Herbert Marshall stars in a William N. Robson adaptation of a Robert Buckner short story that was first heard on Escape in 1950. It is a curious story about a British officer in World War One who assisted the Belgian army to create a ruse to convince German soldiers that Belgium was receiving secret assistance from the British. It all started with a mistaken shipment of kilts.
The story is somewhat forgotten in more modern times, but it was very well known in the 1930s and through the 1950s. Buckner had a tough time getting it published; it was rejected by 22 different publications. He was originally a journalist and always insisted that the underlying story was true, about an officer he had met named Cecil Brandon. He said he had verified the details with original research of British and Belgian archives and interviews. It was decided, however, that was best told as fiction, partly because it was “so strange as to be almost unbelievable,” according to the magazine Fiction Parade.
The story finally appeared in the February 1936 edition of Atlantic Monthly as they reversed their earlier rejection. The story received rave reviews and was reprinted in Reader’s Digest, Fiction Parade, and other publications. By 1938, Buckner stated that it had been sold to publications in 28 countries and translated into 16 languages. According to an article in the Richmond VA Times of 1936-11-29, even the German government sought permission to translate and publish. That is interesting considering the subject matter, and puts their request in the category of “won’t get fooled again.”
The story was popular for performances in 1930s radio. It was dramatized by the BBC and there were local and regional radio productions in the US. The story was also dramatized in local stage productions, and was used in dramatic readings. It was used as an example for new writers about its style and construction.
Columbia bought the movie rights for the story, and they seem to have ended up with Fox. Frank Capra had great interest in the story. Fox decided at the time that the interest in war movies had waned, and it never went into production.
Buckner went on to have a very successful screenwriting and producing career. He was nominated for an Oscar for his script for the 1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy movie biography of George M Cohan which starred James Cagney. (Radio trivia: Jack Benny was up for that part, and his turn-down became the not-so-inside-joke reason why a few bars of the song Yankee Doodle Dandy started to be used at the beginning of his radio program).
The program was recorded on Friday, September 5, 1958. Rehearsal began at 2:00pm with recording starting at 4:30pm. The session ended at 6:00pm and included in-studio edits. Further production edits were made at 6:00pm and concluded at 8:00pm.
No network recording has survived. Of the four ad slots, one was for GMC Trucks and another was for Congoleum flooring. The other two slots were allocated before broadcast.
The surviving recording is an edited aircheck from an Armed Forces Radio station. It is likely a home recording. It is in poor sound. It is hoped that an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription disc will be found to replace it with improved sound. The Escape broadcast is in much better sound quality.
A repeat performance of The Treasure Chest of Don Jose was originally scheduled for this date.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP580907
THE CAST
HERBERT MARSHALL (Bradman), Abraham Sofaer (Gilliam / Admiral), Ben Wright (Major / Hopper), Ramsay Hill (Ainsley / Lieutenant), Ted de Corsia (Tweddle), Barney Phillips (Helmsman / Bechtel), George Walsh (Narrator)
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