(25) Escape - Papa Benjamin (#2)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode 25: Escape – Papa Benjamin (#2)

Date: August 8, 2026
Host: Harold’s Old Time Radio
Feature: CBS's classic radio drama “Escape”—episode "Papa Benjamin"
Original Story By: William Irish (Cornell Woolrich)
Adapted for Radio: John Dunkle
Cast Highlights: Frank Lovejoy (Eddie Block), Louis Van Rooten (Papa Benjamin), Joan Banks (Judy)

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Episode Overview

This episode features a gripping broadcast of “Escape,” one of radio’s most iconic thrill/anxiety anthology series, showcasing “Papa Benjamin.” The story plunges listeners into the haunted nightlife of New Orleans, a crossroads of modern jazz and ancient voodoo. Famed bandleader Eddie Block’s meteoric rise intersects with dark forces when he appropriates a sacred voodoo chant for personal gain, launching a spiral of paranoia, violence, and supernatural vengeance.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

1. A Dark Confession in the Night

• [01:07 – 04:00] The drama opens with Eddie Block, a once-prominent jazz bandleader, arriving at a New Orleans police station at 4 a.m., confessing to murder.
  • Quote (Eddie Block, 03:03): “I've just killed a man.”
  • The police suspect delirium, until evidence proves otherwise.

2. The Legend of Papa Benjamin Unfolds

• [04:00 – 07:39] Eddie reveals he shot an elderly Black man known as Papa Benjamin in a back alley.
  • Police are incredulous; Eddie insists Papa Benjamin was “killing” him through supernatural means.
  • Quote (Eddie Block, 07:21): “How was he killing you? By thinking. Thought waves of death that reached me through the air.”

3. Flashback: Eddie’s Career Crisis

• [07:39 – 12:53] Eddie recounts how the band’s fortunes were failing in New Orleans.
  • He stumbles upon a chicken claw (a voodoo token) in the club—terrifying local staff.
  • Out of curiosity, he follows his drummer, Johnny Stats, deep into the Vieux Carré to Congo Square.

4. The Forbidden Ceremony & Turn to Voodoo

• [12:53 – 15:43] Eddie sneaks into an intense voodoo ceremony led by Papa Benjamin.
  • Hypnotized by the captivating, primal rhythm, Eddie begins transcribing it.
  • He’s discovered and threatened with death unless he joins the cult.
  • Quote (Johnny Stats, 15:24): “There's only one way. Join. Become one of us.”
  • Eddie feigns sincerity, survives the night, then betrays them by firing Stats from the band.

5. Success—And the Curse

• [17:45 – 22:10] The band debuts the “Voodoo Chant” at Maxim’s, and it’s a huge hit.
  • Ominous warning notes arrive, but Eddie dismisses them.
  • That night, feeling fatigue and an odd pain, he finds a voodoo doll with a pin in its back.
  • Quote (Judy, 23:14): “Now, that's funny. Look there in the back. There's a little pin sticking in the back.”
  • Eddie’s health declines dramatically—weight drops, persistent numbness and exhaustion grow.

6. Desperate Escape, Hopeless Return

• [24:00 – 27:14] Eddie flees New Orleans, touring internationally, but the curse pursues him:
  • Doctors are baffled by his symptoms.
  • Quote (London doctor, 24:37): "You're as normal, Mr. Block, as anyone I ever examined...my success is killing me."
  • After years, he returns to New Orleans to beg Papa Benjamin for mercy, offering all his money and even his life.

7. Confrontation & “Murder”

• [25:45 – 27:14] Papa Benjamin refuses; “What has been done cannot be undone...death will come, but different. Slow, oh, slow.”
  • In despair, Eddie shoots Papa Benjamin, then turns himself into the police.

8. Closure? Or Fate Sealed?

• [27:14 – 28:42] The police accept Eddie’s fantastic tale as “self-defense,” and orchestrate a sting operation that exposes the voodoo cult, sending the participants to jail. Eddie recovers, returns to his life, and prepares for a triumphant return performance.

9. The Final Curse (Climactic Twist)

• [29:14 – 30:32] As Eddie leads the band in the now-famous Voodoo Chant, he collapses and dies on stage. The curse fulfills its promise.
  • Quote (Judy, 29:55): “No, no, leave him alone. He's dead. I guess Papa Benjamin won after all.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [03:03] Eddie Block: “I've just killed a man.”
• [07:21] Eddie Block: “How was he killing you? By thinking. Thought waves of death that reached me through the air.”
• [15:24] Johnny Stats: “There's only one way. Join. Become one of us.”
• [18:22] Threatening note: “You can summon the spirits, but can you dismiss them again? Think well.”
• [23:14] Judy: “Now, that's funny. Look there in the back. There's a little pin sticking in the back.”
• [24:37] Doctor: “You're as normal, Mr. Block, as anyone I ever examined...my success is killing me.”
• [25:51] Papa Benjamin: “What has been done cannot be undone. You think the spirits of Earth, Air, Fire, water, know what forgiveness means?”
• [29:55] Judy: “No, no, leave him alone. He's dead. I guess Papa Benjamin won after all.”

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Key Timestamps

• [01:07] Opening narration; Eddie's confession
• [07:39] Eddie recounts his band’s troubles
• [12:53] Eddie discovers the voodoo ceremony
• [15:24] Eddie is forced to join the cult
• [17:45] Band’s success with the voodoo chant
• [23:05] Discovery of the voodoo doll
• [24:00] Eddie’s world tour, continued decline
• [25:45] Begging Papa Benjamin for mercy
• [27:14] Eddie’s confession to police and the “closure” offered by authorities
• [29:14] The climactic final performance and Eddie’s death

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Tone and Style

• Atmospheric and suspenseful: The episode’s language and dialogue layer a sense of dread and inevitability, with the supernatural woven tightly into the jazz era setting of New Orleans.
• Authentic period drama: Both the script and performances evoke classic noir tropes—a world-weary hero, skeptical cops, and the ever-present shadow of fate.

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Summary for Those Who Haven’t Listened

This classic radio drama tells the eerie tale of success, greed, and supernatural revenge. Eddie Block, a struggling New Orleans bandleader, stumbles upon a powerful voodoo ritual and seizes its music for his own. He quickly achieves fame and fortune, but at the cost of invoking a terrible curse from the powerful Papa Benjamin. As Eddie’s health and sanity unravel, he desperately seeks a way out, leading to murder, cover-ups, and a final reckoning on stage—where the price for his ambition is ultimately paid in full.

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A chilling illustration of how cultural transgressions and guilt can pursue—even destroy—the privileged, “Papa Benjamin” is a seminal blend of Golden Age radio suspense and timeless terror.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

You are groping down a dark alleyway in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Driven by terror, hounded by the curse of the popoloi, a curse from which there is no escape.

Escape. Produced by William N. Robeson and carefully contrived to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure.

Today we escape into two worlds. One of modern jazz, the other of primitive voodoo. And to a doomed man who brought them together as William Irish imagined it in his eerie story. Papa Benjamin.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Orange Police Department, 4th Precinct, Sergeant Tolliver speaking. Yeah, yeah. Well, pick him up on a drunk. 723, right? Yes, what can I do for you?

[Eddie Block]

Are you in charge here?

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Yeah. Hey, aren't you Eddie Block, the bandleader?

[Eddie Block]

That's right.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Hey, Joe, look who's here. Eddie Block.

[Officer Blanc]

Well, never thought we'd get a visit from a big celebrity like you, Mr. Block. And at 4:00 clock in the morning. I suppose. Though this is just the shank of the evening for a big shot orchestra leader.

[Announcer]

Hell.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

What can we do for you, Mr. Block?

[Eddie Block]

I've just killed a man.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

You're kidding.

[Eddie Block]

I tell you, I've just killed a man.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

I guess you've been working too hard, Mr. Block. You're imagining things.

[Judy Jarvis]

Here. It's the gun.

[Eddie Block]

Look at it.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Sit down, Block. Better have a drink of water. You'll feel better.

[Eddie Block]

No, no, no. I'm. I'm all right.

[Officer Blanc]

Sarge?

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Yeah?

[Officer Blanc]

This gun's been used, all right. Smell.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Wasn't an accident, Mr. Blanc.

[Papa Benjamin]

No.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Who'd you use it on? Who was it?

[Eddie Block]

I don't know his name. They call him Papa Benjamin.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Sounds like a white man.

[Eddie Block]

No, he was a Negro.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Well, now, in New Orleans.

[Eddie Block]

No, no, no. It was nothing like that.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

What was he doing to you?

[Eddie Block]

He was killing me.

[Officer Blanc]

Killing you?

[Announcer]

But how?

[Judy Jarvis]

Look at me.

[Eddie Block]

I used to weigh 200 pounds.

[Judy Jarvis]

I'm down to 102.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

But how? How was he killing you?

[Judy Jarvis]

Would you believe in anything? You can't see, can't hear, can't touch. Well, I've been to the biggest doctors in the world. If they don't believe me, how can

[Eddie Block]

I expect you to? They'll simply say I'm cracked and let it go at that. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in an asylum.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Look, Mr. Black. You say he was a Negro named Papa Bench?

[Eddie Block]

Yes. Yes, an old, old man. 80, maybe 90. Skin and bones. He could hardly walk. And I shot him.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

You sure? You sure you killed him?

[Eddie Block]

Yes, of course.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Where?

[Eddie Block]

I don't know exactly. In little back alley in the Vieux Carre, near Congo Square.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Supposing you take us there? Can you do that? Then maybe we'll find out this is

[Eddie Block]

just a bad dream. This is the alley to the right, between the buildings.

[Officer Blanc]

All right, let's go.

[Eddie Block]

You pack, Sard?

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Catch cold without it.

[Judy]

Don't go back there, honey.

[Judy Jarvis]

Quiet, you.

[Judy]

Oh, cops.

[Officer Blanc]

Nice neighborhood.

[Eddie Block]

This is it. In that door and up the stairs.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Come on.

[Judy Jarvis]

No, no, no.

[Eddie Block]

Make me go up there again, please.

[Officer Blanc]

Better come, Mr. Block. You're showing us.

[Police Commissioner]

Yeah.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Flash your light. Somebody here on the stairs.

[Officer Blanc]

He won't bother us dead drunk. Now step over him and let's go. This ain't the most pleasant neighborhood to come calling us.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

This it?

[Eddie Block]

Yes, in that door.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Oh, come on.

[Officer Blanc]

Better call a commissioner. Mr. Block wasn't kidding. This man stayed.

[Police Commissioner]

But why?

[Judy Jarvis]

Why?

[Eddie Block]

Because he was killing me, Commissioner.

[Police Commissioner]

Then it was self defense.

[Judy Jarvis]

He never came near me once.

[Eddie Block]

I was the one who went to him. I offered him 3,000, 10,000, any amount. And he refused. I offered him my gun and asked him to shoot me.

[Judy Jarvis]

Whether to get it over with quickly and not to drag it out any longer.

[Police Commissioner]

Then when he said no, you shot him.

[Eddie Block]

Yeah, so you can lock me up now.

[Police Commissioner]

Mr. Block, do you think we want to hang a murder rap on you? One of the most popular celebrities in the United States? Use your head. I'm trying to find an out for you.

[Eddie Block]

He was killing me. Look.

[Police Commissioner]

An 80 year old colored man who's so feeble he can't even go upstairs by himself. Who has to have his food Pull it up to him in a basket. Is killing who a stumble bum his own Age? No. Mr. Eddie Block, the top band leader of America who can name his own price anywhere. Who has about everything a man can want. Tell me just one thing, Mr. Block.

[Eddie Block]

How was he killing you? By thinking. Thought waves of death that reached me through the air.

[Police Commissioner]

Now, Mr. Block, you surely don't.

[Judy Jarvis]

You want to hush the whole thing up, don't you?

[Police Commissioner]

No, Mr. Block, no. But I'm going to get the whole story, so you might as well start telling me from the beginning.

[Eddie Block]

All right. It began one night about two years ago. We were playing at Maxim's on Charles Street.

[Judy Jarvis]

We were just another band, small Dixieland outfit then Eddie blocking his chips. Judy Jarvis, my wife, did the vocals. But we weren't setting the world on fire. Business was so bad. I know what to expect when I got a call from the manager one

[Eddie Block]

night after closing time.

[Judy Jarvis]

I'm in.

[Announcer]

Hi, Eddie.

[Narrator]

I thought we better have a little talk.

[Judy Jarvis]

It's that bad, huh?

[Narrator]

Hey, took in 4,500 this week.

[Eddie Block]

I see.

[Judy Jarvis]

And you can cancel my contract anytime it falls under 5,000. I get it, Eddie.

[Narrator]

They can get the same liquor and sandwiches anywhere. But they'll go where the band has something tonight. There were more waiters in the place than there were customers. Judy didn't even get a hand.

[Judy Jarvis]

It's not her fault.

[Narrator]

I know it's not her fault.

[Judy Jarvis]

She's okay.

[Narrator]

But I'm asking you, what's wrong?

[Judy Jarvis]

I don't know. I'm getting the latest arrangement sent to me from New York. We sweat our heads bald off rehearsing.

[Narrator]

Well, this is New Orleans.

[Judy Jarvis]

Practically the cradle of jazz.

[Narrator]

You gotta give them something new.

[Eddie Block]

Yeah, I know, I know. When do I leave?

[Narrator]

Well, finish the week out. See if you can do something about it by Monday evening. If not, I'll have to wash St. Louis to get Kruger's bed.

[Judy Jarvis]

I'm sorry, Eddie, but it's all right.

[Eddie Block]

It's okay.

[Judy Jarvis]

You're not running a charity bazaar. But I didn't feel so cocky about. Looked like we were on the skids. The band just didn't seem to have it. And I wasn't good enough to figure out why and pull them out of it. I was feeling pretty low when I went back to the deserted bandstand to

[Eddie Block]

pick up some music. The place was dark and empty except for a couple of scrub women cleaning up.

[Judy Jarvis]

A dark nightclub can be an eerie place sometimes.

[Eddie Block]

I got that feeling just before I saw it. I saw it lying there on the Floor between the stands. It was a severed chicken claw with a red ribbon tied around it. I almost laughed.

[Judy Jarvis]

How did that thing get there? Then I picked it up and tossed it out on the floor where the scrub women were cleaning up. Certainly wasn't expecting the reaction I got. He took one look, they turned and ran out. I just recovered from that surprise and

[Eddie Block]

was bending down to pick up some music that had slipped to the floor when I heard someone come in.

[Judy Jarvis]

I guess I was pretty well hidden from view.

[Eddie Block]

Anyway, he didn't see me.

[Judy Jarvis]

It was Johnny Stats, my drummer. He was acting funny, looking intently at

[Eddie Block]

the floor, searching for something.

[Judy Jarvis]

Suddenly he spotted this chicken claw on the floor and grabbed it up with a terrific sigh of relief, stuffed it into his pocket and walked out.

[Eddie Block]

What I did then, I did on a strange impulse. And it changed the whole course of my life.

[Judy Jarvis]

I followed Johnny's Stats. I suppose I just meant to catch up with him and have a cup of coffee with him somewhere and ask

[Eddie Block]

him about the chicken claws.

[Judy Jarvis]

But as I followed him farther and farther down into the Vieux Carre, down

[Eddie Block]

to Congo Square, it was a growing

[Judy Jarvis]

curiosity that kept me on his trail. When he turned into that dark alleyway,

[Eddie Block]

I stopped and debated.

[Judy Jarvis]

I felt like an eavesdropper. And yet something drew me on.

[Eddie Block]

And I walked up that dark alley. I passed that one lighted window.

[Judy]

I told you before, don't go back there, honey.

[Judy Jarvis]

But I went on, through a sort

[Eddie Block]

of tunnel into another alleyway. Then I stopped. Ahead of me, Johnny Stat stood before a dark, dismal looking old wreck of a building. Suddenly he whistled. A gigantic man appeared from out of the shadows. Johnny handed him the chicken claw and he was motioned into the building. And then I heard sounds coming from the upstairs of that building.

[Judy Jarvis]

A throbbing drum, a wailing. An unearthly sound, and yet wonderful. An exotic, fascinating rhythm. This was music. Something new, something sensational. Something that would set New Orleans on its ear and put Eddie Block in the big time. I had to get in there and hear it. I was mighty busy for the next five minutes. I ran back down the alley, overturning five or six garbage cans before I found what I needed. Then back to that lighted window in the alley and a five spot in exchange for a red ribbon. Then I was back at the dark

[Eddie Block]

building, walking up to that menacing shadow.

[Narrator]

Let me see your face.

[Eddie Block]

Okay, okay.

[Judy Jarvis]

Easy with that knife.

[Eddie Block]

My ribs are tender.

[Narrator]

Your face never been here before.

[Judy Jarvis]

My friend Johnny Stat's up there.

[Eddie Block]

He'll tell you.

[Narrator]

Mr. Johnny, your friend. He asked you to come Here, this

[Eddie Block]

chicken claw told me to come.

[Narrator]

Papa Benjamin send you that?

[Eddie Block]

Certainly.

[Judy Jarvis]

You'll make me late. Papa Benjamin wouldn't like that.

[Officer Blanc]

All right, go along.

[Eddie Block]

Here.

[Narrator]

First thing you know, all New Orleans gonna be comaround.

[Eddie Block]

I got groped up the stairs, half

[Judy Jarvis]

expecting to feel his knife in my back.

[Eddie Block]

But I got to the top safely.

[Judy Jarvis]

Cautiously, I opened the door and slipped. The room was full of people. They were in such a state of frenzy, I wasn't even noticed. I slipped into a corner and slid down by the wall.

[Eddie Block]

Sitting on the floor.

[Judy Jarvis]

It was a sight I'll never forget. Wild, fantastic, hideous, revolting, fascinating. In the center of the room was an incredibly old man. Naked to the waist, wearing a hideous mask and holding a live chicken. There was wild gestures, weird incantations, frantic dancing, shouting and rolling of eyes. And there was blood. And always there was the chant. Nobody noticed me. After a moment, I took a piece of copy paper out of my pocket and began putting down the notes. It was wonderful. Fantastic and wonderful. In 10 minutes I had it. And I'd seen enough. Enough for a lifetime of nightmares. I began to feel sick and I wanted to get out. I started to stand up. Suddenly the room went dead.

[Papa Benjamin]

Stranger is here.

[Eddie Block]

His bony arm stretched out straight from the shoulder, pointing at me like an arrow. And there was blood on it.

[Papa Benjamin]

What you do here?

[Eddie Block]

I. Papa Loi.

[Johnny Stats]

I know this man. Let me find out.

[Eddie Block]

No one moved. There was no sound in the room as Johnny Stats came over and squatted beside me. You're in terrible trouble, Eddie.

[Johnny Stats]

I don't know if I can get you out of it.

[Eddie Block]

What is this Stats? And what are you doing here?

[Johnny Stats]

There's no time to talk now. You've got to do something quicker.

[Eddie Block]

You'll be a dead man. Why, I'm in the very heart of New Orleans. They wouldn't dare. Listen, You've seen enough tonight. You know better, Eddie. There's only one way. What?

[Johnny Stats]

Join. Become one of us.

[Eddie Block]

Oh, no.

[Judy Jarvis]

It's the only way, Eddie.

[Eddie Block]

I can't save you.

[Johnny Stats]

And you'd better hurry up. Unless you do, you'll never get out of here alive.

[Eddie Block]

You know what this is, don't you? This is voodoo. Okay, sure, I'll join up. Why not? Wait a minute, Eddie.

[Johnny Stats]

There's a lot more to it than you think.

[Eddie Block]

Unless you're serious.

[Johnny Stats]

It'd be better to get cut to pieces right now.

[Eddie Block]

Don't worry. I'm serious. All right. Papaloi.

[Johnny Stats]

His spirit wishes to join our spirits.

[Eddie Block]

The old man burned some feathers while the others watch silently Then he nodded,

[Johnny Stats]

came out all right.

[Eddie Block]

He reads them.

[Johnny Stats]

The spirits are willing.

[Judy Jarvis]

There were other things. Rituals, ceremonies, another sacrifice. Then after the chanting started again, they brought me the sacrificial bowl. I didn't have to be told what was in it. I started to draw back. Drink any drink or they'll kill you on the spot. Late next morning, the band assembled at

[Eddie Block]

Maxim's for a rehearsal.

[Judy Jarvis]

When Johnny Staats got there, he found another drummer sitting in his place. Naturally, he came to me.

[Johnny Stats]

What's all this about, Eddie?

[Judy Jarvis]

I don't want any voodoo lover in my band. That's all, Stats.

[Eddie Block]

Here's a check for two weeks salary.

[Johnny Stats]

So you're crossing him, are you, brother? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes for all the gold in Fort Knox.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Ellie.

[Judy Jarvis]

You mean that bad dream last night? And I haven't told anybody. And I won't if he laughed at. I'm only remembering what I can use of it. The jungle is just trees to me. The Kongawa River a nighttime just time for electric lights.

[Johnny Stats]

Yeah, but this new number you're going to rehearse this morning.

[Judy Jarvis]

I said I'd remember what I can use. Listen, Eddie, that chick.

[Johnny Stats]

Secret.

[Judy Jarvis]

It was secret.

[Johnny Stats]

Eddie, don't do it.

[Judy Jarvis]

Look, here's a couple of C notes. Hand them these. That ought to pay my dues up from now to doomsday. And I don't want a receipt. And if they try putting poison in my orange juice, they'll end up in a chain.

[Johnny Stats]

It's not that easy, Eddie. You're one of us now.

[Judy Jarvis]

Oh, get out.

[Eddie Block]

Okay.

[Johnny Stats]

Goodbye.

[Eddie Block]

Dead men.

[Judy Jarvis]

Graham, the manager of the club, changed his mind about canceling our contract when he heard us rehearse the chant instead. He spent five GS in publicity and Saturday night was set for the big unveiling. Seemed like all New Orleans tried to jam into Maxims. Came to hear the voodoo chant. The real Just before we were ready to hit it, Judy came up to me.

[Judy]

Eddie, listen, let's not do it.

[Judy Jarvis]

What do you mean, baby? Not do it? Well, this is it. This is our ticket to the big time. It'll be a sensation.

[Judy]

I know, but I got a funny feeling, Eddie. And look. I found this under your dressing room door just a little while ago. It sounds like a warning. Somebody doesn't want you to play that number.

[Eddie Block]

Let me see. You can summon the spirits, but can you dismiss them again?

[Judy Jarvis]

Think well. Oh, forget it, baby. Stats is trying to scare me because I fired him.

[Announcer]

Ladies and gentlemen.

[Judy Jarvis]

Come on, let's go.

[Eddie Block]

They're waiting now.

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[Announcer]

great pleasure in bringing you a historic moment in musical history. You're about to hear for the first time anywhere, the Voodoo chant. The age old ceremonial rhythm no one but the initiated has ever heard before. This is the real thing, ladies and gentlemen. An accurate transcription. Not a note has been changed. So now, Eddie Block and his chips present for the first time anywhere, the Voodoo chant.

[Eddie Block]

It's.

[Judy Jarvis]

It was a sensation. They went crazy for us. They screamed for more. But we were playing at cagey once a night. That'd pack them in. After it was over, I went back

[Eddie Block]

to our dressing room. Judy got there before me. She was reading a newspaper somebody had brought in.

[Judy]

Eddie, listen.

[Judy Jarvis]

Oh, baby, you were wonderful. We wowed him. We're in the money now.

[Eddie Block]

Yeah, Eddie, but boy, boy am I tired. I feel more tired than I've ever felt in my life. Nervous strain I guess, huh? Let down.

[Judy]

Eddie, look here in the paper.

[Eddie Block]

Oh, who cares about the paper now?

[Judy]

Eddie, it's Johnny Stutts. He's dead. He drowned himself in Lake Pontchartrain this afternoon.

[Eddie Block]

Hey, this afternoon. But then that Note it wasn't Johnny.

[Judy]

Oh, Eddie, look, you can't blame yourself. Me?

[Eddie Block]

Oh, no, no, no, no, of course not. But I think I know who to blame.

[Judy]

What do you mean?

[Eddie Block]

Nothing. Nothing.

[Judy]

Eddie, why don't you lie down and rest for a few minutes? You look worn out.

[Eddie Block]

Yes, I am. I. I feel dead.

[Judy]

Here, let me take off your coat.

[Eddie Block]

Oh, be careful.

[Judy]

What's the matter? I don't know.

[Eddie Block]

A funny thing. While I was waving the baton on the chant, I felt something. A sharp pain there in my back, like a pin or something stuck me.

[Judy]

I don't feel anything there now. Maybe it slipped down.

[Eddie Block]

I don't know.

[Judy]

Couldn't have been much there. Now, you just lie down. You'll feel better in a few minutes. You've been working too hard, Eddie. You should relax now and maybe take a few days off. Hey, Eddie, look here. Where'd this come from?

[Eddie Block]

What?

[Judy]

It's a little doll. It was lying on the dressing table. Why, Eddie, it looks just like you.

[Eddie Block]

Let me see.

[Judy]

Now, that's funny. Look there in the bag. There's a little pin sticking in the bag.

[Eddie Block]

Yes, that's right where I felt the PA.

[Judy Jarvis]

That started it. Next day, I had a backache. Later, there was a numbness that spread to my shoulders, arms and legs. I felt tired all the time.

[Eddie Block]

Listless, dead.

[Judy Jarvis]

I began to lose weight.

[Eddie Block]

I couldn't get Johnny's stats out of my mind. He'd introduced me to them, vouched for me. And he'd committed suicide. He knew he hadn't waited.

[Judy Jarvis]

I decided to get out of New Orleans. I went to New York, playing the chant. Of course, I had to. It was my biggest asset now. But nothing changed. I was losing weight from a husky 200 down to 160. And I couldn't sleep. Maybe if I put an ocean between. I took an offer in London, toured the Continental away a year. I was an international hit now, the biggest attraction in music. But I was down to 110, dying on my feet. The doctors couldn't figure it out. Reynolds in London told me.

[Officer Blanc]

You're as normal, Mr. Block, as anyone I ever examined. You're so well balanced that you haven't even got that extra little touch of imagination most actors and musicians have.

[Eddie Block]

I guess that's true, doctor.

[Judy Jarvis]

I'm just mediocre. And yet, you might say my success is killing me.

[Eddie Block]

And so, after two years, I finally realized it was no use. I came back, back to New Orleans. Back to the dark alleyway down there, Congo Square. I could just barely drag myself Along. But I had to see Papa Benjamin. I slowly climbed the stairs up to that loathsome door and went in. There he was, Papa Benjamin. Staring at me from the bed as if he'd been expecting me. Then he started to laugh.

[Judy Jarvis]

Take that curse off me. Give me my life back. I'll do anything, anything you say.

[Papa Benjamin]

What has been done cannot be undone. You think the spirits of Earth, Air, Fire, water, know what forgiveness means?

[Judy Jarvis]

Intercede for me then. You brought it about.

[Eddie Block]

Here's money.

[Judy Jarvis]

I'll give you twice as much. All I earn. All I ever hope to earn.

[Papa Benjamin]

You have foul the Obaya. Death has been on you from that night all over the world. And in the air above. You have marked the spirits with the chant that summons them.

[Eddie Block]

And please, here's a gun. Kill me now and be done with it.

[Judy Jarvis]

I can't stand anymore. All you have to do is shoot. I'll write a note, sign and say I did it myself.

[Papa Benjamin]

Death will come, but different. Slow, oh, slow.

[Eddie Block]

I can't stand that. I won't. I won't. Maybe if I kill you, maybe then

[Judy Jarvis]

the spell will be broken.

[Papa Benjamin]

No.

[Judy]

No.

[Papa Benjamin]

That's it.

[Police Commissioner]

Kill you.

[Eddie Block]

And that's all. Commissioner. Then I came here. The police station. You know the rest. Well, all right, Mr. Block. You don't believe me, do you?

[Sergeant Tolliver]

Yes, I believe you.

[Police Commissioner]

Not about the curse, of course. That was your own mind. They planted the suggestion in your mind.

[Eddie Block]

You did the rest.

[Police Commissioner]

But it's plain that you killed in self defense. Crazy kind of self defense. But I think we can manage it. We'll try.

[Judy Jarvis]

The commissioner managed it all right. How is almost a story in itself? How a detective with a molage false face posed as Papa Benjamin and called the Voodoo clan together and into a trap. How they collected the evidence that proved my story. And how they sent most of that voodoo bunch to jail. My name wasn't even connected with the case. So now I'm free. I'm living again. I've gained weight. The tiredness, the numbness is gone. I took a nice vacation, went to Bermuda, relaxed and had fun. Now I'm back in New Orleans at Maxim's and the whole thing is forgotten. We're opening tonight and the place is packed. Everybody's come to hear the chant. Eddie Block and the chant. We're on our way now and nothing can stop us.

[Announcer]

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we welcome back on his triumphal return, Eddie Block and his daughter, Chips Playing for you, the one and only Voodoo champ.

[Police Commissioner]

Look at them, Julie.

[Sergeant Tolliver]

They're eating it up.

[Judy Jarvis]

Yeah, what's the matter?

[Judy]

I was hoping I'd never hear this thing again.

[Judy Jarvis]

What do you mean?

[Announcer]

It's your trademark.

[Officer Blanc]

Yours?

[Judy Jarvis]

Netties.

[Judy]

I tried to persuade him not to do it. He wouldn't listen.

[Judy Jarvis]

Why you aren't imagining all that voodoos?

[Judy]

I don't know. It was all in his mind and it nearly killed him. I don't think you can put it out of your mind to forget. So easy when Eddie plays it again sense. Hey, wait a minute.

[Papa Benjamin]

What?

[Judy]

Look at Eddie. There's something wrong.

[Judy Jarvis]

Well, he's staggering.

[Judy]

Eddie. Eddie.

[Announcer]

Judy, wait now let me pick him up.

[Judy Jarvis]

He's probably just fainted from this.

[Judy]

No, no, leave him alone. He's dead. I guess Papa Benjamin one after all.

[Narrator]

Escape Produced by William N. Robeson and Directed by Norman McDonnell Today brought to you Papa Benjamin by William Irish. Adapted for radio by John Dunkle. With Frank Lovejoy as Eddie Block, Louis Van Ruten as Papa Benjamin, Harry Bartel as the police commissioner and Joan Banks as Judy. Music was conducted by Eddie Dunstetter.

Next week, you are speeding through the night on the Istanbul Express. You are alone and unarmed. And suddenly you realize that your life is in danger. That somewhere on the train are deadly killers from whom you must escape.

Next week, we escape with Harold Lamb's exciting adventure story Three Good Witnesses. Goodbye. Then until this same time next week, when again we offer you escape. This is CBS Columbia Broadcasting System.

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