[00:00:16] Speaker A: The mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast welcome to the mysterious old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime, and horror stories from the golden age of Radio. I'm Eric.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: I'm Tim.
[00:00:38] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: For this week's episode, I chose the mad scientist caper from a series that we have not listened to before on this podcast, the Adventures of Sam Spade.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: The series debuted July 12, 1946 on ABC, overseen by producer director William Speer. This was while he was still producing and directing for suspense. Along with writers Jason James and Bob Tallman, Speer won an Edgar Award for best radio drama for their work on the Adventures of Sam Spade. Speer left suspense in 1948 and two weeks later took over directorial duties on the clock. Twelve weeks after that, the clock was canceled and Speer returned to suspense as a producer. But throughout, he continued his work on the Adventures of Sam Spade.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: The series put an emphasis on humor, and the results were a success over the five year run of the show. It was broadcast first on ABC for a year, then three years on CB's and concluding with a year on NBC. Nearly 250 episodes were recorded in total.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: For most of the show's run. Howard Duff played Sam Spade, but he took a brief hiatus in 1950 to pursue work in films before he could return. His name's inclusion in the Red Channel's list of communist friendly Hollywood figures resulted in his removal from the show. Duff was replaced by Steve Dunn for the rest of the program's run. This was after Dashiell Hammett's own name had been removed for being investigated for involvement with the Communist Party.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: But both Dashiell Hammitt's name and a performance by Howard Duff are featured in this production. The mad scientist caper from the Adventures of Sam Spade first broadcast July 25, 1948.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: It's late at night and a chill has set in the you're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices.
[00:02:35] Speaker D: The adventures of Sam Spade detective brought to you by wildroot cream oil hair tonic, the non alcoholic hair tonic that contains lanolin wild root cream oil. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first.
[00:02:57] Speaker E: Sam Spade detective agency.
[00:03:00] Speaker F: This is mad scientific detective number 137596.
[00:03:04] Speaker E: Sam, no matter what anyone says, I'll stand by you. You're nothing of the sort.
[00:03:08] Speaker F: Not scientific?
[00:03:09] Speaker E: Of course not. You're too pissed.
[00:03:11] Speaker F: Well, thanks, Evie. And that ain't all, Effie. I was actually mistaken for a convolutional melancholy act.
[00:03:18] Speaker E: Oh, Sam, are you all right now?
[00:03:20] Speaker F: Wrong diagnosis, angel. It turned out to be melancholia catatonica.
[00:03:24] Speaker E: Oh, you poor darling. What is that?
[00:03:27] Speaker F: Well, it's a thing where you lie motionless and silent with fixed eyes and indifference to surroundings.
[00:03:32] Speaker E: Sam, what happened to you? What hospital are you in? Can I bring you anything?
[00:03:37] Speaker F: No, Effie. I am now at large. Pull down the blinds, check the corridors of men in little white coats, and set a bottle in the window. If the coast is clear, I'll be right down to dictate my report on the mad scientist capers.
[00:03:54] Speaker D: Bashal Hammett, America's leading detective fiction writer and creator of Sam Spade, the hard boiled private eye, and William Spear, radio's outstanding producer director of mystery and crime drama, join their talents to make your hair stand on end with the adventures of Sam Spade, presented by the makers of wild root cream oil for the hair. Nobody has to tell you that a neat personal appearance can have a lot to do with helping you get ahead on the job. Now, the first step to a good appearance is well groomed hair. And I mean hair that's groomed with wild root cream oil. Wild root cream oil always grooms the hair neatly and naturally. It relieves dryness, removes loose dandruff. Yes, men to look your best at all times, spruce up with Wildroot cream oil. Hair tonic. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. And now, with Howard Duff, starring a spade wildroot brings to the air the greatest private detective of them all in the adventures of Sam Spade.
[00:05:03] Speaker F: Effie?
[00:05:05] Speaker E: Come in, Sam. The coast is clear.
[00:05:07] Speaker F: Where are you? Why is it so dark in here?
[00:05:10] Speaker E: Well, I had to put the lights out. The blind stuck. I couldn't get it down.
[00:05:13] Speaker F: The heat's off, effie, let there be light.
[00:05:16] Speaker E: Oh. Oh, I'm so glad.
Let me look at you.
[00:05:22] Speaker F: Don't look at me like that. And stop whispering.
[00:05:24] Speaker E: Oh, Sam, would you get me all upset like that just for a joke?
[00:05:29] Speaker F: It's no joke, sweetheart.
[00:05:30] Speaker E: You really sick?
[00:05:31] Speaker F: Yeah. Just sick of some of the pipes I made in this business.
[00:05:34] Speaker E: Oh, that.
[00:05:37] Speaker F: Date. July 25, 1948, to Detective Lieutenant Dundee, homicide, detailed San Francisco police, from Samuel Spade, license number 137596. Subject, the mad scientist caper. I worry so, dear Dundee.
He looked like a mad scientist, and that's exactly what he was. His eyes had a wild gleam in them. His hair was a wild tangle and he was wearing a wild assortment of clothing that looked as if they'd been slept in and shifts. He leaned across the desk at me.
[00:06:07] Speaker G: And said, they have stolen my secret formula.
[00:06:11] Speaker F: They have? Gee, that's too bad.
[00:06:13] Speaker G: You think I'm crazy?
[00:06:15] Speaker F: I don't know yet. I just met you.
[00:06:16] Speaker G: My name is Raymond Fox. Did that mean anything to you?
[00:06:19] Speaker F: Raymond Fox? Yeah, I think it does, but I.
[00:06:22] Speaker G: Don'T quite remember what I invented. The helioscope.
[00:06:26] Speaker F: Helioscope? No, that wasn't it.
[00:06:28] Speaker G: I also synthesized hydroxylamophotocanaton.
[00:06:31] Speaker F: That was it?
[00:06:32] Speaker G: Yes, but unfortunately production costs were prohibitive.
[00:06:36] Speaker F: Aha. But you didn't let that discourage you.
[00:06:38] Speaker G: Oh, no, no, no, indeed.
[00:06:39] Speaker C: I.
[00:06:39] Speaker G: You see, after a brief illness, I was back in my laboratory perfecting my greatest contribution to science, what may prove to be the greatest contribution of science to humanity. I call it Penetron.
[00:06:49] Speaker F: Penetron.
[00:06:50] Speaker G: That is what they have stolen. The secret formula for Penetron.
[00:06:53] Speaker F: Penetron, huh? Now, what exactly is Penetron, Mister Fox? And who are they?
[00:06:58] Speaker G: Well, Penetron is a plastic with a molecular structure which repels atomic radiation more efficiently than lead, yet weighs less than aluminum.
[00:07:06] Speaker F: Oh, that.
[00:07:06] Speaker G: Do you realize the significance of this?
[00:07:08] Speaker F: Well, imagine.
[00:07:10] Speaker G: Imagine a motor no larger than a cigar box with a power potential that even I don't believe. But they do.
[00:07:17] Speaker F: Who's they?
[00:07:17] Speaker G: Grierson Enterprises. Now how do I know this? When I applied to the patent office to protect my discovery, I received this letter. Here. Go on, read it for yourself.
[00:07:26] Speaker F: Commissioner of patents, Washington, BC. Dear Mister Fox, your application for patent on formula designated under the trade name penetronization is hereby rejected. Both formula and trade name, together with descriptive material identical to yours, have been registered by Mister Albert Grierson, Grierson Enterprises, San Francisco. Very truly yours, George Sherman, acting deputy assistant commissioner. There.
[00:07:49] Speaker G: There, you see?
[00:07:51] Speaker F: Uh, yes. You don't need a detective, Mister Fox. What you need is a good patent lawyer.
[00:07:56] Speaker D: Lawyer?
[00:07:57] Speaker G: I have one. A legal ball of fire named Roscoe Manningen. You know this scoundrel?
[00:08:02] Speaker F: Yeah. He's got an okay reputation and I.
[00:08:04] Speaker G: Am paying for it. $3,000 in retainers. And now he tells me he can do nothing. Insufficient evidence, he says.
[00:08:11] Speaker F: What is this outfit? Grierson Enterprises.
[00:08:13] Speaker G: Ha. A snare and a delusion with. With rented furniture, unscientific ventilation and dirty work at the switchboard.
[00:08:20] Speaker F: Mm hmm. How did they get hold of your formula?
[00:08:22] Speaker G: Well, it must have been while I was ill. They came and took it away.
[00:08:26] Speaker F: Out of your laboratory. Oh.
[00:08:27] Speaker G: Well, what does it matter.
[00:08:28] Speaker F: Wherever I start someplace.
[00:08:30] Speaker G: Start with the man. I promise you he's a crook. If he steals from me, he's stolen from others. If we can prove that, then I have a case.
[00:08:37] Speaker F: Well, I can't promise you anything, Mister Fox, but I'll see what I can do.
[00:08:41] Speaker G: Will $100 be enough for your retainer?
[00:08:43] Speaker F: Too much. 25 now on the balance. If I can do anything for you.
I doubted if I could even earn the 25. But if he wanted to gamble, it was okay with me. The officers of Grierson Enterprises were pretty much as he described them. A beautiful front. Especially at the switchboard.
[00:09:08] Speaker E: Griston Enterprises. Good afternoon. No, Mister Griston's out of town. No, I don't know when to expect it. I'll be right with you.
[00:09:15] Speaker F: That's good news.
[00:09:16] Speaker E: Grist enterprises. No, he is not. No, I do not. And he doesn't want to talk to you in any case. Mister Manning.
Oh, if it would just.
[00:09:24] Speaker F: Can't you shut it off?
[00:09:25] Speaker E: I might as well. Nobody seems to believe me anyway. You aren't looking for him too, I hope. Oh, please, just tell me you're selling magazines or collecting salvage or just anything.
[00:09:33] Speaker F: My card.
[00:09:34] Speaker E: Oh, detective. Mister Grierson hasn't done anything, has he?
[00:09:37] Speaker F: That's what I want to find out. My client says he swiped his secret formula.
[00:09:41] Speaker E: Oh, not that maniac. You don't look the type. You know he's mad, don't you?
[00:09:44] Speaker F: Maybe yes, maybe no. Personally I'm crazy about money. Mad money, pin money or dirty money. Your employer didn't happen to leave any lying around, did he?
[00:09:53] Speaker E: No. But he has a charge account at a bar downstairs in the building and it's nearly 05:00 could you cross examine me there?
[00:10:03] Speaker F: I thanked her as gallantly as I could. Under the circumstances. She said, wait here. I won't be a minute. And while she was gone I made a quick frisk of the office. The file cabinet was empty. Gryason's desk contained nothing but two unsharpened pencils, tobacco crumbs, a rubber band, some rusty paper clips, an old gas bill, a glass ampule broken labeled sodium Denedrine for intravenous injection, and a business card from one Roscoe Manning, attorney at law. I stuck the card in my pocket, went back to the switchboard and in less time than it takes to tell, I was calling her Lois and she was calling me Sam over cocktails for two.
[00:10:38] Speaker E: That's all I know about it. I didn't think anything about his taking his correspondence out of the files. He often took work home with him?
[00:10:45] Speaker F: Mm hmm. When was the last time you saw him?
[00:10:47] Speaker E: Oh, it's been nearly six weeks.
[00:10:49] Speaker F: You haven't heard from him in all that time?
[00:10:51] Speaker E: He was with Mister Fox just before he left. They had a terrible quarrel, but then Mister Greyson managed to get him calmed down and they left the office together.
[00:10:59] Speaker F: And that's the last time you saw Grerson?
[00:11:01] Speaker E: Yes. And it's all very strange. What did that maniac tell you?
[00:11:04] Speaker F: That Grayson swiped his invention.
[00:11:06] Speaker E: Do you believe that?
[00:11:07] Speaker F: I didn't even believe in the invention. Now I'm beginning to think it was worth stealing.
[00:11:11] Speaker E: Oh, Mister Grierson wouldn't. He's a brilliant man, you know.
[00:11:15] Speaker F: What else has he invented?
[00:11:16] Speaker E: Well, I don't know. He always had a lot of projects, but of course he never took me into his confidence.
[00:11:21] Speaker F: Just exactly what is your job?
[00:11:23] Speaker E: Oh, it's quite simple, really. I just tell people even in.
[00:11:26] Speaker F: Yeah. Look, sweetheart, you really mean to tell me it never occurred to you that there might be something slightly fishy about grace and enterprises?
[00:11:34] Speaker E: I know I shouldn't because there's a.
[00:11:36] Speaker F: Smell of red herring up there. It's in the air.
[00:11:38] Speaker E: You mean Mister Grayson, the crook?
Well, what does that make me worry?
[00:11:43] Speaker F: That out on his time? Drink up.
She looked as if she were telling the truth, though with women, especially blue eyed women, that doesn't always mean anything. If she had anything more to tell, she obviously wasn't ready yet to tell it. I asked her to come up and listen to my Herb Jeffries records. She said my apartment made it a woman's touch. I handed her a broom. She hit me on the head with it and left. And so to bed up the times and phoned my client. He wasn't in. Then I phoned a guy I know who sometimes knows about things and asked him what sodium Denidry was. He said it was a sedative and or truth serum, a mental type drug. I wondered what Grierson had been using it for during office hours. I also wondered what else he'd been spending money for. I phoned another guy who knows about other things and he called me back with the name of Grierson's bank. Golden Gate crust. An hour later, to my surprise, I actually had something to go on. Because in the past six weeks, checks totaling $50,000 had been deposited to Grierson's account, all drawn on the Citrus exchange bank at San Anselmo and all bearing the signature of one Carl Birdwell, Mdd.
He wasn't hard to find. It was a big place on the outskirts. And the sign on the gate said, mary F. Hotchkiss hospital for the mentally deranged. Doctor Birdwell's cottage was one of five about bars on the window. He was spraying his roses.
[00:13:11] Speaker H: Ah, that's cystodectomy of Doctor Kobler's. How are those convulsions? Coordination all right?
[00:13:16] Speaker F: I can't complain.
[00:13:17] Speaker H: Got these of your fingers back?
[00:13:18] Speaker F: Good.
[00:13:18] Speaker H: Pick up those shears. I want all those ragged edges cut off.
[00:13:22] Speaker F: Well, why don't you hire a gardener out of those checks to Grierson? Use up all your ready cash, eh?
[00:13:28] Speaker H: I thought you were the cystodectomy. Good lord, you're that convolutional melancholiac. You're not allowed out on the grounds.
[00:13:34] Speaker F: God. God. Now, wait a minute. Doctor matters. This one acting up.
[00:13:38] Speaker H: Take him back. I sent for the cystodectomy. This is the wrong man.
[00:13:41] Speaker F: You're crazy. Let go of me. I'm not a patient here. I'm a detective. Yeah, and I'm. I'm Sherlock Holmes.
[00:13:46] Speaker D: Come on now, back to the violent war.
[00:13:48] Speaker F: Come on, lay off. I got an office in San Francisco. I can prove it. 137596, Doctor Watson.
[00:13:54] Speaker E: But.
[00:13:54] Speaker F: Come on, come on.
And in more time than it takes to tell, due to the guards jiu jitsu, I was disrobed, straight jacketed and rolled into a wet sheep. A full fledged inmate of the Mary F. Hotchkiss Hospital for the mentally deranged. Which is exactly where I belong. For having taken Mister Fox's $25.
[00:14:23] Speaker H: The.
[00:14:23] Speaker D: Makers of wild root cream oil are presenting the weekly Sunday adventure of national habits famous private detective Sam spade.
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And now back to the mad scientist caper. Tonight's adventure with sam spades.
[00:15:48] Speaker F: I have been shot, stabbed, slashed, pistol with and sapped into unconsciousness. But until you have spent a night rolled up in a wet sheet, Dundee, you don't know what punishment is. You feel hot and cold at the same time, too miserable to sleep, too exhausted to stay awake. And after 4 hours of it, you just give up and join the crazies pushing up the daisies. There's only one thing I can say in favor of the Mary F. Hotchkiss hospital for the mentally deranged. They get the patients up early. By 630 in the am, I had been rolled out of the sheet. By quarter of seven, I had thawed out enough to be taken out of the straitjacket by an orderly. I was glad to be out of it because it was very heavy and that gave me an idea. I picked it up and swung it in less time than it takes to tell. I was in the orderly's uniform, out of the violent wing and shuffling up the walk through Doctor Birdwell's rose garden and through his cottage door.
Good morning, Doctor Birdwell. Good.
[00:16:46] Speaker H: Good lord. Who let you in here? What do you want?
[00:16:48] Speaker F: I was trying to tell you yesterday when I was so rudely interrupted. Hey.
[00:16:51] Speaker H: Oh, yes, the detective. Did you say Grierson sent you?
[00:16:55] Speaker F: I didn't say that.
[00:16:56] Speaker H: I'm afraid you'll have to be absolutely specific or I can't help you.
[00:16:59] Speaker F: All right. My client is an inventor who claims that Mister Grierson stole a formula from him, got a patent on it and stands to profit at the tune of about a million bucks. The last two items check. I don't know whether Grierson's a crook or not. He's into you for $50,000. So you might know, uh, this inventor.
[00:17:15] Speaker H: Pale eyes, contracted pupils, big mop of hair.
[00:17:19] Speaker F: That's a fair description. Fox.
[00:17:21] Speaker H: Raymond Fox. He's a patient escaped from this hospital. That man, Mister Spade, is a homicidal maniac. If you jog your memory, you may recall the case. Sacramento, 1935.
[00:17:31] Speaker F: Sacramento? Wait a minute. Chemistry professor. Lab explosion.
[00:17:36] Speaker H: That's the case. Two of his colleagues whom he irrationally suspected of stealing the formula for the explosive he used to blow them up.
[00:17:43] Speaker F: You sure they didn't?
[00:17:44] Speaker H: The man was adjudged hopelessly insane. He must be returned to us. He may murder Grierson, he may murder you, but he will commit a murder if he remains at large. Perhaps more than one murder. You must help us, Spade.
[00:17:55] Speaker F: Like you, doctor, I can't help unless you're absolutely specific about a couple of things. Your connection with Grierson, for instance?
[00:18:02] Speaker H: I invested in Grierson's firm.
[00:18:03] Speaker F: Uh huh. How did Fox meet Grayson?
[00:18:06] Speaker H: He was allowed a certain degree of freedom here during his rational period. I had guessed that he went through my papers or overheard one of my conversations with Mister Grayson.
[00:18:15] Speaker F: Mm hmm. Do you know he retained a lawyer? Huh? Manning. Smart patent lawyer. You must think Fox has a case.
[00:18:23] Speaker H: Surely not.
[00:18:24] Speaker F: Grayson thinks so too.
[00:18:26] Speaker H: You've talked to Grierson?
[00:18:27] Speaker F: No, but I've examined his bank statements.
[00:18:30] Speaker H: The bank allowed that?
[00:18:31] Speaker F: I told him I was Grierson's attorney. The point is, Grierson is broke. Why? Because he's paid out every penny you gave him to the order of Roscoe Manning, attorney at law. And you know what I think, doctor?
[00:18:42] Speaker H: Yes.
[00:18:42] Speaker F: I think Raymond Fox is crazy like a fox.
And I had the same idea about Doctor Birdwell, but I didn't say so. I didn't feel up to spending another night in a wet sheet. I also didn't feel up to the interviewer that was awaiting me outside the gates. A limousine, only a little longer than a hearse was standing at the curb. A round pink head with a gray homburg on it bobbed out at me from the driver's seat and said, mister Spade?
[00:19:09] Speaker G: Yeah, Roscoe Manning. How'd you do?
[00:19:13] Speaker F: About $49,975 less than you've done in the caper so far.
[00:19:18] Speaker G: The law is lucrative profession, my boy. Get in. I'll drive you back to town.
[00:19:23] Speaker F: No charge.
[00:19:24] Speaker G: Yeah, I'll even give you some free advice sans retainer.
Well, sir, you are an elusive chap. I've had the devil's own time catching up with you.
[00:19:36] Speaker F: How did you. I won't ask why.
[00:19:38] Speaker G: I am not without resources. Now, as to our mutual client, Mister Fox, obviously you've learned good about him.
[00:19:46] Speaker F: Doctor Birdwell says he's cuckoo. And it's only a toss up which one of us is going to blow up first.
[00:19:51] Speaker G: Just about what you'd expect from a medical man if you listen to as much conflicting medical testimony in court as I have. You'd take them all with a grain of salt. Or should I say soda mint or.
[00:20:00] Speaker F: As sodium Dana drain?
[00:20:02] Speaker G: That's a mysterious remark.
[00:20:04] Speaker F: I was just trying it on for size. It didn't fit.
[00:20:06] Speaker G: Well, sir, here is my proposition as to Fox's sanity. It's of no importance. He has money and I think he has a case. We can always get a doctor to say he's back in his right mind.
[00:20:19] Speaker F: Where do I fit into your scheme?
[00:20:21] Speaker G: You just keep looking for Grierson. And what's that? Secretary of his. I don't trust her.
[00:20:28] Speaker F: Anything else?
[00:20:29] Speaker G: Oh, I almost forgot. Here's $500, and here's your ticket to Chicago.
[00:20:40] Speaker F: I don't know why, but somehow I got the impression that mister Manning was trying to get rid of me. He should have used that ticket to Chicago himself.
We stopped at Sausalito for breakfast and the condemned man ate a hearty meal. We drove the last mile through the Marina district and pulled up in front of his house.
[00:20:57] Speaker G: Well, sir, have a nice trip. Take the car, Miss Spade. I'll pick it up at the depot. Goodbye. It's been charming.
[00:21:04] Speaker F: Goodbye.
He backed across the sidewalk waving, and I waved back. Then he went up three steps, put a key in his door and opened it.
It didn't do much damage to the house, but all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put rascal Manning back together again.
I got out of the car and just made it up the steps when it happened again, I hated the look, but I did. Where the limousine had been parked with me in it was a smoking heap of scrap metal. I then headed for the nearest phone booth and, pausing only to inspect it for mines and booby traps, dialed a number of griers and enterprises.
[00:21:51] Speaker E: Grierson Enterprises.
[00:21:52] Speaker F: Lois. Sam Spade, ma'am.
[00:21:53] Speaker E: Darling, thank you for the present.
[00:21:55] Speaker F: What present?
[00:21:56] Speaker E: I haven't had a chance to open it yet, but I think I can guess what it is. A traveling clock.
[00:22:00] Speaker F: You mean a package arrived and a text?
[00:22:02] Speaker E: Oh, darling, don't be such a tea.
[00:22:03] Speaker F: Now, Lois, listen.
[00:22:05] Speaker G: All right, I'll open it.
[00:22:06] Speaker F: Now. Throw it out the window. No, don't do that. Pedestrians. I'm some bystanders. Have you got a metal wastebasket there?
[00:22:11] Speaker E: I think so, yes.
[00:22:12] Speaker F: Well, fill it up with water and throw the package into it.
[00:22:15] Speaker E: Then ruin my lovely clock.
[00:22:16] Speaker F: It is not a lovely clock. It's a lovely booby trap. Oh, go on. I'm serious. Manning just got one of them and what's left of him is on the way to the morgue.
[00:22:23] Speaker E: Oh, I think I'm going to faint.
[00:22:26] Speaker D: Lois.
[00:22:27] Speaker F: Lois, wake up. Pour some water on yourself.
[00:22:30] Speaker E: Hello. Hello.
[00:22:40] Speaker F: Let me through here. Come on, let me through. Lois. Lois.
Oh, you're okay. Play like that. All right. She's all right. Now, you people, come on, get out of here. She's all right.
Come on, get up. You're not hurt.
Exploded in the water. At least you had sense enough to do what I told you to.
[00:23:00] Speaker E: Oh, this is a new dress. Now look at it.
[00:23:03] Speaker F: It looks fine. Here, put this coat around you.
[00:23:05] Speaker E: I don't think that was a very funny joke, Sam.
[00:23:07] Speaker F: Neither do I. Now, uh, try and forget your clothes for a minute and try and answer a few questions for me. There isn't much time, Sam.
[00:23:13] Speaker E: What is it?
[00:23:14] Speaker F: I want you to be very sure of this, Lois. Try and remember accurately how many people has grafts and scenes since he opened this office.
[00:23:19] Speaker E: Well, not very many which are be ever in.
That's strange. Now that I think of it, I can only remember two. Mister Manning and that mad scientist man. Mister Fox?
[00:23:28] Speaker F: Yeah. Did you hear any of the conversation between Grayson and Fox?
[00:23:31] Speaker E: He just screamed at Mister Grayson about how his invention had been stolen from him. Then it sounded as if they scuffled and all of a sudden Mister Fox calmed down. When they came out, his eyes looked funny, as if he'd been hypnotized.
[00:23:42] Speaker F: Yeah. What does Grierson look like?
[00:23:44] Speaker E: Oh, he must have been quite handsome at one time. He's sort of like Gregory Peck with a mustache, only fatter and balder and older.
[00:23:51] Speaker F: Mm hmm. I wouldn't have put it exactly like that, but I can see what you mean.
[00:23:54] Speaker E: But you've never seen him.
[00:23:55] Speaker F: Don't make book on it. But I think I have.
I made three phone calls. One to a crime reporter I don't like very well, giving him a false story on the death of Lois Grierson's secretary, another to my client, the mad scientist alias Raymond Fox, and one to Doctor Birdwell. Then I went to my apartment and waited. My client arrived five minutes before the doctor. When Birdwell came in. My client. Aha.
[00:24:24] Speaker G: That's he. He stole my secret formula.
[00:24:26] Speaker H: Oh, now, Raymond, you're getting confused again. Oh, I'm the doctor. Don't you remember?
[00:24:31] Speaker G: That's not true. Your name is Grierson.
[00:24:33] Speaker H: Oh, he's much worse. These identifications. You must try to remember, Raymond. Nobody's going to hurt you. But you'll be much sicker if you don't remember.
[00:24:41] Speaker G: But I do remember. I remember everything.
[00:24:43] Speaker H: Do you remember setting the bombs at Manning's house? And the one you sent to Mister Grierson's office?
[00:24:47] Speaker G: No, no, no. Grierson is nothing. Your Grierson.
[00:24:50] Speaker H: No, Grierson isn't dead. Only that poor girl.
[00:24:53] Speaker G: No, no, no. She didn't steal my formula. It was you. You're trying to mix me up.
[00:24:58] Speaker H: I'm trying to help you. Now roll up your sleeve. I'll give you something to quiet your nerves and we'll go back to the hospital.
[00:25:03] Speaker F: Put it away, doctor. You've helped one up, huh?
[00:25:06] Speaker H: Now look here. This man is my patient. He needs medical attention.
[00:25:09] Speaker F: I won't argue with you, but I think he'd better get it from some other doctor. Right now he's making more sense than you are.
[00:25:15] Speaker H: I just keep on the way you're going, Spade, and I'll have you back in that wet sheet. I did it once and I can do it again.
[00:25:20] Speaker F: Sit down.
You got delusions of grandeur. Stop shaking, Raymond, I said you're making more sense than he is and I can prove it.
[00:25:28] Speaker H: You think you're very astute, don't you?
[00:25:30] Speaker F: No, I'm stupid, but I'm lucky. I should have tumbled to the whole caper when I found that you'd invested 50,000 smackers in Grierson Enterprises. When I found out that Raymond was an escaped patient, I should have tumbled to what that Denedrine vial was doing in Grierson's desk. I should have known then that you and Grierson were one and the same person.
When I discovered that you'd paid manning all that shakedown money. I should have known you were planning to knock him off and everybody else who could identify you. But it didn't work out that way. I got out of the car before it blew up. Dumb luck.
[00:26:00] Speaker H: And you can identify me as Grierson.
[00:26:02] Speaker F: I don't have to.
[00:26:05] Speaker H: Surely you're not counting on Raymond's sanity to that extent. He can't even remember that I was his doctor, can you?
[00:26:11] Speaker G: Raymond, you're trying to mix me up. You stole my formula. I didn't kill them, did I, mister Spade?
[00:26:17] Speaker F: Lie down on the couch and relax. Raymond, don't worry about a thing.
[00:26:21] Speaker H: Well, doctor, what now?
[00:26:23] Speaker F: You relax, too.
Okay, Lois, come on in.
[00:26:28] Speaker H: What, Louis?
[00:26:29] Speaker E: Why, Mister Grayson, have you been sick?
[00:26:31] Speaker H: How dare you? How dare you ruin all my pants like this, you stupid girl.
[00:26:34] Speaker F: Okay, that's enough. Come on, get back there. Get back.
Sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to let him get that close to you.
[00:26:41] Speaker E: What were you trying to do?
[00:26:42] Speaker F: It was an experiment. Just to see what would happen. It did.
[00:26:46] Speaker H: So that's the way your scientific dictators work?
For a hard boiled chap, you have the vaguest way of doing things I ever heard of.
[00:26:55] Speaker F: Well, plans are all right sometimes, doctor. And sometimes just stirring things up is all right if you tough enough to survive. And keep your eyes open so you see what you want when it comes to the top. Or something, a spade. Dundee. I'm at home. I've got two homicidal characters here, one sane and one insane. Now, if you can tell the difference, I'll let you give the story to the papers.
And that, Lieutenant D, is the crop you picked the wrong one.
[00:27:31] Speaker D: Figures.
[00:27:32] Speaker F: It's as simple as this. Raymond Fox was the loanee. But Birdwell, alias Grierson, conceived and executed the whole scheme, including the explosions. Don't worry about Fox. He's now back at the hospital working on a new secret formula. I don't know what it is, but it might be an anti truth serum serum. Because that's how Birdwell got the pentatron formula. By using truth serum on the mad scientist to make him talk. Anyway, you figured he's crazy like a fox. His enemies are all dead or on their way. And he's as snug as a rug in a bughouse. Period. End of lonely tune.
[00:28:04] Speaker E: Well, of all.
Well, just imagine. Well, it takes all sorts to make a world, I guess.
[00:28:10] Speaker F: Well, I guess you never spoke a truer word, effie. But don't forget us stitching time saves nine.
[00:28:14] Speaker E: Don't feel too badly about it, Sam. Better late than never.
[00:28:17] Speaker F: You took the words right out of the horse's mouth. But it's later than you think, angel. Type that up, angel. And while you're at it, see if you can think up a way to teach an old dog new tricks.
[00:28:30] Speaker D: Say, mister, if you haven't tried wild root cream oil hair tonic, why not get it tonight or first thing tomorrow? You'll be glad you did. For wild root cream oil grooms your hair neatly and naturally without giving it that plastered down look. Wild root cream oil also relieves annoying dryness and removes loose, ugly dandruff. Simply step up to your drug or toilet goods counter and ask for Wildroot cream oil in the big economy bottle and the handy new tube that's easy to pack when you travel. Also ask your barber for a professional application of wild root cream oil hair tonic again and again. The choice of men who put good grooming first.
[00:29:10] Speaker E: Well, here it is, Sam. And I'm just thinking over what you said.
[00:29:13] Speaker H: Which?
[00:29:13] Speaker E: About teaching an old dog new trick. You're only as old as you feel, Sam.
[00:29:17] Speaker F: Then send in the application for my old age pension.
[00:29:19] Speaker E: Oh, Sam, I won't let you talk that way. Now you're just tired, nervous and run down.
[00:29:23] Speaker F: Yeah, backaches stay up nights. Sour racket.
[00:29:26] Speaker E: You're just feeling sorry for that Mister Fox. I wouldn't worry about him. As you pointed out, he's safer where he is for all concerns. And after all, necessity is the mother of invention.
[00:29:35] Speaker F: What's that got to do with anything?
[00:29:36] Speaker E: Well, he's an inventor, isn't he?
[00:29:38] Speaker F: Oh, that.
[00:29:38] Speaker E: You see, all's well that ends well. Good night, Sam.
[00:29:42] Speaker F: Good night, Pollyanna.
[00:29:43] Speaker E: Pollyanna. Oh, she's the glad girl. Oh, no, Sam. That Shakespeare got all you know best.
[00:29:47] Speaker F: All ashore that's going ashore. Good night, sweetheart.
[00:30:00] Speaker D: The adventures of Sam Spade, national habits famous private detective are produced and directed by William Spear. Sam Spade is played by Howard Duff. Laurene Tuttle is essence.
The adventures of Sam Spade are written for radio by Bob Tolman and Gil Dowd, with musical direction by Lud Gluskin. Gil Dowd directed tonight's broadcast in William Spears absence. Join us again next Sunday for another adventure with Sam Spade, brought to you by wild root cream oil. Again and again, the choice of men who put good grooming first. This is Dick Joy reminding you to get wild root cream oil, Charlie.
[00:30:36] Speaker F: It keeps your hair in trim. You see, it's non alcoholic, Charlie. It's made with southern lanolin, your vegan wild root cream oil, Charlie. Start using it today.
[00:30:50] Speaker D: You'll find that you will have a.
[00:30:52] Speaker F: Tough time, Charlie, keepin all the gals away.
[00:30:55] Speaker D: Hiya, baldy.
[00:30:56] Speaker F: Get wild root right away.
[00:31:03] Speaker D: This is CB's, the Columbia broadcasting System.
[00:31:06] Speaker A: That was the mad scientist keeper from the adventures of Sam Spade here on the mysterious old radio listening society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric.
[00:31:15] Speaker B: I'm Tim.
[00:31:16] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: So I chose that. That's my selection for this week's podcast. I'm going to tell you exactly how this came about. I was on a mission. Over the next few weeks, I have two selections that fell to me during this particular recording where we're recording, I believe, 150 episodes tonight. And I said, okay, I got to pick two episodes to bring to the recording. And I said, I want to bring two things we've never heard before. So that's where I started.
Found a list, of course, of all. And we went down all the radio shows.
First one I came to, they went, I don't think we listened. Was adventures of Sam Spade. And then next one I came to, I said, okay, there's the two.
Then I went into the adventure Sam Spade, and I picked one based on the title, and I went into the other one as picked one. Then I sent them to you both without listening to them because I found that exciting.
[00:32:22] Speaker C: I found it exciting how little work.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: You had to do. Yeah.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: So you just rolled the dice?
[00:32:28] Speaker A: I rolled the dice.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: Single most racist episodes ever produced in the history of old radio.
[00:32:33] Speaker C: It just could have been.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: We're not saying, oh, I was like, wow, did I miss something?
[00:32:36] Speaker C: It's a little dicey to choose an old time radio show and not listen to it.
[00:32:42] Speaker A: It is. However, we always have the failsafe of one of you two writing me and saying, hey, hey, hey. No, no, no, no.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: It's written in stone.
[00:32:52] Speaker C: Once you send it your pick, I just start taking notes, going, what are you thinking?
[00:32:58] Speaker A: Well, and then the other thing is then that as soon as I sent him, I listened to him. That was a week and a half ago. I had time to go alert, abort. Right? So there was always that fail safe as well. But I've always wanted to just go, let's just do these. Let's see what happens. Awesome. Interesting thing really occurred for both of these episodes, but we're on the Sam Spade one right now. So let me just start with. Have you two ever listened to an adventures of Sam Spade before this? Yes or no?
[00:33:29] Speaker B: I had not thought so, but there was a little off debate of, did we listen to something like this before in some other context?
[00:33:36] Speaker C: I am convinced that we've listened to an episode of Sam Spade in this podcast, but we can't find it on our website, so I could be wrong. We've definitely listened to Sam Spade, I think, for some Patreon Zoom happy hour, I believe, and Sam Spade has appeared.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: In other radio shows.
[00:33:54] Speaker C: Well, Howard Duff is playing a very Sam Spade esque character in the house in Cypress Canyon, which was our first episode. So we mentioned the show and Howard Duff then. So that might be me blurring all those things together. But even if I'm wrong about all that, I have heard it before.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: You have listened on your own?
[00:34:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:34:14] Speaker A: Have you ever listened to it on your own?
[00:34:16] Speaker B: Not to my knowledge.
[00:34:17] Speaker A: Okay, so that was the first thing. I had never listened to one before, ever. That I remember. So that being said, now I know what my reaction was after I listened to it, after I sent it to you, but I am curious to hear what happened with you guys during your journey. Listening.
[00:34:36] Speaker C: Okay, so before I talk about the episode, I do just have to loosen the cap on my nerd valve.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:34:46] Speaker C: Let some built up pressure out and just get this out of the way, and then we'll move forward.
This is not Sam Spade, not anything resembling the character of Sam Spade. That being said, I love Howard Duff. I love Lorraine Tuttle. It's a very clever, witty, fun script, and my biggest takeaway was I can't believe Eric picked this episode because it's just Richard diamond without the song at the end. And I know you're not a fan.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: Of Richard diamond only because of the song at the end.
[00:35:20] Speaker C: Okay. There you go.
I love it. As I get past the fact that it's not Sam Spade, that it's just a lighthearted take on the hard boiled detective that Sam Spade popularized.
[00:35:33] Speaker B: I'm so glad to hear you say that, because I was doing research on this, that, I mean, surely everyone who writes about this must comment on the wildly different tone. You know, the most I think I saw was, like, it's a little more tongue in cheek. Like, it's very different than other Sam spade products I have consumed.
[00:35:52] Speaker C: Yeah, it's nothing like it.
[00:35:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: But agreed. Like, this is super fun.
[00:35:57] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: I didn't know what to expect. And, of course, my entire connection or knowledge of Sam Spade is maltese falcon. That's everything I know.
So as I'm listening to it, was it the maltese falcon? Nope, it wasn't. So I. When it was done, I went, I think I just got really lucky. I really enjoyed that a lot.
[00:36:19] Speaker C: You got lucky because it's a very fun episode, I think.
[00:36:24] Speaker A: Yeah. And I do think it has its moments of action, suspense. The stakes are raised a little bit. It's not just pure comedy. It does have its moments where I found it. Oh, that's very exciting.
[00:36:37] Speaker C: I mentioned before that I struggle with mysteries in this 30 minutes format because you don't have enough time to establish enough suspects to really hide who did it.
[00:36:49] Speaker A: Right.
[00:36:49] Speaker C: And I think this one does a really good job. We end up with five suspects, and part of its trick is that there's four suspects. There's really four suspects. But you're still wondering, where is Pearson? But even without that trick, I think it still is very economical and establishes very distinct, very different characters with different motivations. And that might be the benefit of being able to fall back on some comedy tropes, because it allows you to sketch bigger, broader characters more quickly than if it were very hard boiled and serious throughout.
[00:37:27] Speaker A: Right.
[00:37:27] Speaker B: It also has the nice advantage of, this guy stole my idea. Well, that guy was a actual mental institution inmate who killed somebody and, like, oh, that's true. Mm hmm. None of it disproves the other.
[00:37:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:37:41] Speaker A: Right. It's a solid mystery.
[00:37:43] Speaker H: Yeah.
[00:37:44] Speaker C: I'm just really mad that you picked it at random.
This really should have backfired in your face.
[00:37:51] Speaker A: You really wanted me to come out saying, so. I was listening to this, and I brought this to the table because of its elegance and nuance. And he wanted me to say, oh, I did some dive, and you guys know that. You hear me? I listened to 45 episodes and I settled on this. Or I came up with this.
I will also say I've always wanted to do that. The roll of the dice. But also, it's 4 July weekend.
Good time to pull that.
[00:38:22] Speaker B: Well, I hope an important lesson about this. Yeah, this works.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: This works.
[00:38:31] Speaker B: Some of the content was more fun than funny. Yeah, but it was a lot of fun.
[00:38:35] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. I think the best line in the whole thing is she said, you know, something about my place being dirty. And he gave her a broom and she hit him with it.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: I mean, he's a woman's touch.
[00:38:47] Speaker A: Needs a woman's touch. Yeah, right.
[00:38:49] Speaker C: If you just speed up Howard Duff's delivery and let him, you know, wiggle his eyebrows a little. He's hard boiled. Groucho Marx.
The tone and style of the jokes really have that quality.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: Brought her back to my apartment. How she got my apartment, I'll never know.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: Exchange at the end of. Between him and the secretary of these.
[00:39:10] Speaker C: Just aphorisms.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Yes, these aphorisms.
[00:39:12] Speaker D: Like, well, this.
[00:39:13] Speaker B: Yes. There's no joke. You just say things, but it's funny.
[00:39:18] Speaker D: Well.
[00:39:18] Speaker C: Cause Howard Duff is so good, it's just hard not to like him.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: Right.
[00:39:24] Speaker C: I think Laureen Tuttle has to be one of the most underrated radio actors I can think of. She's so good. I don't know if you guys remember Lauren Tuttle, the person who played Effie is also who played Ruth in the death robbery lights out episode. The woman who's dragged soulless back from death.
[00:39:43] Speaker A: That's right. That's right.
[00:39:44] Speaker C: At any point, I wanted her to just go, Ruth loves samspace.
[00:39:52] Speaker A: But you.
[00:39:53] Speaker C: Would never know listening to her. I mean, she's so embodies, that innocent ditz.
[00:39:59] Speaker A: She had a moment, and, you know, I knew it was Tuttle, but both her and the secretary from the lawyer.
[00:40:06] Speaker B: Secretary.
[00:40:07] Speaker A: Yeah, the switchboard operator. Who are they looking for? Grierson, his secretary. They both had a moment where I went, God, it's a little bit of Mercedes McCain. I know I say that a lot, and I know it's stylized of the time, but you hear that style, that lilt of her.
[00:40:25] Speaker B: They both had just comedy chops, as they say, like they can.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: Mm hmm.
[00:40:29] Speaker C: There was a lot of weird sexism, like not your run of the mill white noise background sexism of old time radio, but just like, strange statements of fact. Like, she looked as though she were telling the truth, but with women, especially blue eyed women. Yeah, you can't tell. And, like, is that some stereotype I don't know about?
[00:40:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I've never heard that.
[00:40:54] Speaker C: Or is that just a writer? Like, I just want. I just hate women. I want to make it sound like a joke.
[00:41:00] Speaker A: It came across to me as that not so much a thing. Yeah.
[00:41:03] Speaker C: Cause all the female characters are either shallow, stupid, or a combination thereof.
[00:41:10] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:41:11] Speaker C: But honestly, the men are nothing to write home about either.
[00:41:14] Speaker A: In here.
[00:41:15] Speaker C: In all fairness, it's equal opportunity.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: Right.
[00:41:18] Speaker C: I was a little disappointed that Sam Spade didn't spend more time in the mental ward, and it might just be because I've recently consumed a bunch of sane man gets trapped in an asylum films recently. And I was like, oh, this will be fun.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: So I picked this. I'm going to do Sam spade. Which one? This one says mad scientist. We're doing this one. Right. So if you're going to go by title. Right, sure. So I was a little hoping for a little more DC universe, maybe even more shadow.
When he gets to the asylum and gets put in the asylum, I went, oh, here we go. Actual mad scientist, like, right out of Looney Tunes, you know, like, we're gonna hear the zapping of the electrodes, and the.
[00:42:01] Speaker C: He's gonna get shocked there, right?
[00:42:02] Speaker A: You know, like, here we go.
[00:42:04] Speaker C: Like, shock corridor.
[00:42:05] Speaker A: Yep, yep. And I was like, this is what? This. And he's gonna escape. And they go, oh, no. He's been.
[00:42:11] Speaker C: You know, he escapes immediately.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Escapes immediately.
[00:42:13] Speaker B: But it's really on the border of, like, ah, this funny mix up. Like, I. Oh, the horrors of actually being in a men constitution.
[00:42:20] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. The wet blanket treatment, which they actually did. They thought it would somehow calm you down when you were having a hysterical attack. I can't.
[00:42:30] Speaker A: The thought of being wrapped paralysis, for you, the thought of being wrapped in a wet blanket is horrifying. Like, ugh.
[00:42:38] Speaker B: It wasn't until I heard this.
[00:42:41] Speaker C: This is an old time, radio adjacent film recommendation on this topic that I'm gonna make to you guys and to our listeners. Watch a film called Brainstorm that is directed by our old time radio hero William Conrad.
[00:42:57] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:42:58] Speaker C: And stars Jeff Hunter, who was the original captain pike in the six series pilot.
[00:43:05] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:43:06] Speaker C: And it is a really strange, stylishly directed film noir about a man pretending to go insane and then maybe perhaps actually going insane.
[00:43:19] Speaker A: Do you realize in your description, you said all of my top 20 favorite words?
Yeah, I know who I'm talking. Right. I'm so watching that.
[00:43:29] Speaker C: Watch it carefully because Conrad gives himself a Hitchcock cameo.
[00:43:33] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:43:34] Speaker C: Anyway, back to Sam Spade.
[00:43:36] Speaker A: Yeah. So I was disappointed that it didn't turn into an actual mad scientist thing and that it was very, you know, they went to the break. Oh, he's been, you know, and then he comes back in and he says, three months later. Yeah. Gets out the next day, hits him with the wet blanket. Right. Gets sent back into that guy's office dressed as orderly. He goes, remember me from yesterday? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm a detective this time around. Yeah, okay, I believe you.
[00:44:04] Speaker B: It tries really quick on subsequent listens of it sounds as though the doctor is sort of confused when Sam Spade comes up to him and starts sort of asking questions, but it tracks him like, I heard you perfectly well. You were asking for.
[00:44:20] Speaker D: Oh, right, right.
[00:44:22] Speaker B: So when he comes back and said, I did it to you once, I can do it to you again.
[00:44:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. So he wasn't like, yeah, okay, that makes sense.
Okay, so it just got better.
[00:44:31] Speaker C: And then I assume the inclusion of explosions.
[00:44:34] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:44:35] Speaker C: Made up for the lack of cartoonish mad scientists.
[00:44:39] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I mean, he runs up the stairs and the limo blows up. Oh, yeah, it's fantastic.
[00:44:45] Speaker C: I love the line. I phoned a guy I know who sometimes knows about things. Yes.
And then I called a guy who knows about other things.
[00:44:57] Speaker B: Should have called him first.
In the category of the odd sexism, the secretary who, in a dead faint, apparently manages to fill a trash can full of water and pick the bomb in there. And then Sam Spade shows up to say, glad you did what I said, heroically saved yourself and countless other people. Good job, me.
[00:45:20] Speaker A: He actually wastes about 6 seconds of precious time by explaining, oh, wait, no, don't do that. Innocent bystanders, pedestrians, you don't have to say any of those words.
He's explaining way too much. 6 seconds you'll never get back.
[00:45:37] Speaker C: But Lois, the secretary has a great line when she's describing Grierson.
He's sort of like Gregory Peck with a mustache, only fatter and balder and older and not at all like Gregory pack.
[00:45:51] Speaker A: Right.
So I. I will say this, production wise, pace, script timing, all these nuances to creating these shows. William Spears thumbprint is all over this, even though he didn't actually direct this one. Turns out at the end we hear someone else stepped in. But that suspense formula for making something production value wise, from the actors to the pace, I thought it was really well done. Running up the stairs, hearing the explosion in the background, how we get from scene to scene, how this evolves. I thought it was just really, really.
[00:46:34] Speaker C: It's very fast, really tight, and it tracks easily. It's not something where you have to go way and back up.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: In other words, the people that are involved with this are all pros, you know, I mean, I know the resume speaks for themselves, but you can tell you get what you pay for. That was really well done because. Yeah, it's these people.
[00:46:56] Speaker B: Yeah. In the researching this a little bit, it was interesting of where this falls in William Spears kind of timeline that he started kind of just before he left. Suspense. And there are other things that I don't know really what they were for him personally, but it seemed like this was a kind of a constant for a while of a fun thing he was doing and doing really well.
[00:47:16] Speaker C: It was fun. I knew every time Doctor Bird exclaimed, Fox.
It really didn't sound like fox.
[00:47:27] Speaker A: Right.
[00:47:28] Speaker C: I was like, wow, they just dropped the fox bomb.
[00:47:36] Speaker A: Any other thoughts, gentlemen?
[00:47:38] Speaker C: Oh, there was one interesting pop culture deep cut in here. When Sam Spade talks about, again inviting Lois up to his apartment and that he was going to play her Jeffreys records.
I did this deep dive. I had heard the name and I was like, that seems vaguely familiar, but why is it specifically like a make out album? Is that what he's implying? It just seems strange. But it turns out that he was a baritone who sang with Duke Ellington and was the star of a series of films billed as the first all black singing westerns, beginning with Harlem on the Prairie and continuing with two gun man from Harlem and the Bronze Buckaroo.
He was actually a mixed race irish, italian and ethiopian, but because of racism, he still couldn't get any other work other than these sort of segregated westerns.
[00:48:36] Speaker B: Two weeks, then I hire him.
[00:48:37] Speaker C: Then, yeah, he had this, I guess, really successful record career because of his deep voice. Deep voice, which must have been the connection to, like, I'm gonna play you these romantic, kind of proto barry white albums.
[00:48:51] Speaker A: Right, right.
You learned something.
Well. Want to vote?
[00:48:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:48:58] Speaker A: That was great. I put a lot of effort and time into bringing this beautiful piece to our podcast. I can't say anything bad about. Is it a classic? I don't know. I think it stands the test of time. And it is a classic, funny noir classic in the sense of little run of the mill, you know, like, yeah, that's classic. That kind of style. It stands a test. Time, I thought was really good and really enjoyable. That's where I'll go with this.
[00:49:30] Speaker B: I think a little bit of historical context helps it. Otherwise, some of the hard boiled tropes and the dinghy ladies and all that and torture scene in the middle sort of seems a weird conglomeration of things to a modern audience. But even just even if you know nothing of the context, sitting and hearing it, it's fun character doing fun stuff.
[00:49:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we've talked about this before, but it is hard to discern a classic in these kind of radio shows, which are designed to deliver the same thing on a weekly basis.
[00:50:09] Speaker A: Right?
[00:50:09] Speaker C: Whereas anthology's shows have this through line, whether it be suspense or escape or x minus one. But there's a lot of variation, and that's the intention from episode to episode. Sam Spade we want to deliver a funny, well paced, compelling mystery every week, and that's what we do.
That being said, I have heard a handful of Sam spades, and this is definitely damn you, Eric. One of the better ones I ever heard because of its ability to balance the humor and the mystery. I thought it was really well done in this particular episode.
Like I said, lauren Tuttle, howard Duff.
[00:50:54] Speaker B: So, like, this is the best example of Siam Spade you'd recommend to people?
[00:50:57] Speaker C: Don't push me to.
I've set aside all my nerd rage for 15 minutes. I will.
[00:51:03] Speaker A: I will put it back on Tim, tell him stuff.
[00:51:07] Speaker B: Please go visit ghoulishdelights.com for other episodes of this podcast. Although, of course, you can find other episodes wherever you get your podcast episodes, just all over the place, just lying
[email protected]. comma. You can leave comments, you can vote in polls, let us know what you think of them. And you can also link to our store and get some mysterious old radio listening society. Swag. I love swag. And you can join our Patreon.
[00:51:31] Speaker C: Yes, go to patreon.com themorals and give us some money. We really need it. Earlier we were talking about all our financial woes before we started recording. So if we seem hysterically chipper, it's because this is a distraction.
[00:51:47] Speaker B: We're wrapped in wet blanket right now.
[00:51:51] Speaker C: But also, our Patreon community is fabulous, and they're really helpful because I guarantee it's going to be someone from Patreon who is going to figure out whether we did or did not listen to an episode of the Adventures of Sam Spade. Previously on this podcast. We're like George RR Martin who needs his fans to keep track of his own mythology. What did we listen to this eye color change eight year Beaver dream?
Is this just Covid?
And I've hallucinated this.
[00:52:23] Speaker A: If you'd like to see the mysterious old radio listening society theater company performing live. We do recreations of classic old time radio shows and a lot of our own original work live on stage doing audio drama. Theater. Come and see us by going to ghoulishdelights.com and find out where we're performing and what we're performing every month, sometimes more than once a month, and get your tickets there as well. And if you can't come see us performing. If you're a Patreon, part of that package is you get to watch. Or sometimes it's just the audio recording.
[00:53:02] Speaker C: Or we stop saying just. This is an old time radio podcast.
[00:53:07] Speaker A: Sometimes it's the awesome radio benefit of not seeing us. Yes. So video and or audio is provided to Patreons. And so, yeah, come see us do radio shows. What is coming up next?
[00:53:22] Speaker B: One is my choice, and I am bringing from the series the 11th hour an episode entitled the tomb.
[00:53:31] Speaker F: Until then, I asked her to come up and listen to my Herb Jeffries record.
She set my apartment me to the woman's touch. I handed her a broom. She hit me on the head with it and left.
