Escape and Suspense!

Resurrecting the Dead (on Radio)

Resurrecting the dead was a subject that prompted interesting episodes from a number of old time radio series. Let's take a look at three of these episodes and the life and death struggles that resulted from experiments gone wrong.

In "The Return from Death," an episode from The Hall of Fantasy, a doctor named Jason Sinclair believes he can bring the dead back to life.  Sinclair and his lab assistant persuade a death row inmate to allow them to experiment on his body after his execution. If they can bring him back to life, he will be a free man. Will Sinclair's experiment work? This episode aired on April 6, 1953.

.  Download HallofFantasy_1953.04.06_Return_From_Death.mp3

"The Search for Life" from The Hermit's Cave tells the story of a lab assistant who wants his girlfriend to forget her career and marry him. He decides to kill her and then resurrect her in such a way that she will have no memory of her career. What can possibly go wrong with a plan like that? You'll never guess. This episode aired in 1940, the exact date is not known.

.  Download HermitsCave.1940_The_Search_for_Life.mp3

"Death Robbery" from Lights Out stars Boris Karloff in a story about a scientist who has succeeded many times in bringing dead animals back to life. He wants to try his experiment on a human, but dead bodies are hard to come by! When his wife suddenly dies in a car crash, he gets his opportunity. Will he be happy with the results? "Death Robbery" takes a while to get where it is going. Most of the action is past the seventeen minute mark. This episode aired on July 16, 1947.

.  Download LightsOut_1947.07.16_Death_Robbery.mp3

(Image from Stock.xchng)

Fun in The Hall of Fantasy

For some Halloween fun this year, let's take a brief journey over to The Hall of Fantasy, a radio series that pronounced itself to be "dedicated to the supernatural, the unusual, and the unknown."

The Hall of Fantasy was created in 1947 by Richard Thorne, who also wrote, produced, and directed most of its shows. The series aired locally in Salt Lake City and then in Chicago during its first few incarnations. In 1952-53, The Hall of Fantasy aired on national radio through the Mutual Broadcasting System, and most of the series' surviving episodes are from its 1953 run.

The Hall of Fantasy had a campy but likeable style that reflected its obviously moderate budget.  The surviving episodes demonstrate that this series had problems with repetition in its scripts, a style of presentation that was repetitive, and stories that didn't resolve the plot with impact.

Nevertheless, when they got most of the elements right, The Hall of Fantasy knocked out some good episodes that are still fun to listen to.

So now, come with me, my friends. Let's enter The Hall of Fantasy, a series with one of the best introductions in all of Old Time Radio. (Richard Thorne is the narrator beckoning you to join him.)

"The Shadow People" tells the story of what is waiting in the darkness...to get YOU! This episode aired on September 21, 1953.

. Download HallofFantasy_1953.09.21_The_Shadow_People.mp3

"Stone's Revenge" takes place in a cabin in the woods that is cursed by a ghost. Don't think it through too much. This episode aired on August 17, 1953.

. Download Halloffantasy.1953.08.17_Stone's_Revenge.mp3

On a different note, "The Hand of Botar" is supposed to be scary but it is too campy to take seriously. Go ahead and laugh, this suspenseful episode about a hand that has a murderous mind of its own is a hoot! This episode aired on June 8, 1953.

. Download HallofFantasy_1953.06.08_TheHandofBotar.mp3

(Image from Morguefile)

Quiet, Please - The Thing on the Fourble Board

Somehow, despite all of their successes, neither Escape nor Suspense was able to claim that they had produced "the scariest episode" from the golden age of American radio. That distinction belongs to the series Quiet, Please for their episode, "The Thing on the Fourble Board." It is still considered the best in radio horror.

Quiet, Please was an unusual fantasy/horror radio show that ran from 1947 to 1949 on ABC. The series was known for its masterful use of silence and for its unique style of story presentation. Like Escape, the show never had a regular sponsor and Quiet, Please bounced around in different time slots for most of its duration. The series lasted for 109 episodes and then disappeared. For many years only 12 recordings were known to exist among collectors, but that changed in the 1980's when more than 80 "lost" episodes became available to the public.

"The Thing on the Fourble Board" is an episode that will haunt you every time you see an oil derrick. The script for this episode, as well as every other episode of Quiet, Please, is available at www.quietplease.org.

"The Thing on the Fouble Board" was written and directed by Wyllis Cooper and featured Ernest Chappell. This episode aired on August 9, 1948.

.  Download qpls.1948.08.09_The_Thing_on_the_Fourbleboard.mp3

(Image of oil drilling rig from Wikimedia Commons)

Suspense - The House in Cypress Canyon

"The House in Cypress Canyon" has a reputation as one the superior horror episodes produced during the "Golden Age of Radio." What makes this story about werewolves interesting is that it was not a Halloween episode--it was Suspense's idea of a Christmas story. As such, it has to be one the most chilling Christmas tales ever told.

The story begins in the office of a Hollywood real estate agent named Jerry. He is about to put up a sign advertising a new home in Cypress Canyon, but he is having doubts about doing so. This property has one peculiarity that he can't explain. A shoebox containing a manuscript was found by construction workers inside the unfinished house. The mysterious manuscript detailed a disturbing story about what would happen to the future occupants. Not sure what to do, Jerry asks his friend Sam, a detective, for advice.

"The House in Cypress Canyon" was written by Robert L. Richards and was produced/directed by William Spier.  Robert Taylor starred as James A. Woods and Cathy Lewis played Ellen. Also appearing were Wally Maher, Paul Frees, Howard Duff, Jim Backus, and Hans Conried. This episode aired on December 5, 1946.

.  Download Suspense_1945.12.05_TheHouseInCypressCanyon.mp3

(Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Escape-Leiningen Versus the Ants

"Leiningen vs. the Ants", a short story by Carl Stephenson published in Esquire magazine in 1938, was presented by Escape, Suspense, Mystery in the Air, and Lux Radio Theater. The story depicts the battle between the owner of a plantation in the Brazilian jungle and an attacking army of soldier ants.

You may already be familiar with this story from the movie version. In 1954 "Leiningen vs. the Ants" became The Naked Jungle starring Charleton Heston. In the film Leiningen has a love interest, a mail order bride played by the seductive Eleanor Parker. Leiningen spends the first half of the film grumbling because the new bride he ordered isn't a virgin - and he is. Then, in the second half, the ants come marching along to provide tension for the love story. William Conrad, who had previously played Leiningen on Escape, stars as the district commissioner. The movie went in a different direction but the radio versions stayed true to the original work.

The adaptation of this story for radio by Robert Ryf aired three times on Escape and twice on Suspense. For Escape, William Conrad played Leiningen on January 14, 1948 and May 23,1948. Tudor Owen played the role for Escape on August 4, 1949. William Conrad starred as Leiningen for Suspense on August 25, 1957. Luis Van Rooten played the role for Suspense on November 29, 1959.

Of the five different presentations of this same radio play, here are:

Tudor Owen as Leiningen:  Download Escape.1949.08.04_Leiningen_vs_the_Ants.mp3

William Conrad as Leiningen:  Download Suspense.08.25.1957.Leiningen vs the Ants.mp3

"Leiningen vs. the Ants" was also the inspiration for an episode called "Trumbo's World" on the ABC television show MacGyver.

See also: "Three Skeleton Key"

Escape - Three Skeleton Key

If there is one thing that the two namesakes of this blog have in common it is "Three Skeleton Key," a classic horror tale about rats narrated by Vincent Price. First made famous by Escape, this radio-play was then broadcast two more times on Suspense after Escape went off the air. Based on a 1937 Esquire magazine short story by the French writer George Toudouze, the story was adapted for Escape in 1949 by James Poe.

"Three Skeleton Key" is set on the coast of French Guiana in South America.  This is a coastline that is also famous for its penal colony on Devil's Island.

Quite a bit of information about "Three Skeleton Key" is available on the Internet. You can read more about it at the One Act Virtual Museum.  The One Act Players have posted Toudouze's original short story, and there is also a detailed article by B.A. Peterson at horror-wood.com.

Rats, Vincent Price, and a lonely lighthouse...this episode is a classic of vintage radio. 

The performance of this radio-play considered to be the best was one that Escape presented on March 17, 1950. They also performed this story on November 15, 1949, and August 9, 1953, but with different casts both times. Suspense brought back this radio-play with Vincent Price in the lead role on November 11, 1956, and October 19, 1958.

Here is Escape's "Three Skeleton Key" from March 17, 1950.

Download three_skeleton_key.mp3

Rev. 7/27/07