What happens
Charles Snell, a struggling poet, arrives at Bracy's department store, believing he has found a place to escape the world and write in peace. He hides on the fourth floor, but he soon discovers that the store is home to a community of pale, elderly residents who live there secretly. Their leader, Mrs. Vanderpant, welcomes him with unsettling courtesy, and he finds himself drawn to Ella, a young maid who seems different from the others. Charles begins to sense that the residents hold rigid rules and frightening threats, and that Ella's position among them is precarious. The episode is from the Escape series, broadcast on September 12, 1948, and is adapted from John Collier's story Evening Primrose. William Conrad plays Charles, with Constance Cavendish as Ellen.
Bracy's department store, at night, where a hidden community of residents lives among the displays
Characters: Charles Snell, Sam, Sadie, Mrs. Vanderpant, Mr. Roscoe, Mrs. Bilby, Ella
Listen for: Charles's diary entries describing the strange residents and the threat of the dark men
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.