Escape (radio program)

"Escape" was radio's leading anthology series of high adventure, airing on CBS from July 7 1947 to September 25 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like "Suspense", it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950.

Despite these problems, "Escape" enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" with the introduction, intoned by Paul Frees and William Conrad:

:“Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... "Escape!"”

Of the more than 230 "Escape" episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than "Suspense". Some of the memorable adaptations include Carl Stephenson's "Leiningen vs. the Ants", Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven," George R. Stewart's "Earth Abides", Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," John Collier's "Evening Primrose", later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. Vincent Price, Harry Bartell and Jeff Corey were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key" (broadcast on 17 March 1950), the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats; the half-hour was adapted from an "Esquire" short story by the French writer George Toudouze and later remade for the 9 August 1953 broadcast starring William Conrad, Ben Wright and Jay Novello.

ee also

*Audio theatre
*Old-time radio

Listen to

* [http://www.escape-suspense.com "Escape" and "Suspense"]
* [http://www.otr.net/?p=esca OTR Network Library: "Escape" (203 episodes)]
* [http://TheaterOfTheEars.com/ Theater of the Ears: "Escape"]

References

* [http://www.audio-classics.com/lescape.html Terry Salomonson's Audio Classics Archive Broadcast Log: "Escape"]
* [http://www.otrsite.com/logs/loge1001.htm Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: "Escape"]

External links

* [http://www.route40.net/history/whos-who/george-stewart.shtml Donald M. Scott on George R. Stewart]
* [http://www.otrplotspot.com/Escape.htm "Escape" plot summaries]