Escape: Ocean Tales

"The Tiffany Network", the Columbia Broadcasting System or CBS, seemed to have their hit-making formula perfected when they debuted "Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills", Suspense, on July 17, 1942. The show had everything it needed, incredibly well-written stories and scripts, more than adequate acting talent (often including important guest talent often acting against type), and one of the best directing and production staffs in the industry. This winning combination made Suspense the delight of sponsors and listeners for two decades; the Golden Age of Radio ended with an episode of Suspense on September 30, 1962.

One of the biggest surprises surrounding Suspense is that the same creative team, using essentially the same resources and a similar format, were not able to repeat that success with the sister program Escape, which premiered on July 7, 1947. Both programs were created and produced by Norman MacDonnell and William Spier. Although some Suspense stories were adapted from literature, most scripts were original stories with a high "creepiness" factor. Escape scripts were all adapted from popular and classic literature. Romantic Adventures were a very good fit for audiences which had gone through the bravado of the War and were now settling into the nine-to-five routine of post-War prosperity.

With the sponsor's money available, Suspense was able to attract A-list talent. The network seemed content to sustain Escape rather than pitch it to sponsors and bounced it over various timeslots which worked against it building a following. Fans still managed to dial it in, and the strong scripts were well performed by a whos-who of Radio Row Regulars.

Basing the Escape scripts on literature meant there was a huge amount of story material available. In nearly every story, the protagonist finds himself in a situation where death, usually violent and cruel death, is just moments away, and he must find a way to beat death through bravery, toughness, shrewdness, or even just dumb luck. Naturally, most of us avoid life and death situations in our daily lives, but they certainly catch our attention on the radio.

The actual experience of going to sea is relatively rare, but the desire to do so is common. A seafaring life has always been a surprisingly attainable proposition and young men have dreamed of finding their fortune in foreign ports for as long as there have been ships. The skills of a sailorman are rather specialized, but most sea captains are primarily interested in finding men with a strong back to operate their ships. Whether these land-lubbers have what it takes to learn what needs to be learned and survive the voyage remains to be seen, but those who survive almost always come back with good stories.

• July 28, 1947, Typhoon, Joseph Conrad, author. The fourth episode of the series. A then-modern steamer, SS Nan-Shan, is put under the command of Captain MacWhirr on the China run. After a few years, the ship takes on a cargo for passengers, Chinese laborers bound for Foochow, and runs into a tropical storm which endangers not only the coolies on deck but the ship itself.
• March 21, 1948, Misfortune's Isle, Richard Matthews Hallet, author. Yankee skipper Captain Arad is in command of a Chinese junk sailing out of Manila. The Spanish captain-general wants Arad to sail to Misfortune Isle to fight Dyak pirates but Arad is after antimony metal and precious bird's nests (for soup). The ship sails, not knowing that the captain-general's beautiful wife as a stowaway. Unfortunately, the junk is shipwrecked near the island, with headhunters approaching and the gunpowder wet.
• January 24, 1950, Treasure Incorporated, John and Gwen Bagni, authors. Eddie and Amanda come up with a scheme for a tourist resort on a Caribbean island where the attraction will be buried "pirate" treasure, but they don't count on a hermit who lives on the island who wants to protect his private paradise.
• March 10, 1950, Port Royal, Harry Rieseberg, author. The ancient pirate town of Port Royal slid to the bottom of the ocean after an earthquake. Former merchant seaman and gambler Danny Quinn has a map of the town's treasure warehouse, so he finds a ship and a deep-sea diver to recover the treasure. Getting the loot turns out to be simple enough but having the treasure on board proves to be troublesome.
• October 1, 1950, A Sleeping Draught, Weston Martyr, author. A cargo of four hundred bloodthirsty convicts bound for Australia means nothing but trouble for an honorable sea captain. The men were all searched before boarding the ship, but somehow the convicts have knives and there is murder aboard. A deal must be struck between the convicts and the crew, but the captain will have to live with the results.
• December 10, 1950, A Passenger to Bali, Ellis St. Joseph, author. The play was originally performed on the radio by Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre company (two weeks after the "War of the Worlds"). The Reverend Mr. Walkes pays a premium for passage about the steamer Roundabout from Singapore to Bali for himself and two large crates of bibles. After sailing, the crew discovers a native girl in the hold, possibly spirited aboard by the good Reverend. Arriving in Bali, the captain discovers that Walkes is a known anarchist and not allowed to land. In fact, he is persona non grata in every port in the South Seas, and the Roundabout is stuck with him.

For more boating tales in Old Time Radio, see also:  Ships, Yachts and Boats, Cruise of the Poll Parrot, Men at Sea, Racing Boats, Submarines, Battle Stations, Titanic, Naval Battles in OTR, Escape: Ocean Tales, and Spooky Tales of the Sea.