Escape's "Pagosa" is a "lost" episode. It aired on November 30, 1952, but no known recordings of that broadcast have survived.
What we do have, is a recording of "Pagosa" that aired on the CBS program Romance on August 5, 1951. This episode was written by John Meston and produced by Norman MacDonnell, and it, along with the Escape episode "Wild Jack Rhett" were precursers to the Meston/MacDonnell series Gunsmoke (1952-1961).
In John Dunning's book The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio, he quotes an interview that Norman MacDonnell gave in 1967 about the creation of Gunsmoke (in 1952):
"We got Walter Brown Newman to come in--one of the better writers in town--we gave him an acetate recording of "Pagosa", and I believe, Wild Jack Rhett", and said, this is the style, this is the color, this is the feel."
Both episodes focused on dialogue and simple sound effects that kept the audiences involved in the action, and that style was brought to Gunsmoke.
In the above quote, MacDonnell is definitely referring to Romance's version of "Pagosa" since Escape's version was broadcast months after Gunsmoke went on the air.
So, what about Escape's version? Unless a script or a recording turns up, we can't know if Norman MacDonnell made any changes when he brought the story over to Escape. Romance's version has William Conrad in the lead role and a supporting cast of Escape regulars. It probably wasn't that different.
Still, we know that Escape's version would probably have had Ben Wright in the cast, it probably wasn't as focused on the romantic feelings of the characters, and that they probably tossed in a deadly snake somewhere, just to call it their own. (That's just a guess.)
Listen to it and decide for yourself.
"Pagosa" starred William Conrad as Jeff Spain. Also appearing were Georgia Ellis, William Wright, Tony Barrett, Lamont Johnson, Tom Holland, Herb Ellis, and Junius Matthews. William Johnstone was the narrator.
. Download Romance-Pagosa 510806 0006
(Image of the cast from CBS Radio's Gunsmoke from Wikipedia)
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