Escape's "The Ambassador of Poker" was based on the short story of the same name by Achmed Abdullah, which was first published in Stories for Men: An Anthology(1944). Achmed Abdullah was the pen name of Alexander Nicholayevitch Romanoff, a Russian writer, playwright, and screenwriter. He was also the son of a second cousin of Czar Nicholas Romanoff.
Escape's adaptation is different from Abdullah's story, but it isn't bad. They just added a dangerous female character and a notorious Chinese general, making this episode vaguely reminiscent of the 1949 episode "The General Died at Dawn."
As the episode opens, Randolph C. Fairborn of Virginia is being thrown off a ship in Hong Kong for being too good at poker. He says that he can't help winning, but the captain still doesn't want him on board. Fairborn leaves the ship and, with no other way to earn money, goes looking for a poker game on the waterfront.
He finds one, and after getting in a fight over his winnings, he encounters businessman Sheng Pao, who offers Fairborn a job because he believes him to be a fighting man. Sheng Pao wants him to recover the great seal of Yin Dynasty, which is the property of his company, Jones & Sheng Pao. The seal was confiscated from his late business partner by a general. It is worth a fortune and Sheng Pao wants the seal back...any way Fairborn can get it.
"The Ambassador of Poker" was adapted for radio by John Dunkel. William N. Robson produced and directed. Elliott Reedplayed Randolph C. Fairborn and Lucille Meredith played Susan Jones. Also appearing were Ben Wright, Benson Fong, Richard Loo, John Dehner, Ramsay Hill, William Conrad, and Rick Valens. This episode aired on April 7, 1950.
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(Image of Achmed Abdullah from Wikisource.)
This was a lot of fun. full of familiar elements but well played.
Posted by: Michael O'Brien | March 31, 2015 at 03:54 AM