None of the Old Time Radio networks had a hold on romantic adventure like the Columbia Broadcasting System. The other networks certainly made the attempt to get a foot hold in the genre, but it would have been difficult for anyone to compete with The Whistler, Suspense, and Escape.
High Adventure is sometimes billed "The Mutual Network's answer to Escape!" In fact, the Mutual anthology premiered on March 1, 1947. There were audition episodes for Escape at the end of February and the middle of March, 1947, but the program did not begin regular broadcast until July. Some reviewers consider Escape to be Suspense's little brother. In that line of thinking, High Adventure could be thought of as a distant cousin.
Mutual started the show in the Saturday evening, 9:30 time slot, and bounced it around until Jan 21, 1949, when the show moved to Sunday afternoons on NBC (Mutual Network shows were notorious for developing a following and then moving to one of the more established networks). They landed Old Spice Aftershave as a sponsor.
The High Adventure scripts were based on original stories, in contrast to the many adaptations found on Escape. The shows used little subtlety in reaching towards a masculine audience. The stories were written in a realistic, remarkably believable style. High Adventure was the defining moment in the protagonist's life, and the outcome of the story would often hinge on his strength of character as much as his luck or expertise.
The episodes feature the music of the High Adventure orchestra, but the music takes a backseat to the language of the characters and the sound effects in establishing an extraordinarily realistic atmosphere. The realism is the most striking element of High Adventure. A major league baseball catcher and pitcher in one episode play for a fictional team, but the pennant race and locker room interaction are highly believable. In another episode, the hiss of air-compressors and the clanging of brass dive helmets in a deep-sea diving episode take the listener to the deck of the boat in the sunny Caribbean. Listeners hear a cross-country semi-truck going through its upshifts.
NBC dropped High Adventure at the end of the 1950 season. Mutual retooled the show in January, 1953. The new version of the program featured George Sanders as narrator. This collection contains both the US and South African broadcasts.
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1 01 High Adventure Series Synopsis - 03:31
2 Critical Point - High Adventure (SA) - 26:47
3 The Man Who Couldn't Change - High Adventure (SA) - 29:05
4 Fireflies And Gunfire - High Adventure (SA) - 27:03
5 Fireflies and Gunfire - High Adventure (SA) - 27:18
6 Magazine at Delhi - High Adventure (SA) - 26:51
7 Keeper of the Tomb - High Adventure (SA) - 26:52
8 Arctic Treasure - High Adventure (SA) - 27:21
9 River of Evil - High Adventure (SA) - 27:04
10 Drums Along the River - High Adventure (SA) - 24:08
11 HMS Suicide - High Adventure (SA) - 25:58
12 High Adventure 730000 Whirlpool - High Adventure (SA) - 26:19
13 High Adventure 730000 You Can't Win Them All - High Adventure (SA) - 26:23
14 Madness in the Air - High Adventure (SA) - 29:29
15 The Man Who Couldn't Change - High Adventure (SA) - 29:05
16 On the Roof of the World - High Adventure (SA) - 26:24
17 Assignment in Moscow - High Adventure (SA) - 30:06
18 Where Do We Find Such Men - High Adventure (SA) - 29:34
19 The Snakes - High Adventure (SA) - 29:26
20 High Adventure 790000 the Redwood Tree - High Adventure (SA) - 25:44
21 Abandon Ship - High Adventure (SA) - 25:02
22 High Adventure 800000 Night Arrest - High Adventure (SA) - 28:09
23 Desert Marriage - High Adventure (SA) - 25:17
24 MacPherson's Dam - High Adventure (SA) - 29:38
25 Lucky Break - High Adventure (SA) - 29:48
26 Silent Night, Deadly Night - High Adventure (SA) - 25:56
27 Flight 603 - High Adventure (SA) - 26:09
28 Ordeal Of Terror - High Adventure (SA) - 28:47
29 Cloud Curtain - High Adventure (SA) - 29:44
30 The Gun - High Adventure (SA) - 29:12
31 High Adventure 830000 Volcano Roulette - High Adventure (SA) - 25:25
32 The Cruel Sky - High Adventure (SA) - 26:17
33 Pursuit by Night - High Adventure (SA) - 24:38
34 Panic Station - High Adventure (SA) - 24:34
35 High Adventure a Firing Squad for Christmas - High Adventure (SA) - 25:39
36 High Adventure a Life for a Life - High Adventure (SA) - 27:10
37 High Adventure a Spot of Bother in Paradise - High Adventure (SA) - 25:58
38 High Adventure Amateur - High Adventure (SA) - 26:29
39 High Adventure Another Kind of Courage - High Adventure (SA) - 24:35
40 High Adventure Baxter's Run - High Adventure (SA) - 27:11
41 High Adventure Blockade Runners - High Adventure (SA) - 26:33
42 High Adventure Brink of Eternity - High Adventure (SA) - 25:34
43 High Adventure Cache at Hogan's Well - High Adventure (SA) - 25:38
44 High Adventure City of Gold - High Adventure (SA) - 25:45
45 High Adventure Cruel Sky - High Adventure (SA) - 26:17
46 High Adventure Curse of Dagon - High Adventure (SA) - 24:48
47 High Adventure Day of the Jackdaw - High Adventure (SA) - 24:23
48 High Adventure Debt Collection - High Adventure (SA) - 25:51
49 High Adventure Dressed to Kill - High Adventure (SA) - 24:40
50 High Adventure End of the Road - High Adventure (SA) - 24:30
51 High Adventure Final Ultimatum - High Adventure (SA) - 27:26
52 High Adventure Flaming Circle - High Adventure (SA) - 27:02
53 High Adventure Flood Time, Ebb Time - High Adventure (SA) - 25:09
54 High Adventure Fort Abandon - High Adventure (SA) - 25:51
55 Impossible Odds - High Adventure - 24:27
56 In Cold Blood - High Adventure - 25:13
57 Incident Off of Aves Island - High Adventure - 26:17
58 Interrogators - High Adventure - 25:39
59 Killing Off Edgeway Road - High Adventure - 25:15
60 Last Reward - High Adventure - 25:14
61 Let Sleeping Mules Fly - High Adventure - 25:07
62 Let There Be Heroes - High Adventure - 25:33
63 Loot - High Adventure - 25:32
64 Midday At Westminster - High Adventure - 25:24
65 Night Alarm - High Adventure - 27:11
66 No War For Lovers - High Adventure - 23:41
67 One Fall For A Lady Breaker - High Adventure - 24:25
68 One Man Boarding Party - High Adventure - 24:46
69 Operation Guinea Pig - High Adventure - 25:41
70 Phoebe At The Bridge - High Adventure - 25:35
71 Prisoner - High Adventure - 28:41
72 Saga Of The Bessie Jane - High Adventure - 25:15
73 Ship Of Death - High Adventure - 25:28
74 Shock Tactics - High Adventure - 24:59
75 Snakes - High Adventure - 29:26
76 Stand At Hog Tie - High Adventure - 26:24
77 Steamboat Down the Irrawaddy - High Adventure - 25:12
78 Substitute - High Adventure - 29:38
79 Tea Kettle - High Adventure - 27:03
80 Terror At Twin Peaks - High Adventure - 24:10
81 The Homing Pigeon - High Adventure - 24:53
82 The Tomb Of KiaShan (Final Episode) - High Adventure - 27:05
83 Trap That Failed - High Adventure - 24:57
84 Twenty Fathoms Deep - High Adventure - 27:22
85 Weekend Stopover - High Adventure - 25:58
86 Wings Of Gold - High Adventure - 25:15
87 You Can't Pray With One Hand - High Adventure - 26:13
88 Waybill - High Adventure - 25:15
89 64th Street Safari - High Adventure - 25:04
90 Barrier - High Adventure - 24:54
91 Flood Time, Ebb Time (NY broadcast on Saturdays @ 230pm) - High Adventure - 24:23
92 Flight to Renyar--- (on NBC - SUNDAYS at 4:30pm) - High Adventure - 29:30
93 Sentinel on 73rd--- (braggart falls into own trap) - High Adventure - 29:31
94 The Snow Men - High Adventure - 29:31
95 Inside Story - High Adventure - 29:26
96 Wild Pitch - High Adventure - 29:39
97 Deep Water - High Adventure - 29:25
98 Sideshow - High Adventure - 29:29
99 Hungry Peacock - High Adventure - 29:19
100 Return Ticket - High Adventure - 29:29
101 The Hill - High Adventure - 29:33
102 East Side Beat - High Adventure - 29:35
103 Metamorphisite - High Adventure - 29:24
104 Backlash - High Adventure - 29:17
105 Uncle Silas - High Adventure - 24:33
106 Cold Storage - High Adventure - 25:14
107 Who Walks Like a Man - High Adventure - 24:41
108 Bottom of the Hill - High Adventure - 28:35
