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Escape presents “The Man Who Won the War,” originally broadcast on CBS on February 28, 1950 (episode 100). This alternate archival recording features Ben Wright, John Dehner, and Paul Frees in a William N. Robson adaptation of Robert Buckner’s story. In October 1914, British destroyer commander Edward Bradman patrols the North Sea near the Flanders coast when a desperate signal from shore forces him to weigh a difficult wartime decision. Set amid the uncertainty of World War I’s opening months, the drama brings naval danger and divided responsibilities into sharp focus. 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 00:52 Original Broadcast 29:48 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Man Who Liked Dickens,” originally broadcast on CBS on December 21, 1952 (episode 162). Adapted by John Meston from Evelyn Waugh’s 1933 short story, the drama stars Terry Kilburn and Joseph Kearns. In the remote Brazilian jungle, a weakened English traveler, Paul Henty, finds refuge with the isolated Mr. McMaster, whose devotion to Charles Dickens is as remarkable as it is unsettling. This darkly ironic tale of survival and hospitality was directed and produced by Antony Ellis. 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 29:43 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “Misfortunes Isle ALT2,” originally broadcast March 21, 1948, and generally listed as episode 33. This CBS seafaring adventure was adapted by Les Crutchfield from Richard Matthews Hallet’s story “Misfortune’s Isle,” with William N. Robson producing and directing. In 1790 Manila, American trader Captain Arad sees opportunity in the pirate threat near Borneo. With his friend Yang Po and their crews, he sets out toward Misfortune’s Isle on a dangerous voyage shaped by colonial politics, uncertain alliances, and the perils of the sea. Paul Frees stars as Arad, joined by Virginia Gregg and William Conrad. 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 00:52 Original Broadcast 29:05 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “20 the Country of the Blind,” episode 4903, originally broadcast March 20, 1949. This CBS adaptation of H. G. Wells’s “The Country of the Blind” was written by John Dunkel and produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell, starring Edmond O’Brien as mountain guide Juan Nuñez. After surviving a perilous journey in Ecuador’s high Andes, Nuñez finds an isolated valley community whose understanding of the world challenges everything he knows. Berry Kroeger and Peggy Webber co-star in this fantastical adventure of discovery, communication, and belonging. 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 30:47 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Return,” originally broadcast on CBS on April 1, 1954, as episode 208. This Kathleen Hite drama was directed by Norman Macdonnell and features Lawrence Dobkin and William Conrad. In a walled North African city, a weary traveler confides in a blind beggar about his wish to leave hardship behind and find a perfect refuge. The beggar offers a path toward that dream, setting the traveler on an unsettling, parable-like search for the life he believes he wants. 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 00:48 Original Broadcast 28:49 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “23 Leiningen Vs the Ants,” originally broadcast May 23, 1948. This archival recording is identified as episode number 4805. William Conrad stars as Leiningen in Robert Ryf’s radio adaptation of Carl Stephenson’s “Leiningen Versus the Ants,” directed by Norman Macdonnell. At an isolated Amazon jungle plantation, Leiningen receives a dire warning from a district commissioner: an immense army of deadly ants is advancing. Determined not to abandon his land or the people depending on him, he prepares to face an unstoppable force of nature with nerve, planning, and every resource available. 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 00:52 Original Broadcast 30:22 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “A Shipment of Mute Fate,” originally broadcast March 28, 1948. This archival recording is identified as episode 4803. At Venezuela’s port of La Guaira, zoologist Chris Warner insists on bringing a captured bushmaster snake aboard the liner Chancay for its voyage to New York. Captain Wood fears the consequences of carrying such dangerous cargo, while a tense shipboard search turns the crossing into a voyage of mounting dread. Harry Bartell, Berry Kroeger, and Peggy Webber star in this adaptation of a Martin Storm story, produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell. 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 00:56 Original Broadcast 30:10 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “Evening Primrose,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 25, 1949. This archival recording is identified as episode 4908. Adapted by John Dunkel from John Collier’s short story, it stars Harry Bartell and Vivi Janiss. Disillusioned poet Charles Snell seeks solitude by hiding in a vast department store after closing, only to find that its shadowed aisles may not be as empty as they seem. Directed by Norman Macdonnell, this eerie fantasy transforms a familiar store into a strange after-hours world. 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 00:44 Original Broadcast 30:35 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “07 the Vanishing Lady,” originally broadcast on CBS on February 1, 1948. This archival recording is episode 4802. Written and directed by William N. Robson, the drama adapts Alexander Woollcott’s celebrated “vanishing lady” tale. At Paris’s Great Exposition, Cynthia Winship takes her ailing mother to the Grand Hotel Universal. A brief search for a doctor and medicine turns into a disorienting ordeal as Cynthia tries to make sense of what has happened. Joan Banks stars as Cynthia, with Hy Averback and Peggy Webber. 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 00:57 Original Broadcast 30:27 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “11 Conqueror’s Isle,” originally broadcast on CBS on January 11, 1953. This archival recording is identified as episode 5301 and adapts Nelson S. Bond’s short story “Conqueror’s Isle.” Years after his wartime bomber vanished over the South China Sea, Fleet Air Arm Lieutenant Brady is found adrift and placed under medical observation. As he recounts a storm-lashed flight and an emergency landing on a remote island, his physician struggles to accept the extraordinary tale. John Stevenson stars. 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 27:41 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “14 Snake Doctor,” episode 4802, originally broadcast February 14, 1948. This CBS production was adapted by Fred Howard from Irvin S. Cobb’s short story “Snake Doctor,” with William N. Robson producing and directing. Along Cashier Creek in southern mountain country, a wary local farmer becomes increasingly unsettled by an isolated neighbor known as the Snake Doctor, who makes his living capturing cottonmouths and rendering their oil. William Conrad stars in this tense tale of superstition, jealousy, and creeping fear amid the creek bottoms and venomous water moccasins. 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 00:40 Original Broadcast 30:12 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Second Class Passenger,” episode 4801, originally broadcast January 10, 1948. This West Coast airing of the CBS suspense series adapts Perceval Gibbon’s 1913 short story, with William N. Robson serving as writer and producer. During a shore excursion from a German mail steamer in Mozambique, mild-mannered passenger Dawson agrees to retrieve a fellow traveler’s heavy bronze curio. As night and tropical rain close in, a shortcut through the port’s unfamiliar streets leads him into mounting danger. Harry Bartell stars as Dawson, with Jeannette Nolan and Cathy Lewis. 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 00:57 Original Broadcast 30:27 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “17 Leiningen Vs the Ants,” episode 4801, originally broadcast January 17, 1948. This CBS drama is the West Coast performance of Robert Ryf’s adaptation of Carl Stephenson’s “Leiningen Versus the Ants,” produced and directed by William N. Robson. On an isolated Amazon plantation, Leiningen refuses to abandon his estate and its people when a district commissioner warns that an immense, deadly army of ants is approaching. William Conrad stars as Leiningen, with Lou Merrill as the commissioner, in a tense adventure of preparation, resolve, and man against 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 00:48 Original Broadcast 30:18 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “The Fourth Man,” originally broadcast July 7, 1949, as episode 4907. This CBS production stars Lawrence Dobkin as narrator and adapts John Russell’s short story for radio by Irving Ravetch. Near Nouméa in the South Pacific, three escaped French penal-colony fugitives and an indigenous pilot are stranded on a makeshift raft. With water running low and trust fraying under the tropical sun, survival depends on judgment as much as endurance. 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 00:43 Original Broadcast 30:14 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “Papa Benjamin ALT1,” originally broadcast on CBS on January 24, 1948, as episode 27. This alternate production adapts Cornell Woolrich’s story “Papa Benjamin,” written under his William Irish pen name, for radio by John Dunkel and directed by William N. Robson. In New Orleans’ French Quarter, struggling jazz bandleader Eddie Bloch searches for the sound that can restore his fortunes—and finds himself drawn toward Papa Benjamin and a sacred chant whose power he does not fully understand. Frank Lovejoy stars, in a supernatural-tinged drama distinguished by its jazz setting and prominent orchestral score. 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 30:28 Closing Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio