Escape - A Passenger to Bali

Escape's "A Passenger to Bali" begins in a Shanghai harbor onboard a freighter named The Roundabout. The ship is about to depart when a man named Mr. Walkes convinces the captain to allow him to purchase passage to Bali. The Reverand Mr. Walkes is a Dutch missionary bound for Bali to distribute bibles and religion. Captain English allows him to travel on The Roundabout although technically, the freighter isn't supposed to take on passengers.

Soon afterwards, Captain English realizes he has made a horrible mistake. Manipulative, drunken, and murderous, Mr. Walkes slowly takes control of the ship by purposely inciting trouble between the British officers and the Kanaka crew. 

When the ship arrives in Bali they learn that Mr. Walkes is an anarchist, unwelcome in any port in Indonesia. Everywhere Mr. Walkes has gone, he has caused trouble. No port will allow him to land. Now The Roundabout is doomed to wander from port to port with an evil passenger who can never disembark.

"A Passenger to Bali" was based on the short novel by Ellis St. Joseph. It was adapted for Escape by Norman McDonald, who also directed this episode. John Dehner played Captain English and Lou Merrill played the Rev. Mr. Walkes. This episode aired on December 10, 1950.

. Download Escape.1950.12.10_A_Passenger_to_Bali.mp3

"A Passenger to Bali" had been performed years earlier as an hour long episode by The Mercury Theatre on the Air on November 13, 1938. Their version was produced and directed by Orson Welles, who also appeared in the role of the Rev. Mr. Walkes. The hour-long version delves deeper into the details of the story and it is an hour of radio theater that is definitely worth the time.

.  Download MT1938-11-13-APassengerToBali.mp3

(Image of Southeast Asia from Wikimedia Commons)

Comments

[Michael]

"A Passenger to Bali" became a 1940 Broadway play directed by John Huston and starring his father, Walter.

Orson Welles repeated the story on 7/5/46 on the Mercury Summer Theatre.

[cmillinsf]

Thanks for the info. I'm sort of curious to know how this story was presented on the stage.

[ric purdy]

the story never made a lot of sense after the first murder and not being able to put the man ashore
the captain would simply have killed him