Best or Worst?-Evening Primrose

What can one say about "Evening Primrose"?

It is the original story about people who dwell in department stores at night, as well as, the first story about mannequins actually being real people covered in wax. The author, John Collier (1901-1980) was a prolific writer, but "Evening Primrose" is his best known short story. The Twilight Zone episode "After-Hours" is reminiscent of "Evening Primrose".

The basic plot is that a poet named Charles Snell escapes from the harsh reality of the world by going to live in a department store.  On his first night, he finds a society of creatures lives there as well.  The only other human with them is a servant girl named Ella. Charles falls in love with Ella but from there trouble ensues.

So you might think that turning this story into a musical for television would be a bad idea -- but you would be wrong. A television musical version of this story was done for ABC Stage 67 in 1966.  Written by Steven Sondheim and James Goldman, it starred Anthony Perkins as Charles. Charmian Carr (Liesl from the Sound of Music) played Ella. Unfortunately, this production is not commercially available at this time. The first professional stage presentation of this musical was performed in 2005.

What can one say about Escape's version of this story? I personally don't feel that Escape excelled at stories about poets. This wasn't the only one they did that came out with chuckle-worthy results. Their version of "Evening Primrose" is interesting only because of the greater success of the short story and of Sondheim's musical.

This episode was broadcast on November 5, 1947.

Download escape.1947.11.05_Evening_Primrose.mp3

(Image from Morguefile.com)

Comments

[Craig Gustafson]

I disagree (respectfully). I like the subtlety of the idea that Snell, our "hero" is a completely self-centered, pompous idiot who brings about his own destruction precisely because he views himself as "the hero". And though he doesn't have this insight, we do. Elliott Lewis does a great job with this.

If you look at it from the viewpoint that Snell is SUPPOSED to be a total boob, the piece works as a scary satire of "sensitive, artistic types". It's "chuckle-worthy" because that's what it wants to be. Funny and scary.

Although when I transcribed it for performance with an Old Time Radio group, I did include the following lines from the original short story:

CHARLES: But aren’t they heavier than the others, these wax models? You would think they’d be heavier.

ELLA: No. They’re not heavier. I think there’s a lot of them... gone.

[cmillinsf]

Craig, Thanks for your comments. I put episodes in the "Best or Worst" column when they don't seem to have come off they way they were supposed to. I'm glad you stepped up to defend "Evening Primrose." It is a good story.
Best,
Christine

[Grigs]

I listened to this for the first time last night, but I've heard about it for a long time. People seem to really like it or hate it.

Put me in the "really like it" column. I liked the married couple at the beginning, the idea of a secret society in department stores after closing, enjoyed the main characters(especially Ella and the evil leader of the colony)...just thought it was an overall good show.

I'd like to see the musical TV version. Anthony Perkins in the lead would be interesting.

[Harry]

I recall that it was a great and chilling episode from my childhood. Who adapted and produced the program?