Escape - An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge

"An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" tells the strange story of a Confederate civilian sentenced to be hanged by the Union army.  The short story by Ambrose Bierce was first published in 1890, and the text is available online from Wikisource.

In 1947, William N. Robson adapted this story for Escape, and though he took some liberties to fill the half-hour time slot, his dialogue and story enhancements were good. He added a scene with a deadly snake, presumably so we wouldn't forget what show we were listening to, and also added a scene with Jethro, a former slave. He presented his radio play once on Escape and then three times on Suspense. Though the script is the same in all four episodes, the lead role was played by four different actors. Most notably, by Joseph Cotten and Vincent Price.

"An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" was produced, directed and adapted for Escape by William N. Robson. The role of Peyton Fahrquhar was played by Harry Bartell and Jethro was played by Luis Van Rooten. William Conrad and Bill Johnstone narrated. This episode aired on December 10, 1947.

. Download Escape_12.10.1947_OwlCreekBridge.mp3

Nine years later, the story was presented for the first time on Suspense. Victor Jory starred. This episode aired on December 9, 1956.

. Download suspense_1956.12.09_Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge.mp3

Suspense presented a slightly shorter version of the same radio-play on December 15, 1957. Joseph Cotten played Peyton Fahrquhar. Also appearing were Ellen Morgan, Harry Bartell, Jack Kruschen, Lou Merrill, and Roy Glenn.  William Conrad was the narrator. This episode aired on December 15, 1957.

. Download Suspense_1957.12.15_OccurenceatOwlCreekBridge.mp3   

Suspense presented this story for the last time on July 9, 1959, with Vincent Price in the lead role. Also appearing were Cathy Lewis, Barney Phillips, Sam Pierce, Roy Glenn, Norm Alden, and Sam Edwards.

. Download Suspense_1959.07.19_OccurrenceatOwlCreekBridge.mp3   

(Image of Ambrose Bierce from Wikipedia)

Comments

[Atoz]

When you have a source story as strong as this one, it's almost impossible to screw it up.

All of the versions here are good, but I think the first one from Escape on December 10, 1947 is the best. They just seemed to pull out all the stops on this production. I like how they had two narrators, plus the lead character. I also liked the extra bits of dialog used to flesh out the characters; the time given to the wife character added more impact to the ending, imo. I also preferred Luis Van Rooten's interpretation of the "freed" slave.

having said all that, Vincent Price on Suspense did the best job when it came to a southern accent.Heavy, of course, but not comically overdoing it.