Eye of Evil 54/07/24 219 Flood on the Goodwins (Vic Perrin) 54/07/31 220 Night of the Guns 54/08/07 221 The Price of the Head (Hans Conreid) 54/08/14 222 The Coward 54/08/21 223 Two and Two Make Four 54/08/28 224 The King of Owanatu 54/09/04 225 The Boiling Sea 54/09/11 226 Carnival in Vienna 54/09/18 227 The Target 54/09/25 228 Heart of Kali (last show)