As a reward for our listeners whose support pushed our Patreon page above $150 per month, we’re finally presenting our most requested episode, “Three Skeleton Key” from Escape! Vincent Price stars in James Poe’s adaptation of a short story by George Toudouze about three men maintaining a lighthouse off the coast of French Guiana. When deadly invaders descend on this isolated island, who will survive? Will this recording live up to its sterling reputation? Is The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis superior to Gilligan’s Island? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
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Here’s info about the filmed version! http://threeskeletonkeyfilm.com/
I expect this episode to have a 100% classic rating.
I thoroughly enjoyed your great discussion about this classic episode.
You all wondered how to define this episode–“locked room mystery” or “base under siege.” I wrote an article once titled “Last Stands of Old Time Radio,” defined as stories in which a small force is defending a specific location against an overwhelming enemy force. I listed this episode and Leiningen vs. the Ants as two examples in which the attacking force are animals of some sort.
https://www.otrcat.com/last-stands-of-old-time-radio
Great article, Timothy. “Last stand” is a very apt description. Your books look fascinating as well, particularly the one about literature on the airwaves. I love comparing and contrasting adaptations with the originals. The end of Toudouze’s short story is great, but I found the changes Poe made to the radio version just as compelling, despite being a radical departure from the original.
My god this creeped me out. Like – physically. My skin got itchy and arm-hair stood on end.
At the 47:20 mark, Eric refers to smoking a pipe and I imagine that, while recording these podcasts, he is in the habit of pointing his pipe at Tim and Joshua to emphasize precisely how right he is and how wrong they are. Like a 1950s dad wearing a cardigan with leather elbow patches, sitting in a Barcalounger and assuring everyone that the only thing we have to fear about asbestos and lead paint is fear itself (as a TV newsreel announcer declares “Commerce! Industry! Minneapolis is a City on the Grow!” in the background). I realize that this image… Read more »
That is a beautiful image and I would never dream of taking it from you.
I neglected to mention the faithful Golden Retriever curled up next to Eric’s recliner. In keeping with the 1950s custom of naming pets after a local funeral director or county comptroller, the dog was named Arthur.
LOL! I will never have the same picture in my mind again, I always picture them at the kitchen table secreted away from people.
Saw a book in a library that said 3 Skeleton Key on the spine and got excited, but when I pulled it off the shelf I realised that it was book 3 in the Alex Rider series, called Skeleton Key. Probably entertaining, but not what I was hoping for. I always thought that the show should have ended with Vincent Price finding whatever he needed to relight the lighthouse just as the boat arrives and he has to decide if he is going to light the light and save the boat, or keep it off to save himself, and the… Read more »
I’ve read a few of the Alex Rider books and they are quite good. If you want to read the original short story though, here is a link to a PDF: http://www.mpsaz.org/taylor/staff/bjdavis/short-stories/files/threeskeletonpdf.pdf This PDF amuses me because it’s made for school age kids, complete with comprehension questions and vocabulary words! You might find the story itself interesting because, as I mentioned in the podcast, it has a completely different resolution. We performed this live and had quite a time creating the sound of thousands of hungry, clawing rats. We eventually used a bird call to create squeaks and a can… Read more »
Team Tim all the way!!! More three skeleton key, please.
Also noticed the signal flare loop hole, which could have been utilized to show the old man’s descent into madness, simply by having Price tell him to shoot off a signal flare, only to come back after securing the doors and windows and finding the old man still staring at the ship in shock.