Escape (radio program)

Escape

Harry Bartell was heard in "Three Skeleton Key" and 55 other Escape programs.
Genre	Adventure
Running time	30 minutes
Country	United States
Language(s)	English
Home station	CBS
Written by	Les Crutchfield, John Dunkel
Directed by	Norman MacDonnell, William N. Robson
Produced by	Norman MacDonnell
Narrated by	Paul Frees, William Conrad
Air dates	July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954
No. of episodes	228

Escape was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure radio dramas, 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 this introduction, as intoned by Paul Frees and William Conrad:

Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add:

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 Daphne du Maurier's "The Birds", Carl Stephenson's "Leiningen Versus the Ants", Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven", George R. Stewart's Earth Abides (the program's only two-parter), Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz".