Escape's "Something for Nothing" is a story about a "handsome, ruthless gambler" named Gil Devon who witnesses a murder and then blackmails his way into bigger and better things. The point of the story is that it isn't possible to get something for nothing. In one way or another, you have to pay.
"Something for Nothing" is based on a 1950 novel by H. Vernor Dixon and was adapted for radio by screenwriter Silvia Richards. The book and the radio version aren't exactly the same because the story had to be abbreviated for a half hour show. As a result, Escape's version of the story has aged better than the book.
The story is set in the fictional town of Bayside, California, which seems similar to a number of wealthy communities along the coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. People there are either rich or trying to get rich, and everyone drinks too many highballs. Belle Gassner is the mousy but murderous housewife that Gil blackmails and then becomes involved with. In the book, Gil is involved with three women, but on radio they only had enough time for two. The alcoholic teenage girl he hooks up with is left out, as well as the homosexual backstory on Belle's murdered husband.
This episode aired on April 28, 1950 and starred William Conrad as Gil, Ann Morrison as Belle, Frances Chaney as Miss Price.
As it advises on the back cover of the book, "Take a deep breath - then start it."
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