Escape | Old Time Radio

Escape presents “Three Good Witnesses,” originally broadcast January 31, 1948, as episode 4801. This CBS thriller was adapted by John Dunkel from a Harold Lamb story and directed by William N. Robson.

American engineer Humphrey Ward rides the Taurus Express from Istanbul toward Syria during wartime, where a ticketless young woman, an accommodating conductor, and uneasy fellow passengers turn a routine journey into a tightening web of suspicion. Morgan Farley stars as Ward, with Jack Webb and Jeanette Nolan.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:47 Original Broadcast
30:18 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 29, 1948. This archival recording is episode 4808.

In Les Crutchfield’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fantastical tale, college student John Unger accepts a summer invitation from his fabulously wealthy friend Percy Washington. At the Washington family’s hidden retreat on a Montana plateau, extraordinary luxury, guarded secrecy, and a legendary diamond create an increasingly uneasy atmosphere. Sam Edwards stars as John Unger, with John Dehner as Mr. Washington.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:54 Original Broadcast
30:24 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “How Love Came to Professor Guildea,” episode 4802, originally broadcast February 22, 1948. This local archival Escape recording adapts Robert Smythe Hichens’s supernatural short story, with a radio adaptation by Les Crutchfield and production and direction by William N. Robson.

In foggy London, the brilliant but emotionally detached Professor Guildea dismisses love, compassion, and faith—until a troubling presence seems to enter his home and his life. Seeking help from Father Murchison, Guildea confronts an eerie mystery amid the watchful concern of his servant, Pitting, and Napoleon the parrot. Luis Van Rooten stars as Professor Guildea, with Parley Baer as Father Murchison and Paul Frees as Napoleon.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:55 Original Broadcast
30:26 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “Three Skeleton Key,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 9, 1953. This archival recording is episode 5308.

Adapted by James Poe from Georges-Gustave Toudouze’s short story, this tense tale follows lighthouse keepers Jean, Louis, and Auguste on a rocky outpost off French Guiana. When rats overrun the isolated station, their small refuge becomes increasingly difficult to defend. Ben Wright, Paul Frees, and Jay Novello star.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:45 Original Broadcast
30:15 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “Evening Primrose,” originally broadcast on CBS on September 12, 1948. This archival recording is episode number 4809.

Disillusioned poet Charles Snell, played by William Conrad, hides inside Bracey’s department store after closing in search of solitude. Adapted by John Dunkel from John Collier’s story and directed by Norman Macdonnell, the drama finds Snell confronting the unsettling possibilities concealed within the store’s shadowed nighttime aisles.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:37 Original Broadcast
30:08 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “Red Wine,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 11, 1949. This archival recording is identified as episode 4908; the drama is commonly cataloged as Escape episode 74, with alternate collector numbering. Adapted by John Dunkel from a Lawrence G. Blochman short story, it stars Willard Waterman, with Vic Perrin and Larry Dobkin.

On the rubber coast of Borneo, an investigator reaches an isolated jungle plantation to arrest a notorious killer believed to be hiding among three guarded European residents. With no easy route to help and every suspect concealing something, he must sort truth from deception before the investigation turns deadly.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:49 Original Broadcast
30:19 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “28 Wild Oranges,” originally broadcast on CBS on September 28, 1949. This archival recording is identified as episode 4909. Adapted by John Dunkel from Joseph Hergesheimer’s 1919 novel Wild Oranges, the drama stars Van Heflin.

Sailor John Woolfolk drops anchor near an isolated Georgia sand spit and ventures ashore after spotting a young woman near a decaying plantation. What begins as an unexpected delay for repairs becomes an increasingly uneasy stay amid a lonely orange grove, gathering storms, and a household shadowed by fear. Betty Lou Gerson and William Conrad co-star.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:51 Original Broadcast
30:21 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Drums of the Fore and Aft,” originally broadcast July 14, 1949. Episode 4907. Adapted by Les Crutchfield from Rudyard Kipling’s short story, this CBS production is narrated by Ben Wright, with Hugh Thomas and Terry Kilburn as the young army musicians Piggy Lou and Jakin.

On the rugged northwestern frontier of British India, two eager boys attached to a British regiment dream of glory as they head toward their first real campaign. Kipling’s tense tale examines fear, courage, and regimental honor amid the dangers of the frontier.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:44 Original Broadcast
31:00 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Killer Mine,” episode 142 of the CBS adventure anthology, originally broadcast February 11, 1951. John Dehner stars in this adaptation of Hammond Innes’s novel, adapted for radio by Antony Ellis and directed by Norman Macdonnell.

On England’s Cornish coast, British Army deserter and hard-rock miner Jim Price accepts an old friend’s offer of a no-questions-asked job. But the work leads into a deserted tin mine running beneath the sea, where his troubled past and the dangerous underground conditions make a fresh start anything but simple.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:53 Original Broadcast
30:23 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “04 Leiningen Vs the Ants,” originally broadcast August 4, 1949. This archival recording is identified as episode 4908. Adapted by Robert Ryf from Carl Stephenson’s short story, the CBS drama stars Tudor Owen as Leiningen and Gerald Mohr as the district commissioner.

On a remote Brazilian Amazon plantation, a commissioner arrives with an urgent warning: an enormous army of ravenous ants is advancing. Leiningen refuses to leave, setting the stage for a tense struggle between human resolve and an unstoppable force of nature.

Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:41 Original Broadcast
30:12 Closing

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio