Escape - The Price of the Head

Escape's "The Price of the Head" was loosely adapted from the short story of the same name by John Russell. It is available, along with several other stories that were adapted into Escape episodes, in a book called The Red Mark: And Other Stories (1919).

The episode opens in a place called Fufuti in the Solomon Islands. There, an alcoholic named Christopher Pellett has become a nuisance and embarrassment to all but his devoted friend Karaki. When Pellett kills a Chinese man named Moy Jack, Karaki convinces Pellett to return with him to his home island of Bougainville. Karaki assures Pellett that the authorities will never find him there.

Escape's version is somewhat better than the short story, which leaves you with an indefinite ending.

This tale was presented twice on Escape. The first time was on October 19, 1952, but a decent recording of that episode is hard to come by.

"The Price of the Head" was adapted for radio by John Meston. Suspense writers Morton Fine and David Friedkin produced/directed this episode. The narrator was Mary Jane Croft. Hans Conried, Ben Wright, Jack Kruschen were featured. This episode aired on August 7, 1954.

.  Download Escape.1954.08.07_Price_of_the_Head.mp3

(Image from Wikipedia)

 

Comments

[Philippa]

From the beginning, I suspected how this ended. Nevertheless the ending came like a knockout punch - - wow!

[Atoz]

This was good, but I wish that they had used a different title. It's kind of a spoiler and reduces the impact of the ending a bit.

I've been impressed with the episodes based on the works of John Russell. I had never heard of him before. Thanks for posting a link to his short story collection.

[Atoz]

I've just read the short story. It's different than the radio version, and I'm not sure which version is better.

Spoilers

In the short story Pellett isn't really a bad guy. He's just a drunk who has surrendered everything to his habit. His "friend" Karaki loads him onto his little boat while he's in one of his near constant stupors and sails him 800 hundred miles across the ocean. Along the way, and with the aid of Karaki's nursing, he recovers from the ravages of his alcoholism. It turns out that he is actually an intelligent, well educated man; he even begins to recite poetry.

The end of the short story is just the same as in the radio version, except Pellett is ok with the "price" he has to pay for reclaiming his soul.

I'm not sure which of the two versions of the story I like better.

p.s I would LOVE to hear the October 19, 1952 version with William Conrad. Hans Conried was excellent in the '54 version, but I'd really like to hear the other version so I could compare them. Hopefully, the narrator of that version didn't struggle like Mary Jane Croft did in the latter presentation.