Category: Philip Marlowe

EP3544: Philip Marlowe: The Blue Burgonet

Marlowe is hired to guard a valuable shipment of silk, but everyone thinks he knows something about an item called the blue burgonet. 4swu4wby

Original Air Date: October 31, 1948

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EP3538: Philip Marlowe: Robin and the Hood

Van Heflin

Marlowe’s hired to protect the lead in a Technicolor production of Robin Hood from his identical twin brother: a skilled archer with mental problems.

Original Air Date: August 19, 1947

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EP3532: Philip Marlowe: Daring Young Dame on the Flying Trapeze

Van Heflin

A trapeze performer hires Marlowe to protect a circus from dangerous gamblers his partners owe money to.

Original Air Date: July 1, 1947

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Video Theater 156: Philip Marlowe: The Ugly Duckling

Philip Marlowe is hired to pay off a woman’s husband’s mistress and finds himself the prime suspect when the mistress is murdered.

Episode 1

Original Air Date: October 6, 1959

DVD Review: The Reformer and the Redhead

In the Reformer and the Red Head (1950), June Allyson stars as Kathleen Maguire, a zoo tour guide and the daughter of the local zookeeper. When her dad is fired at the behest of a local political boss, she turns to reformer Andrew Hale (played by Allyson’s husband Dick Powell) to expose the corrupt boss and get her father’s job back. Hale sees an opportunity to bolster his fledgling candidacy. However, he finds himself drawn into the lives of the Maguires and their menagerie of wild animals that they keep as pets around the house.

Allyson is great in this. Kathleen Maguire is eager, earnest, sincere, and with a good bit of temper. She’s really the heart of the film and Allyson makes her likable and a delight in every moment she’s on the screen.

Powell’s character is interesting. While he’s running as a reformer, it’s mostly a cynical marketing ploy. It’s his best line of attack. If he can find a way to settle with the bosses and win the election easily, he’s happy to do that. As the film goes on, he changes. Kathleen is a true believer in the things he says to win votes. As they fall in love, they come to a big inevitable conflict where he has to choose between Kathleen and an easy path to political power. Powell manages to portray this conflict while also doing great with the comedy.

I also to have comment on the animals, particularly the domesticated lion. The animals are fun throughout the film, delivering some cute moments as well as some big laughs. There are some great gags, including a really fun scene in a car towards the end.

The film is predictable. If you’ve seen similar movies from this era, you could sketch out the plot of the entire film. While its predictable, it’s never boring. The leads have great chemistry, the animals are fun, and the moral is good. It’s not a classic epic, but it’s a good time. If you like these films, or are a fan of Dick Powell or June Allyson, this is a pleasant 90 minutes.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

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The Top 10 Philip Marlowe Radio Episodes

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe starring Gerald Mohr aired from 1948-50 and then returned in the Summer of 1951 and is one of the best radio detective shows of all time. Here are my ten favorites. Right click on each link to download if you’re curious about an episode.

10) Where There’s a Will (Original Air Date: October 17, 1948)

Marlowe is hired by three heirs to help them locate their inheritance. It’s a great character story and very noirish.

9) The Anniversary Gift (Original Air Date: April 11, 1950)

William Conrad does a great job filling in with Mohr in a great story with a perfect pitch ending, and a superb performance by Conrad that makes me wish he had been a radio detective more often.

8) The Old Acquaintance (Original Air Date: December 26, 1948)

Marlowe engages in a race against time on New Year’s Eve to find a missing fiancée before a dangerous escaped convict does.

7) The House that Jacqueline Built (Original Air Date: December 31, 1949)

Another New Years Eve story. This one a quirky but well done tale of Marlowe searching for a missing house.

6) The Grim Hunters (Original Air Date: March 12, 1949)

Marlowe gets called to a house, only to find he was being used as an item on a scavenger hunt. This equates a light-hearted start that turns very serious when a body turns up.

5) The Big Book (Original Air Date: September 29, 1950)

Marlowe investigates an apparent suicide of a has-been actress. It’s an engaging story with a solid ending.

4) The Red Wind  (Original Air Date: September 26, 1948)

Marlowe lands right in the middle of a plot involving murder and blackmail. This is the only time the CBS series adapted an actual Marlowe story by Chandler, and it’s sad they didn’t do more.

3) The Iron Coffin: (Original Air Date: July 12, 1950)

Marlowe investigates a strange case where for a woman who fears for the life of her daughter’s fiancé. It’s a very clever and imaginative tale that find Marlowe in a medieval castle (that’s been moved to California) and has a superb conclusion.

2) The Lonesome Reunion (Original Air Date: February 12, 1949)

Marlowe goes to Phoenix carrying papers and finds himself robbed, and thrown into a battle with robbers and murders in the small town of Lonesome, Arizona.

1) The Little Wishbone (Original Air Date: December 10, 1949)

Throughout the series, Marlowe flirted with many women (and vice versa), but is the only episode where Marlowe truly falls in love, but he finds out the lady has a secret. Mohr is at his absolute best, particularly in the last few minutes, and the powerful final scene ends with a twist that hits you like a punch in the gut.

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EP1871: Hollywood Star Time: Murder, My Sweet

Dick Powell
Philip Marlowe investigates a missing woman and then gets caught in a murder surrounding stolen jewels.

Original Air Date: June 8, 1946

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EP1865: Philip Marlowe: Sound and Unsound

Gerald Mohr

An elderly landlady hires Marlowe to investigate a strange sound in one of her tenants’ apartment.

Original Air Date: September 15, 1951

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EP1859: Philip Marlowe: The Medium Was Rare

Gerald Mohr
Marlowe is hired by a wealthy woman to recover stolen jewels.

Original Air Date: September 8, 1951

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EP1853: Philip Marlowe: Nether Nether Land

Gerald Mohr
A woman wakes Marlowe up in his apartment, asks for help and then disappears.

Original Air Date: September 1, 1951

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EP1847: Philip Marlowe: Heir for G-String

Gerald Mohr

Marlowe goes searching in the seedy part of town for an heir to $5,000.

Original Air Date: August 25, 1951

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EP1841: Philip Marlowe: The Young Man’s Fancy

Gerald Mohr
Marlowe becomes concerned at the strange of behavior of a man who runs a neighborhood fruit stand.

Original Air Date: August 18, 1951

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EP1835: Philip Marlowe: The Long Way Home

Gerald Mohr

An older man hires to Marlowe to find his pretty young wife.

Original Air Date: August 4, 1951

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EP1829: Philip Marlowe: The Good Neighbor Policy

Gerald Mohr

A mix up with his phone lines leads Marlowe to a snippy neighbor and a gun in his back.

Original Air Date: July 28, 1951

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EP1823: Philip Marlowe: Life Can Be Murder

Gerald Mohr
Marlowe meets a beautiful woman at an English pub, drops her off at a ritzy house, and is called when a dead body is found at the house.

Original Air Date: July 21, 1951

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