“The Adventures of Philip Marlowe” Episodic Log "The Adventures of Philip Marlowe" The Episodic Log Prepared by Edward Sehlhorst, [email protected] Series Description: (Our thanks to Frank Passage for his permission to repeat it here) Between the series' many shows, and movies, Philip Marlowe has been a presence on the radio and screen for a lot longer than most remember. This episodic log will chronicle the trek through time on American broadcasting stations. Perhaps the first portrayal of Phillip Marlowe on the radio was by Dick Powell, when he played Raymond Chandler's detective in Murder, My Sweet on the Lux Radio Theatre, June 11, 1945. This was a radio adaptation of the 1944 movie, from RKO, in which Mr. Powell played the lead. Two years later, Van Heflin starred as Marlowe in a summer replacement series for the Bob Hope Show on NBC. This series ran for 13 shows. On September 26, 1948, Gerald Mohr became the third radio Marlowe, this time on CBS. It remained a CBS show through to its last show in 1951. In the April 11, 1950 show, "The Anniversary Gift", William Conrad substituted for Mr. Mohr, becoming the fourth person to play the detective. The CBS version opens with Marlowe saying, " Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave. There’s no other end, but they never learn ." Unlike the Sam Spade or Richard Diamond radio series, there's no "cuteness" here. Just a tough-nosed private eye doing a tough job. One of the most comprehensive lists of all of Chandler’s work is available at: Thrilling Detective . In Recognition : Welcome to this work. It has been a collaborative effort, put together from the many volunteers within the OTR Researchers Group and others in the OTR Community. I have mixed emotions about listing their names for fear of missing some of them. No Fear, we proceed Ben Kibler John Davies Clorinda Thompson Sue Sieger Marc Olayne Frank Passage Stewart Wright Michael St. John Larry Maupin Chris Pyle Mike Thomas Johnathan Dearman David Oxford Pete Cavallo Gary Everest Joseph Webb Jerry Thomas Jim Beshires Using This Document – Conventions: • The plot style of the Philip Marlowe series introduces what I’ve called a "First Line Narrative". This slightly cryptic message is used as a hook to pique the interest of the audience. It is always presented as the post show promo of the previous episode. • Each episode will have a reference to the "First Line Plot". This First Line Plot is tagged so as to separate it from the hook statement, the First Line Narrative. Some episodes have both listed in the description. • For the purpose of good housekeeping, Philip will always be spelled with one L. There are also some minor word discrepancies between the post show promo and the First Line Narrative that will not be reported. • Special Notice – Sequential Episode Numbers: The episode numbers associated with these episodes have nothing to do with any script numbering scheme used by the network. They are provided here simply as a convenience for finding and describing files in a list. They are not even sequential. • Blooper Alert – See 000 after Episode 085 • The left margin column is used for broadcast play dates. Followed by assigned sequential episode numbers. Other left margin markers are EPS, which identifies the changes in Episode broadcast information and 000, which mark pieces of support information. Old Time Radio Researchers (OTRR) Group Page 1 of 41 Update to [email protected] subject: Philip Marlowe Last Saved Date: January 17, 2007 “The Adventures of Philip Marlowe” Episodic Log • Wiki-On-Line http://www.otrr.org/pmwiki/CertFirstLines/PhilipMarloweTheAdventuresOfPage15 • Rumor Control - There is some contention that there was a Philip Marlowe show, July 10, 1938. "Thriller" sponsored by Phillip Morris Cigarettes. Starring Orson Welles, Edgar Barrier Part 2 of three only, however the story is complete. Any response to this contention will be appreciated. Episode Totals Analysis: Total Number of original broadcasts 122 Total Number of repeat broadcasts 2 Total Number of scripts used twice 1 Total Number of broadcasts 124 Total Number of scripts used thrice 1 Approx. Number of episodes in Certified Set 103 Marlowe Lead Actor Tenure: Dick Powell Lux Theater June 11, 1945 Murder My Sweet Van Heflin Audition-Rehearsal June 12, 1947 Read for first rehearsal Van Heflin June 17, 1947 September 7, 1947 It is written (but As a summer replacement Series filled the 13 week questionable) that he for Bob Hope vacation period for Hope played in more than 2,000 early radio dramas before taking this role. Off Air for One Year and Two Weeks Gerald Mohr September 26, 1948 September 29, 1950 And also ran from Concluding final show Has been referred to as the "B" Movie actor. July 7, 1951 September 15, 1951 As a summer replacement Series filled the 13 week for Hopalong Cassidy vacation period for Hoppy William Conrad Substituted April 11, 1950 Read one show only 000 The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, June 12, 1947, "Who Shot Waldo ", audition or rehearsal show, NBC, sponsored by Pepsodent. This was the lead into a 13 episode series on NBC to fill the summer vacation slot for Bob Hope. The same story was re-done a year and two weeks later with a different cast of players when the series was picked up by CBS. The plot concerned forty-one matched pearls with a diamond propeller clasp...a good reason for murder! The show is introduced as "The Pepsodent Show". Van Heflin starred as Marlowe in this summer replacement series. Special note should be made that the episode included with this collection as this audition or rehearsal show is the same script as the premier show, "Red Wind". There are discrete audio clues to differentiate the audition or rehearsal show from the premiere release. These clues are detailed in the Anthology document. There was no scheduled broadcast of the audition or rehearsal on this date. 000 Newspaper article, NY Times, April 27, 1947 indicates Milton Geiger will write all the NBC scripts. The BBC reports that Chandler never wrote any of the episodes, but retained final approval on all radio scripts until he died in 1959. EPS The following episodes were listed as broadcast 10:00 p.m. on Tuesdays on NBC 47/06/17 001 The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, June 17, 1947, "Red Wind", NBC, sponsored by Pepsodent. First Line Narrative : Does Not Exist in this first episode. Old Time Radio Researchers (OTRR) Group Page 2 of 41 Update to [email protected] subject: Philip Marlowe Last Saved Date: January 17, 2007 “The Adventures of Philip Marlowe” Episodic Log First Line Plot : "There was a rough desert wind blowing into Los Angeles that evening. It was one of those hot, dry Santa Ana’s that comes down through the mountain passes and curl your hair, make your nerves jump and your skin itch." Plot: Marlowe witnesses a chance killing involving a shady lady whose string of pearls… He tries to protect the damsel in distress and recover her forty-one matched pearls. Credits: Van Heflin. "Heard with Van Heflin was Lurene Tuttle, as Lola Barseley." Raymond Chandler (creator), Script adapted by Milton Geiger from the story, "Red Wind". Wendell Niles (announcer). Lyn Murray (composer, conductor), James Fonda (producer, director), William Conrad, William Johnstone, Harry Bartell. This script is the same as the listed audition or rehearsal above. This broadcast is listed as the Premier broadcast on WNBC at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. This script was also reused for the premiere show on CBS, September 26, 1948 Closing promo : for next week: NONE 47/06/24 002 The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, June 24, 1947, "Pitt 13 ", NBC, Not Available, sponsored by Pepsodent. There is a title conflict on this episode. Popular logs indicate "Pitt 13" as the title. The Chicago Tribune is the only newspaper to report the broadcast title as "Trouble is My Business" for this date. 47/07/01 003 The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, July 1, 1947, "Daring Young Dame on the Flying Trapeze ", or "Gangsters Under the Big Top ", NBC, Not Available . Alternate title, "Gangsters…" could be just a program description taken from the Radio Highlights of the Syracuse Herald Journal, Tuesday, July 1, 1947 Plot: from the Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, OH; 9 p.m. – NBC: "The Adventures of Philip Marlowe" are rough and righteous. Van Heflin in the lead faces a band of gangsters under the big top. 47/07/08 004 The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, July 8, 1947, "The King in Yellow ", or "A Killer in Big Bear Country ", NBC, sponsored by Pepsodent . Alternate title, "A Killer…" could be just a program description taken from the Radio Highlights of the Syracuse Herald Journal, Tuesday, July 8, 1947. First Line Plot : "Hollywood after midnight is like any city after midnight. Night moves in and the city becomes hushed and stealthy. The night clubs close up one by one but now and then the police whistle and the prowl car sirens serenade the sleeper." Plot: King Leopardi; murder; a Hollywood nightclub; the Big Bear country near Los Angeles, famous jazz musician, with a passion for yellow clothes, and his trumpet are wandering the hall in his yellow pajamas. The King is played by Gerald Mohr, who would later take over the lead role in this series on CBS, although Mohr is not named in the closing credits. Credits: Van Heflin. Raymond Chandler (creator, writer), Milton Geiger (adaptor), Wendell Niles (announcer), Lynn Murray (composer, conductor).