One of my favorite blogs for HuffDuffing files from is Escape-Suspense.com. The proprietoress there posts episodes from two classic radio drama series, Escape and Suspense. This latest story there is Beau Geste. “Beau” means “handsome” and “Geste” means “notable deed or exploit”, combined it is also the name of the main character. The story itself is a beautiful example of the iconic adventure tale. There have been multiple adaptations of this novel, to film, television, a stage play and of course radio. I really enjopyed this production, its short, sweet and adventurous.

Escape – Beau Geste
Based on the novel by Percival Christopher Wren; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 30 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Broadcaster: CBS Radio
Broadcast: June 6, 1948
Based on the novel, first published in 1924.

Though there is still no LibriVox edition, the novel is in the public domain. Tantor Media may have the most compelling audiobook edition of Beau Geste is read by David Case.

A column of French Legionnaires finds one of their fortresses manned by dead men. It looks like the sergeant was killed by one of his own troops. Who could have done it?

A flashback then unravels the mystery of the three English Geste brothers. The brothers, orphaned early in life, are raised by an aunt. Their raucous youths are filled with the literature of adventure and ritualized horseplay centered around these myths and legends. So when the family’s prized Blue Water sapphire turns up missing, each of the young men confesses to being the thief in order to protect the others, and one by one they head off to join the French Foreign Legion. The three brothers meet up in the deserts of Africa, where they fall under the command of the malevolent Sergeant Lejaune. Not content to merely be a martinet, Lejaune sets his sights on stealing the jewel, which rumor holds to be in the brothers’ possession. Meanwhile, the unruly troops he commands are planning a mutiny, and the marauding Tauregs pin this badly outnumbered and bitterly divided unit of Legionnaires at Fort Zinderneuf. The ensuing drama plays itself out as the French forces battle overwhelming odds. Ultimately, only a handful of men survive to discover the truth behind the Blue Water’s disappearance.

A classic, rip-roaring tale of adventure!

[via Escape-Suspense.com]

Posted by Jesse Willis