Escape's "The Man with the Steel Teeth" was written by radio actor John Dehner, but there doesn't appear to be a recording of this episode that is of decent audio quality. Fortunately, Suspense recycled this story in 1955 with Dehner in the lead role, and there is a good quality recording of that broadcast.
As the episode opens, newspaper correspondent Arthur Henderson Luttrell is picked up at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, arrested by the Soviet secret police, and taken to Lubyanka Prison. He is asked to confess to a number of outrageous crimes, including espionage. Although they beat him and try to wear him down psychologically, he refuses to confess.
Later, Arthur awakens in his cell, and he realizes that the door is open. He expects that someone will stop him before he escapes, but nobody does. Someone has allowed him to escape, but Arthur doesn't know why...
"The Man with Steel Teeth" was written by John Dehner and produced/directed by Antony Ellis. Harry Bartell starred. Also appearing were Jack Kruschen, Charlotte Lawrence, Steve Roberts and Paul Dubov. This episode aired on March 15, 1953.
. Download Escape 53.03.15 themanwithsteelteeth
Suspense presented this story on February 17, 1955. Antony Ellis produced/directed. John Dehner starred. Also appearing were Edgar Barrier, Robert Boone, Jack Kruschen, and Maria Palmer.
. Download Suspense_1955-02-17_ManWithTheSteelTeeth (Good audio quality)
(*Revised 4/16/10 - Thanks to Shannon B. for providing a better quality recording of Escape's version.)
(Image of radio actor John Dehner)
I'm not a big fan of most of Escape's spy themed episodes, but I enjoyed this one. A nice twist at the end that would do John le Carré proud.
Posted by: Atoz | May 05, 2018 at 07:33 PM