Hans Conried stars in the second time William N. Robson produced this story. The first was on Escape 1950-08-25. It is about two men trying to deliver a black-market butchered hog during WW2 and the Nazi occupation of the city. The job is difficult as the hog is split up into four heavy suitcases. The process of getting it to its buyer is complicated when the smugglers hire a stranger to help them. They should have checked him out a little better: he is a belligerent alcoholic, and he keeps asking to be paid more money. The untrustable man may end up revealing the scheme.
The story was written by French novelist and playwright Marcel Ayme. His “Traversée de Paris,” was published in France in 1946, appeared in the July/August 1950 edition of Partisan Review. It was translated into English by Frank and Evalin Frantz. (Frank was a language professor at University of Tennessee – Knoxville for 30 years). The story was adapted for Escape by John Meston.
A version of the story became a movie in 1956. The film can be viewed in its original French at the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/la-traversee-de-paris-1956 It is more comedic than the original story.
The program was recorded on Tuesday, May 28, 1957. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm and concluded at 6:30pm. Recording commenced at 6:30pm, followed by studio editing from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
The surviving recording is complete, but with narrow range and background noise. Many of the recordings of this episode are edited AFRS versions, or edited network versions. The Escape broadcast survives in slightly better sound.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP570602
THE CAST
Hans Conried (Pierre Martin), John Dehner (Grandgil the painter), Joe de Santis (Jamblier), Ted de Corsia (Barkeep / Proprietor / Butcher), Paul DuBov (Drunk / Policeman), George Walsh (Narrator)
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