The Chase

 

 

The episode opening said it all about what was to follow:

The lone bugle of a fox hunt, Éthe braying of dogs, É

 

"In the animal world, there is the hunter and the hunted, É

hounds & fox, É hawk & sparrow, É chicken & worm.

We, in the top-most species have also joined the hunt, É

but who is to judge precisely which of us

are hounds or foxes as we enter É

The Chase! "

 

An alternate episode opening is also enlightening as to the content of these programs:

Slow footsteps, .. getting faster and faster, .. a police whistle blows,

É a gunshot rings out, É the footsteps slow and eventually a body falls É.

 

"There's always the hunter and the hunted, the pursuer and the pursued.

It may be the voice of authority or

a race with death and destruction: the most relentless of the hunt.

There are times when laughter is heard as counterpoint

and moments when sheer terror is the theme.

But always there is The Chase!"

 

 

The Chase is often considered to be NBC's "version" of CBS's successful Escape (also available from this website). The Chase told high energy tales of people on the run being either as hunter or hunted (mostly the latter). It was highly escapist fare and very well done by some of New York's best radio actors and sound technicians. The creator / writer was Lawrence Klee who fashioned stories from across a number of genres. Although less reliant on some of the "classic escapist" tales often told on Escape, The Chase did not disappoint with their rendition of the most famous chase story of all: 1952-11-30 The Most Dangerous Game.

The series ran for 55 thirty minute episodes across 1952 / 53 and in that time delivered nail-biting action packed adventure radio to a large audience. Luckily all but one episode has survived.

 

Note: Trev feels that this series took a few weeks to find its feet - with Episode No. 4 (1952-05-18 Elliott Preston is Framed for Murder) being the first one that really delivered on the impressive openings above.

 

Want to check out an episode? - why not "taste & try"?

 

This episode (the 5th in the series and a beauty!) can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click on any link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that effect). The file is on an average about 21Mb - download time will depend on your (broadband) speed

 

TC_1952-05-25 Newspaper Reporter After Germans in South America

 

 

These two MP3 CD consists of all 54 surviving episodes of The Chase

- each has been carefully restored to a superb audio rendition

 

The Chase

 

1.         TC_1952-04-27 The Big Cat.mp3

2.         TC_1952-05-04 Harry Troll's Diamond.mp3

3.         TC_1952-05-11 Countess Treanna.mp3

4.         TC_1952-05-18 Elliott Preston is Framed for Murder.mp3

5.         TC_1952-05-25 Newspaper Reporter After Germans in South America.mp3

6.         TC_1952-06-01 Easy Riches, Sudden Death.mp3

7.         TC_1952-06-08 Hardluck Ethel.mp3

8.         TC_1952-06-15 Terminate Professor Kolchek.mp3

9.         TC_1952-06-22 Bald Artie Bender.mp3

10.     TC_1952-06-29 Stephan, Monica and One Million Dollars.mp3

11.     TC_1952-07-10 Doug Burton and a Mysterious Letter.mp3

12.     TC_1952-07-17 Joey.mp3

13.     TC_1952-07-24 The Apprentice.mp3

14.     TC_1952-08-07 The Painting.mp3

15.     TC_1952-08-14 The Amusement Park.mp3

16.     TC_1952-08-21 The Promotion.mp3

17.     TC_1952-09-21 The Chinese Buddha.mp3

18.     TC_1952-09-28 Twenty Million Dollar Bum.mp3

19.     TC_1952-10-05 Flight from Istanbul.mp3

20.     TC_1952-10-12 The Cat's Meow.mp3

21.     TC_1952-10-19 Man Hunt.mp3

22.     TC_1952-10-26 Iron Curtain Express.mp3

23.     TC_1952-11-02 Long Distance.mp3

24.     TC_1952-11-09 Career Girl.mp3

25.     TC_1952-11-16 My Love is a Ghost.mp3

26.     TC_1952-11-23 Blackout.mp3

27.     TC_1952-11-30 The Most Dangerous Game.mp3

28.     TC_1952-12-07 Dangerous Journey.mp3

29.     TC_1952-12-14 The Murder.mp3

30.     TC_1952-12-28 No Contact.mp3

31.     TC_1953-01-04 The Fortune Hunter.mp3

32.     TC_1953-01-11 Professor Calvin and the Voice.mp3

33.     TC_1953-01-18 Killer at Large.mp3

34.     TC_1953-01-25 The Creeper.mp3

35.     TC_1953-02-01 Corpus Delicti.mp3

36.     TC_1953-02-08 Pennypinching Boarding House Owners.mp3

37.     TC_1953-02-15 The Will.mp3

38.     TC_1953-02-22 The Jailbreak.mp3

39.     TC_1953-03-01 A Frame for Murder.mp3

40.     TC_1953-03-08 Special Delivery.mp3

41.     TC_1953-03-15 The Laddy Is a Corpse.mp3

42.     TC_1953-03-21 Cathy Sutter Meets James Carter.mp3

43.     TC_1953-03-29 Murderers' Row.mp3

44.     TC_1953-04-05 Johnny and Ellen, Killer and Hostage.mp3

45.     TC_1953-04-19 King Danno.mp3

46.     TC_1953-04-26 The Leading Man Talent Search.mp3

47.     TC_1953-05-03 Circumstantial Evidence.mp3

48.     TC_1953-05-17 The Hold-Up.mp3

49.     TC_1953-05-24 Tiger Lily.mp3

50.     TC_1953-05-31 Lucifer.mp3

51.     TC_1953-06-07 Million Dollar Hunt.mp3

52.     TC_1953-06-14 Playboy.mp3

53.     TC_1953-06-21 The Monster.mp3

54.     TC_1953-06-28 Harry and the Talking Horse.mp3

 

 

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