We’re back and this month we are returning to our Listener Library! A listener named Joshua (not our Joshua) suggested that we listen to “The Young Man with the Cream Tarts” from Escape! This episode is an adaptation of a short story, the first of three stories collectively known as The Suicide Club, by Robert Louis Stevenson. It tells the tale of two men who encounter a desperate youth, trying to give away pastries. This young stranger leads them to a macabre secret society. Why do these two lie to the young man about their names? Why do the members of this society gather to play a deadly game of cards? Why does everyone sound like Orson Welles to Eric? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
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I enjoyed this, but I can’t call it a classic. It was getting more and more suspenseful, and I was wondering how the prince was going to get out of his predicament, and then [SPOILER WARNING] the suspense just evaporated as Geraldine just swooped in to his rescue. I wanted to hear how the prince would use his ingenuity to turn the tables on his would-be killer, not how everything was suddenly OK because of his trusty servant, Deus Ex Machina. Up until that point, I thought it was great.
Oh, and being of a similar age, I too thought of Flip Wilson in drag.
Yeah, I was disappointed by the rescue too and, if the story had ended right there, I probably would have felt more negatively about it as a whole. Fortunately, I was so surprised and delighted by the Prince and Geraldine rounding up the members of the club and giving them a reason to live again that I quickly forgave the Deus Ex Machina… only to be disappointed again by the president’s convenient and predictable suicide. Overall, I give the episode high marks for tackling a tricky story, even though it falls short in a few spots.
According to one of the papers I referenced in my other comment on this episode, it’s not just Deus Ex Machina that rescues Prince Florizel: it’s Deus and Sherlock Holmes.
Thinking of Tim’s reference to the movie, ‘Annihilation’ which – coincidentally – I also watched in a week before listening to this episode, I think there is a strange coloration between the two stories. Both come at suicide and self destruction from unusual angles creating a sense of depth to the question, ‘Should I do myself harm?’ However, the Prince in ‘Cream Tarts’ didn’t really seem to be impacted at all until the end. You could take Paul Frees’ performance as, ‘this guy’s in it for a lark’ until that last moment when he drew the Ace of Spades. Only… Read more »
Have you read the original short story? I think one of the faults of this adaptation was the inconsistent portrayal of the Prince. In the story, he’s far more noble and authoritative throughout. His taste for adventure leads him to take an oath and once his sense of honor is invoked, he is compelled to see it through, no matter what the cost. This clarity of character does not come through in Frees’ performance, leaving the Prince’s motives unintentionally ambiguous. At times, it feels like Frees is playing different characters, depending on the scene. I’m not sure how to parse… Read more »
Of note, Malthus is murdered at about 2am. In previous podcasts, there has been some discussion of the tendency for evil acts to occur in the 3am hour. Given the story’s overall tone, I’m wondering if the character Malthus is a reference to the economist of the same name who basically argued that humanity would grow too quickly and run out of food and who would have been known to Stevenson. Finally, the opportunity to use Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” to play you out at the end of the podcast was squandered and I daresay that such an opportunity may… Read more »
JoiI disagree with you about the ending, guys. While it would have been satisfying to have the president face justice I find that having him commit suicide even more fitting. Here is a person who takes pleasure in tormenting and playing games with poor unfortunate men at the end of their rope and in the end he turns coward and takes his own life. n the discussion…
Interesting that Eric mentioned Sherlock and Moriarty. Edgar W. Smith wrote a paper called “A Scandal in Identity” in which he proposed that Prince Florizel, using a different name, appears in a later story by a contemporary of Robert Louis Stevenson, requesting a detective’s help in averting a scandal. And that the sleuth who aids the Prince in that story is the same “capable and reliable private detective” — or, in the words of the original story, “celebrated detective” — who aided him in the Suicide Club adventure: Sherlock Holmes. (Smith goes on to suggest that Prince Florizel was not… Read more »
This was ok. I do enjoy Escape. Like many radio stories, they are often redone by other radio programs…sometimes for the better. In this case, “The Ace of Death” from Murder at Midnight is a much better version.
Another missed Motorhead opportunity.