A Shipment Of Mute Fate (Aired October 15, 1947)
Escape was radio's leading anthology series of high adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense, it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with the introduction, intoned by Paul Frees and William Conrad: “Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!” Of the more than 230 Escape episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than Suspense. Some of the memorable adaptations include Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven," George R. Stewart's Earth Abides, Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," John Collier's "Evening Primrose", later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. Vincent Price and Harry Bartell were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key," the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats. The half-hour was adapted from an Esquire short story by the French writer George Toudouze.
THIS EPISODE:
October 15, 1947. CBS network. "A Shipment Of Mute Fate". Sustaining. A good story about a deadly snake looser on an ocean liner. Jack Webb is excellent as the narrator, the sound of the snake strike is very well done. Good radio! The script was subsequently used on Escape on March 13, 1949 and on July 7, 1950 and on "Suspense on January 6, 1957 and April 3, 1960. William N. Robson (producer, director), Martin Storm (writer), Jack Webb (narrator), Les Crutchfield (adaptor), Cy Feuer (music conceiver, conductor). 24:22.
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