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Title

Island of the Lost

Plot

A middle-aged man travels to an isolated island to surprise his young beloved. But he is afflicted by uncertainty in their relationship and starts doubting himself.

Episode

0151

Air Dates

  • First Run - September 23, 1974
  • Repeat - November 13, 1974

Actors

Writer

Listen

Rating

128
101     27


27 Responses to Episode 0151

This was the most frustrating story in the series yet! There wasn't enough "reality" too make it enjoyable. There was no way to figure things of the mystery out because after every scene it was like they said "just kidding."

Roger

Though Seldes sounds like the middle-aged woman she is rather than the protagonist's 30 year-old bride in this production, it benefits from imaginative sound effects and increasingly surreal (and dangerous) encounters as the narrator tries to unravel what he suspects to be an elaborate con.

Matt Sandwich

An older man travels to a remote resort island to surprise his much younger girlfriend. He is plagued with doubt in their relationship and eventually doubts his own sanity.

Dean Michaels

This episode was just too convoluted to get a high rating. It was all over the place. Two issues of frustration with the casting of the characters were blazingly evident. One--Robert Kaliban's voice sounded way to young for a 60+ year old man, and Two--Marion Saldes's voice was way too old sounding for a woman in her thirties. Marion Saldes's voice sounds like the great grandmother of Robert Kaliban. 3 stars. I will say this, though twisty, I had no idea what the ending of this episode was going to bring forth; that was a plus.

Davy Joe

I found this to be a fantastic stream of consciousness tale constructed in a way that the listener can share in the distress and confusion of the main character. The ending was a shocker, but places all of the surrealistic elements into a new perspective. Wish there could be more episodes like this.

Fred

An older gentleman married to a significantly younger woman is about to surprise his betrothed by joining her on a Caribbean island for a vacation soon after his doctor’s appointment. He speaks with his doctor about some uneasiness with his spouse and feelings that she may be betraying him. As he departs the doctor’s office, the doctor pens a letter to the man’s wife warning her of his coming and to take precautions. When the man arrives in the middle of the night at the hotel, he is greeted by the maitre d who says the woman is expecting him and leads him to her room. Surprised, he sits in the living room without disturbing his wife. As he sits, in the room, a local man comes in apparently to visit with the woman… this is just the start of a series of deceptions.

J. Bennett

I love these types of RMT's. You're never really sure what's going on 'til the very end. Creepy image at the end-- his wife stuffed in the closet, strangled with the pearl necklace. Norman Rose is one of the best. He always draws you into one of his stories--making it very easy for you to sympathize with his characters ( even when he's the villain). He can really sound insane when it's called for--great example when he calls down to his (He thinks) dead wife, noting how uncomfortable the rocks she's landed on must be. I also love the dialog with the old man, asking when the man that was being mourned had died and the answer being that it may not have happened yet-- an eerie premonition of things to come. And Arnold Moss, not just a great performer, but an excellent writer. Many of his scripts made very entertaining thrillers. One of my favorites!

Rhoneil Nater

Quote: And Arnold Moss, not just a great performer, but an excellent writer. Many of his scripts made very entertaining thrillers. I didn't think much of Arnold Moss when I saw him play a goateed professor in a 1965 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , but The CBS Radio Mystery Theater is the only other place I've heard his name. It sort of revived Moss' career in his old age.

Danny M.

I love Norman Rose. At what point did he kill his wife? Good story, I liked how the letter ended up describing the main character's shaky mental state, when at first it seemed as if it might have been referring to an infidelity on the part of the wife.

Gerry G.

Arnold Moss also played "Kodus the Executioner" in the original Star Trek series episode "The Conscience of the King". One of the better one's -- dealing with madness, murder and betrayal. I've never had a chance to see any "Man from U.N.C.L.E." episodes. That's interesting to know. Some of Moss' more entertaining performances on RMT (I think) include: The Fall of the House of Usher The Canterville Ghost The Damned Thing A Pair of Green Eyes Ocean of Emptiness (Mainly for his writing--he really only has a Cameo) The Long,Long Sleep (Entirely for his writing) The Ice Palace And, of course, this episode which he wrote.

T. Langley

Quote: Arnold Moss also played "Kodus the Executioner" in the original Star Trek series episode "The Conscience of the King". One of the better one's -- dealing with madness, murder and betrayal. I saw that years ago, but I don't remember it because with Star Trek when I used to watch them...it was just once each. Quote: I've never had a chance to see any "Man from U.N.C.L.E." episodes. That's interesting to know. Moss was also in a Girl from U.N.C.L.E. episode too, but he played a different character.

Ross Antonel

Yeah, I knew the title was familiar! Haven't heard this one in years. Pretty good episode. I am guessing he killed his wife while she was in the bed, with the string of pearls. Definitely a bit different and kinda creepy - especially adding the birds in there.

Grace Edwards

I really enjoyed this one. The twists were fun. The birds were definately creepy.

Joe Jacobo P.

This show was excellent: - Ian Martin and Norman Rose were gems. - Robert Kaliban, the opthamalogist and would-be young paramour of Rose's wife, was always enjoyable, too. He later did voices for childrens' programs. - I love the Indian (?) chants/panpipes one heard while Martin's character was ostensibly doing incantations around the campfire. Those same chants were used in the EXCELLENT RMT show "The house on Chimney Pot Lane". - The birds were unnerving. So was that shrill whining inside Rose's head. - Like so many of the RMT's characters but even more so, Rose was a humanized villain. I'm not even sure you could call him a villain...he really seemed to love his wife. The only thing against him (if you say it that way) was the age discrepancy between them. He really couldn't help his condition (and actually it was worse that he was never informed of it until too late, but that was before cell phones, e-mail, text messaging, etc.). Great choice.

Tom A.

Very creepy, indeed. Not bad.

1nicolem

This reminded me a lot of an episode on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Delusions.

Andy

Very interesting reading the reviews of this episode. Definitely a love/hate relationship going on here. I think those who didn't like it were expecting the story to make sense, when the fact that it _doesn't_ make sense was actually a supremely effective way of illustrating the confusion the protagonist was experiencing. Until the very end, we weren't sure what the "reality" really was, just like the man was confused, trying to reconcile his perceptions. This approach really drew me in, and I honestly loved it.

Mike

I enjoyed the story, but the could have made an effort to make sure that the Spanish was correct - it sounded more like French mixed with Italian than Spanish!

Oscar

For me this was a confusing tale to listen to. Perhaps if I had been more intent on listening to it it may have been better for me. However, I think this one may have been better for visual rather than just auditory stimulation. I couldn't keep track of what was really going on. Apparently if you have a May/December romance you might get brain damage though.

Alec

Ah! This was a fantastic episode! I love episodes where you cannot figure out in what direction it is going- if you listen to this episode, don't read all the comments until after you listen to it!

Melanie

Loved it. Such great acting and so atmospheric. I thought it was a good depiction of what it must be like to be losing your mind. He was probably a jealous and insecure man about his wife all along but it got worse with his neurological issues. I was as confused as he was. I like the comment session but wish they were dated. I am writing this on 5/30/16. Some of these comments could be years old.

Celine

There were too many "nope, that didn't really happen....gotchas" to make this episode listenable. It's one of the worst episodes ever, imo! I dislike the way everything that happens turns out to be a fantasy all the way through the episode, and you never seem to really be sure. Then the ending is supposed to be shocking, but it loses its impact because of all the "gotchas" before that. It's like "the boy who cried wolf" because by the time the real truth is revealed, no one believes it anymore, (and no one cares anymore, lol!) Also, I'm getting tired of the May-December theme, which always implies that it's impossible to love an older man if you're a younger woman. I have been in love with several older men in my life, so I find this premise insulting.

Amy

Tony Bridges plans to surprise his young wife while she vacations on a little-known Caribbean island. His suspicions that Martha is unfaithful seem confirmed when he meets a young man with a key to her bungalow. Martha’s rationale for this is logical enough, but a succession of unusual events, some not well explained by Martha, convinces a very jealous Tony she’s trying to drive him insane.

Jack

SPOILERS: SPOILERS AHEAD Don’t read until AFTER you have listened!! I am posting this as response for those who Don’t understand this Great episode. The first scene at the doctors office and the very very last scene are the only “Real” scenes, in the beginning the doctor knows that Tony has become dangerously Psychotic and tries to warn Martha with a letter. The Very first scene in Bungalow B is when Tony has a Paranoid delusion about a guy coming to see Martha and murders Martha in her sleep with the pearl Necklace and locks her in the Closet. All subsequent scenes with Martha are his delusions and he falls more and more insane as the guilt overtakes him and his paranoia increases. At the end Martha’s body is discovered in the closet that she “told him” the key was lost to.The Doctors letter warning her had come too late.

Melanie

Fun tale that truly brought you into the head of the ill man. Very well done!

Maureen

I enjoy all of the episodes. This one was fun. But I do have to ask if the man was in such unstable condition, why did the doctor let him go and not hospitalize him right away. Maybe that’s how it was done in the 60s or 70s

karen

On this episode i straddle the fence. It appears to be the story of the downward descent into murderous insanity. But what parts are real and what are not, it is hard to tell. An ophthalmologist who can tell he is getting worse and writing a letter to the soon to be surprised wife, the hotel manager and all his parts? At least the flamingos can be assumed imaginary? Not one of my favorite episodes but art least there were commercials to break up the insanity of the story.

Nancy


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