April 18, 2004 - 810302 - The Raft

[vgarci]

This week's program is presented for your review by Texas.

For those who do not have the program, you can download it (with or without a Streamload account) at: www.streamload.com/vgarci (http://www.streamload.com/vgarci)

[Steve]

I thought this was an excellent, compelling little mystery. It's one I'd never heard before and I really enjoyed it. The actors and production values were terrific. It kept me guessing all the way through, and the twist at the end was really good. Great choice Tex! smile.gif

Steve

[Fizzlestix]

This is an episode that I'd seen in my collection many times, but never listened to. I don't know why, but it was always passed over. I was happy to see it as the show of the week.

The file itself was a bit on the sluggish side for me; not bad, but the voices were slowed a tad which made the entire episode ssoorrtt ooff lliikkee tthhiiss. Definitely listenable. Also, I did catch a "news hiccup" in there at one point. Just to note.

The episode itself, in my opinion, was pure RMT. It represents everything I enjoy about these shows. Not way too deep, but certainly far from shallow. Mystery and intrigue; vengeance and old debts; betrayal and suspicion. A great, all-around choice.

In particular, those pesky writers did it again. What I love more than anything is when an episode is so seamlessly put together in production, that you forget you are listening to actors and a show, but instead become immersed in the story, the characters, and the environment. The Raft captured me and did not let go.

My favorite part of the whole episode was when Miss Harper was trying to calm Mr. Ordway. Instead of saying something common like, "Please sit down and let me fix you something to eat," the writers had her say, "Mr. Ordway, let me bring you a soft boiled egg and some toast - and what do you say to another cup o' coffee?"

Brilliant. I love when a writer, in any format, "shows me" the details instead of "telling me." I could actually see the reminder cards that Mr. Ordway received, with the handwritten ONE MILLION DOLLARS on them.

This again is why I treasure episodes like this one. While television creates the mental landscape for us, leaving us with nothing to brew on our own, shows like The Raft hurl us from the ravaging sea into the sterile vertical world of a wealthy man's office. You could smell the rich texture of Miss Harper's words when she said, "You were holding the smoking gun!"

The show was somewhat predictable, so I wasn't aghast by the end. But it was neatly woven together in a non-linear timeline to deliver information piece-by-piece, creating a wonderful tension throughout the show. I rated it about a 4.5. Very nice selection!

Thanks for choosing it, Tex.

[Texas]

Fizzlestix, you're smarter at this than me. The first time I heard it the plot twist completely blindsided me.

A few thoughts:

- This play was based upon "The tragedy of the life raft" by Jacques Futrelle. (http://www.futrelle.com/stories/LifeRaft.html) Futrelle's play was another one which featured his character "the thinking machine" (I believe that guy was in the RMT's "The great brain" and maybe "The secret of the fifth bell"), but I thought it was wise of the scriptwriter not to put him in this one, and instead focus on Miss Harper as the detective.

- If anything, Norman Rose was almost too nice in this role. The tidbits of the story I linked to above made Peter Ordway seem more fiendish than he was in the play.

- Brian 1984, what's that RMT play from 1982 you reviewed which was an absolutely sordid story with Rose playing an older Louisiana plantation owner who tries to forcibly win the heart of his stepdaughter or something like that? Rose's performance in that play was similar to this one, though his accent might have passed for northern Louisiana. In "The raft", I called his and Marian Seldes' accents "Brookly-sippian". (I love it when Rose says: "Uh, Walpole, leave me will ya?") Still, that's forgivable.

- The music...this play and an RMT play called "The captain of the Polestar" (a good future SOTW choice, possibly) have an interlude that could be called "trouble on the water". You hear it every time Rose's character has a flashback, and at the very end of Act 3. I heard it once used on the RMT play "The gratitude of the serpent". I like it a lot...piano with muted trumpets and muted trombones.

- As I've said before, I wonder if CBS would produce a play today that had no less than four pieces of scripture referred to as done in this one: Mark 8:34-38 ("What doth it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul"), Proverbs 11:4 ("Riches shall not profit in the day of revenge"), Timothy 6:10 ("Love of money is the root of all evil"), and Matthew 10:52 ("Those who live by the sword die by the sword").

- Mandel Kramer is always fun to listen to as a detective. (I think he played one in "The edge of night", a TV show that many RMT cast members were culled from. He was fun to listen to as the Jack Webb-esque detective in the RMT's "Cool Killer Carl".)

[Fizzlestix]

[quote:2c613a1128="Texas"]Fizzlestix, you're smarter at this than me. The first time I heard it the plot twist completely blindsided me.[/quote:2c613a1128]

Thanks for the complement, but in all honesty, it was lucky guesswork. :wink: When information is presented piecemeal, sometimes the visual details lend themselves to solving the riddle. For example,

When the first evidence of the old man having one leg was presented, I thought, "ah, I'll bet it was bitten off by a shark!"

When it was made clear that Walpole was on the raft, I thought, "He is somehow in on this."

When he was awarded one million from the will, it all made sense.

The plot twist was terrific, and it was far from obvious at the beginning. But again, once the pieces trickle in, the paths to solution begin to lessen.

By the way, fabulous observation about the Biblical references. I didn't notice them readily until you made mention of them. Something I will start listen for in future shows!

[Texas]

Thanks, Fizzlestix. Scriptural references seem to be peppered throughout the RMT, particularly before the 1982 episodes. Funny how even in his darkest moments Peter Ordway (Rose) also makes references to God, such as in one of his flashbacks when he says people were "sayin' they wanted coffee when they should have been sayin' their [i:8f971fa652]prayers[/i:8f971fa652]". (Obviously, his god (the appropriate term would actually be "false idol") is $$$$, for all the good it gets him.)

Speaking of the flashbacks, I forgot that the aforementioned piano/muted trumpet/muted trombone music bed was also used quite a bit in the RMT's "The great white shark".

I love it...listening to the dark, rolling piano melody one can visualize water on the ocean glimmering in the sun or moonlight, with added tension provided by the brass instruments.

[brian1984_2001]

I gave this one a 4. In my own rating system, I gave it an 8.5 and highly recommended it. It twisted and turned quite a bit and was well paced.

What I'm noticing in many of the 1982 shows is that they are heavy on dialogue and short on action. They are paced WAY to slow. Acting is about the same, but there are too many historical recreations. It's been awhile since i've heard a good horror story, or suspense story such as the Raft.

Jacques Futrell died on the Titanic for those who don't know about the brief, but highly creative life that was ended too soon.

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

I thought the show to be enertaining enough. I have a bias about mysteries such as these being performed on the radio, as I prefer to read them. 'Escape' did this show with the action on the raft...it was very good. ........Until Next Time

[NightCap]

I love the cbsrmt. Loved it as a teen and love it now. This is my first post in this forum and like the idea. Good Job.

Anyways. I really liked this story and would have given it a 5 out of 5 if there could have been one thing different.

The piliot should have been promised a million bucks if he would give up a leg for them to eat. Better than a shark? I dunno.

But the episods are what they are, great!

NightCap
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