Escape | Old Time Radio
byOld Time Retro Radio
ArtsPerformingFictionDrama
Escape | Old Time Radio brings you gripping adventure, suspense, mystery, and psychological drama from the golden age of radio. Each episode transports listeners into dangerous situations, distant places, desperate struggles, and unforgettable stories of survival and the unknown. Each episode is an Old Time Retro Radio production, presenting the original broadcast with gently cleaned and mastered audio, a newly produced introduction and closing, and custom episode artwork. Escape became one of classic radio’s most acclaimed anthology series, adapting powerful stories of adventure, danger, horror, and suspense. Rediscover classic old time radio adventure, suspense, mystery, survival stories, thriller drama, and vi...
Episodes(40 episodes)
Escape - "a Shipment of Mute Fate" (Old Time Radio)
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 newl...
Published: Oct 3, 2026Duration: 30m 18s
Escape - "Evening Primrose" (Old Time Radio)
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...
Published: Oct 2, 2026Duration: 30m 46s
Escape - "the Vanishing Lady" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “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 anno...
Published: Oct 1, 2026Duration: 30m 35s
Escape - "Conqueror's Isle" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “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...
Published: Sep 30, 2026Duration: 27m 56s
Escape - "Snake Doctor" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “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 introducti...
Published: Sep 29, 2026Duration: 30m 18s
Escape - "the Second Class Passenger" (Old Time Radio)
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 prod...
Published: Sep 28, 2026Duration: 30m 39s
Escape - "17 Leiningen Vs the Ants" (Old Time Radio)
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 con...
Published: Sep 27, 2026Duration: 30m 27s
Escape - "07 the Fourth Man" (Old Time Radio)
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 experie...
Published: Sep 26, 2026Duration: 30m 22s
Escape - "Papa Benjamin ALT1" (Old Time Radio)
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 b...
Published: Sep 25, 2026Duration: 30m 34s
Escape - "Classified Secret" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “Classified Secret,” originally broadcast on CBS on April 12, 1953. Written, produced, and directed by Antony Ellis, this espionage drama stars Parley Baer and Miriam Kruschen.Charlie Rader boards an eastbound bus from North Hollywood bound for New York, only to find that his fellow passengers may know far more about him—and the secret he carries—than they should. As the coach crosses the Southwest, a chance acquaintance named Julie Spaulding joins him on an increasingly uneasy journey.Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned...
Published: Sep 24, 2026Duration: 30m 20s
Escape - "Command" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “Command” (also listed as “Command”), originally broadcast May 26, 1950. This archival recording is episode 5005.Adapted by William N. Robson from James Warner Bellah’s Western short story, this CBS frontier-cavalry drama follows young Lieutenant Flint Cohill as he clashes with the seasoned Captain Nathan Brittles during a dangerous patrol in the American Southwest. Harry Bartell and John Hoyt star in a tense story of duty, judgment, and the burdens of command.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...
Published: Sep 23, 2026Duration: 30m 25s
Escape - "a Shipment of Mute Fate" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “a Shipment of Mute Fate,” originally broadcast March 13, 1949. This archival episode is identified as episode 4903. John Lund stars in this CBS Escape production, adapted by Les Crutchfield from a story by Martin Storm and directed by Norman Macdonnell.A voyage from Venezuela becomes a voyage of terror when a live bushmaster snake is no longer securely contained aboard an ocean liner. With the ship at sea and nowhere to run, passengers and crew face a silent, deadly danger in this tense maritime thriller.Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a sh...
Published: Sep 22, 2026Duration: 30m 13s
Escape - "25 the Fourth Man" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “The Fourth Man,” originally broadcast April 25, 1948. This archival recording is identified as episode 4804. Adapted by Irving Ravetch from John Russell’s South Seas story, the CBS drama was directed and produced by William N. Robson.Four very different men are crowded into a life raft in the South Pacific off Nouméa. With three fugitives from a French penal colony among them, the struggle to survive becomes a tense test of fear, judgment, and trust. The cast includes Berry Kroeger, Joseph Kearns, and Jay Novello.Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced context...
Published: Sep 21, 2026Duration: 30m 21s
Escape - "27 the Country of the Blind" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “27 the Country of the Blind,” originally broadcast June 27, 1948. This local archival recording is identified as episode number 4806.Adapted by John Dunkel from H. G. Wells’s classic story, the drama follows mountain guide Juan Nunez, lost high in the Andes, as he discovers a remote valley cut off from the outside world. There he encounters a community whose understanding of reality challenges everything he knows. Paul Frees stars as Nunez in this CBS Radio production directed by William N. Robson.Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announ...
Published: Sep 20, 2026Duration: 30m 29s
Escape - "30 the Man Who Stole the Bible" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “30 the Man Who Stole the Bible,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 30, 1951. This archival episode is cataloged as episode 5108. Written by John and Gwen Bagni and produced and directed by William N. Robson, it stars Sam Pearce as traveling salesman Cummings.In Mardi Gras-era New Orleans, Cummings takes a Gideon Bible from hotel room 302 just to pass the time while awaiting a call. Soon, suspicious strangers, a questionable house detective, and unnerving costumed figures make the little book seem far more dangerous than it first appeared.Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly prod...
Published: Sep 19, 2026Duration: 30m 24s
Escape - "21 Action" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “Action,” originally broadcast July 21, 1949. This archival recording is identified as episode 4907. Joseph Kearns stars in this CBS production, written by Les Crutchfield and directed by Norman MacDonnell, adapted from a short story by C. E. Montague.High in the Swiss Alps, experienced mountaineer Christopher Bell faces a solitary climb across a dangerous glacier as darkness closes in. When a cry for help carries across the ice, endurance, fear, and the necessity of action collide on a sheer mountain face.Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and...
Published: Sep 18, 2026Duration: 30m 29s
Escape - "07 a Shipment of Mute Fate" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “A Shipment of Mute Fate,” originally broadcast July 7, 1950. This archival recording is episode 5007, identified in Escape logs as episode 118.In La Guaira, Venezuela, young zoologist Chris Warner prepares to bring a dangerously venomous bushmaster snake aboard the ocean liner Chancay. At sea, an uneasy voyage becomes a tense shipboard ordeal in close quarters. The production was adapted by Les Crutchfield from a story by Martin Storm, directed and produced by William N. Robson, and features David Ellis and William Conrad.Escape presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing anno...
Published: Sep 17, 2026Duration: 30m 39s
Escape - "She" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “She,” originally broadcast on CBS on July 11, 1948. This adaptation of H. Rider Haggard’s classic adventure novel is commonly listed as episode 46, though episode numbering varies among surviving catalogs. The radio adaptation is credited to Les Crutchfield and features Berry Kroeger, Larry Dobkin, Kaye Brinker, and William Conrad.Archibald Holly, Leo Vincey, and their servant Job journey into remote Africa, where they discover an isolated civilization ruled by the beautiful, formidable queen known only as She. Their expedition leads them into a mysterious realm—and toward the secret of Leo’s connection to its powerful ruler.<br...
Published: Sep 16, 2026Duration: 30m 26s
Escape - "The Man Who Won the War ALT2" (Old Time Radio)
Escape presents “The Man Who Won the War ALT2,” originally broadcast on CBS on February 28, 1950. Cataloged as episode 100, this local archival recording is a World War I naval drama adapted, produced, and directed by William N. Robson from a story by Robert Buckner. Ben Wright stars as Commander Edward Bradman, with John Dehner and Joseph Kearns among the supporting cast.During a tense North Sea patrol off the Flanders coast in October 1914, an English destroyer’s commander must weigh a desperate signal from shore against the demands of war. Framed by a later British inquiry into Bradman’s wartime...
Published: Sep 15, 2026Duration: 30m 22s
Escape - "31 Three Good Witnesses" (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...
Published: Sep 14, 2026Duration: 30m 28s