What happens
Escape presents an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's story The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, starring Sam Edwards in the lead role of John Unger, first broadcast on 1949-03-27. John, a schoolboy, spends the summer at the isolated mountain estate of his friend Percy Washington, whose family is said to be the richest in the world. John is drawn to Percy's sister Kismine, while growing uneasy about the family's strange customs and the secretive nature of the place. Gradually the household's hidden arrangements come to light, and John must decide what to do next.
An isolated plateau in the Rocky Mountains, where the Washington family lives in a vast chateau reached by a hoist.
Characters: John Unger, Percy Washington, Kismine, Mr. Washington, Giggson
Listen for: The secrets of the Washington household and the strange arrangements that keep the estate hidden from the outside world.
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.