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The Adventures of Sam
Spade |
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Noted radio director, William
Spier (from the Suspense Radio
Show) had toyed with the idea of
bringing Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade to radio in a regular series for some time. Spade had come to life
via the pen of Hammett in 1930 with The Maltese Falcon. In the hands of director John Huston, the novel became a screen classic in 1941 with
none other than Humphrey Bogart
as Spade. Bogie, along with the film
co-stars Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet & Peter Lorre then
appeared in a radio dramatization of The Maltese Falcon as part of Screen Guild Players Radio Program in September 1943. However this was not the first radio adaptation of the film - that
honour belongs to The Lux
Radio Theater which brought The
Maltese Falcon to radio in February
1943 with Edward G. Robinson as
Sam Spade & Laird Cregar as Kasper
Gutman. Spier wanted Bogie for his
regular Sam Spade series but the
price was too high so he settled for Howard Duff. Duff proved to be an
inspired choice and in the process was able to overcome two intimidating
handicaps: the image of Bogart and the power of the novel. Compared with
Bogart's dour and straight-laced Spade, Duff was a hard-knuckled master of
street-level whimsy and sarcastic comeback. In the deft hands of director
Spier and with the unrivalled writing talent of Bob Tallman and Gil Doud, The Adventures of Sam Spade of the air was its own identity, owing little to the forces that had
created it. A listener didn't have to
be told: those clinking glasses as Sam opened his desk drawer and began
dictating, meant another exciting adventure. Sam dictated to his secretary, Effie
Perrine (played by Lurene Tuttle) who was always flustered (possibly from Duff's
ad-libbing?) and secretly in love with him. Each case unfolded as a report -
a caper - dated with the actual air date, signed and delivered to the client,
the client's widow or the police. Spade's license number 137596 was always included in the report which unfolded
chronologically, with the scene shifting between Sam and Effie and the
in-field dramatization of Sam's dictation. With Duff making the
writing part of his own unique character, the show had a style and class of
its own. And its wit and charm still holds up well today. Want
to check out Jeffery Richards's 30 minute BBC Radio documentary on Sam
Spade? It
can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click on any
link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that
effect). The file is about 18Mb - download time will depend on your
(broadband) speed These two MP3 CDs
contain: A. Sam
Spade Documentaries -
a 10 minute Adventures of Sam Spade introduction (includes bios of Howard
Duff & Lurene Tuttle), a 30 minute 1973 interview with Howard Duff, a 6 minute (edited) interview with William
Spier and a 30 minute BBC The
Radio Detectives documentary on Sam
Spade. B. Howard Duff
Episodes A
total of 42 thirty minute episodes of The Adventures of Sam Spade starring Howard Duff - this is the entire set of the Howard Duff run
which survives in today (well, almost - see item C. below): 1.
SS_1946-08-02 Sam and
the Psyche.mp3 2.
SS_1947-06-08 The
Calcutta Trunk Caper.mp3 3.
SS_1947-06-15 The
Convertible Caper.mp3 4.
SS_1947-10-05 The Adam
Figg Caper.mp3 5.
SS_1947-11-09 The Bow
Window Caper.mp3 6.
SS_1948-06-20 The
Death Bed Caper.mp3 7.
SS_1948-06-27 The Bail
Bond Caper.mp3 8.
SS_1948-07-04 The
Rushlight Diamond Caper.mp3 9.
SS_1948-07-11 The
Wheel of Life Caper.mp3 10.
SS_1948-07-18 The
Missing Newshawk Caper.mp3 11.
SS_1948-07-25 The Mad
Scientist Caper.mp3 12.
SS_1948-08-01 The Dry
Martini Caper.mp3 13.
SS_1948-08-08 The
Bluebeard Caper.mp3 14.
SS_1948-08-15 The
Critical Author Caper.mp3 15.
SS_1948-08-22 The
Vaphio Cup Caper.mp3 16.
SS_1948-08-29 The
Lawless Caper.mp3 17.
SS_1948-09-12 The
Lazarus Caper.mp3 18.
SS_1948-09-19 The Hot
100 Grand Caper.mp3 19.
SS_1948-09-26 The Dick
Foley Caper.mp3 20.
SS_1948-10-03 The
Sugar Kane Caper.mp3 21.
SS_1948-10-24 The
Insomnia Caper.mp3 22.
SS_1948-10-31 The
Fairley-Bright Caper.mp3 23.
SS_1948-11-07 The SQP
Caper.mp3 24.
SS_1948-11-28 The
Quarter-Eagle Caper.mp3 25.
SS_1948-12-12 The
Bouncing Betty Caper.mp3 26.
SS_1949-01-16 The
Betrayal in Bumpus Hell Caper.mp3 27.
SS_1949-03-27 The Love
Letter Caper.mp3 28.
SS_1949-04-10 The
Stopped Watch Caper.mp3 29.
SS_1949-04-17 Edith
Hamilton.mp3 30.
SS_1949-05-01 The
Battles of Belvedere.mp3 31.
SS_1949-06-05 The
Overjord Caper.mp3 32.
SS_1949-06-19 The
Apple of Eve Caper.mp3 33.
SS_1949-07-10 The
Queen Bee Caper.mp3 34.
SS_1949-07-24 The
Tears of Night Caper.mp3 35.
SS_1949-08-07 The
Champion Caper.mp3 36.
SS_1949-08-28 The
Prodigal Daughter Caper.mp3 37.
SS_1949-09-25 The
Indian Caper.mp3 38.
SS_1949-11-06 The
Cheesecake Caper.mp3 39.
SS_1949-12-04 The
Flopsey Mopsey and Cottontail Caper.mp3 40.
SS_1950-05-21 The Red
Anapola Caper.mp3 41.
SS_1950-05-28 The
Honest Thief Caper.mp3 42.
SS_1950-09-03 The
Farmer's Daughter Caper.mp3 C.
Extra Howard Duff Episodes Two
further thirty minute episodes of The Adventures of Sam Spade starring Howard Duff - these are two recently discovered episodes which
started out in pretty
poor sound quality - I've extensively used computer software to render them
(successfully, I feel) quite listenable, but not of the quality of the
episodes above (as such they are included separately, here): 1.
SS_1948-01-04 The One
Hour Caper.mp3 2.
SS_1948-01-25 The Gold
Key Caper.mp3 D. Sam
Spade with Burns and Allen A
riotous 30 minute 1949 episode from The Burns and Allen Show with Howard Duff playing Sam Spade falling foul of
Gracie but being helped by George - a real treat! E. Suspense Episodes With
William Spier also helming the Suspense
Radio Show, it was a natural for
cross-over episodes to occur. In this case there were two: the first was a
recognized classic Suspense
episode - the 1946 thirty minute episode The House on Cyprus Canyon starring Robert Taylor as the main character but with Howard Duff as Sam Spade "topping and tailing" this creepy story. The
second is the much lauded sequel
to The Maltese Falcon. ItŐs a 57
minute story titled The Kandi Tooth Caper with Howard Duff again appearing as Sam Spade. F. Steve
Dunne Episodes - the 23 surviving
episodes starring Steve Dunne as
Sam Spade (Howard
Duff's replacement): 1.
SS_1950-11-17 Caper
over My Dead Body.mp3 2.
SS_1950-11-24 The
Terrified Turkey Caper.mp3 3.
SS_1950-12-01 The Dog
Bed Caper.mp3 4.
SS_1950-12-08 The Dry
Gulch Caper.mp3 5.
SS_1950-12-15 The
25-12345679 Caper.mp3 6.
SS_1950-12-29 The
Prodigal Panda Caper.mp3 7.
SS_1951-01-05 The
Biddle Riddle Caper.mp3 8.
SS_1951-01-12 The Red
Star Caper.mp3 9.
SS_1951-01-19 The
Cloak and Dagger Caper.mp3 10.
SS_1951-01-26 The
Chateau McCloud Caper.mp3 11.
SS_1951-02-02 The
String of Death Caper.mp3 12.
SS_1951-02-09 The Sure
Thing Caper.mp3 13.
SS_1951-02-16 The Soap
Opera Caper.mp3 14.
SS_1951-02-23 The Shot
in the Dark Caper.mp3 15.
SS_1951-03-02 The Crab
Louis Caper.mp3 16.
SS_1951-03-09 The
Spanish Prisoner Caper.mp3 17.
SS_1951-03-16 The
Sinister Siren Caper.mp3 18.
SS_1951-03-23 The
Kimberley Cross Caper.mp3 19.
SS_1951-03-30 The
Vendetta Caper.mp3 20.
SS_1951-04-06 The
Denny Shane Caper.mp3 21.
SS_1951-04-13 The
Civic Pride Caper.mp3 22.
SS_1951-04-20 The
Rowdy Dowser Caper.mp3 23.
SS_1951-04-27 The Hail
and Farewell Caper.mp3 G. The
Maltese Falcon - the February 1943 Lux
Radio Theatre dramatization starring
Edward G. Robertson - 50 minutes
duration +
the September 1943 Screen Guild Players presentation starring Bogie, Mary
Astor, Sydney Greenstreet & Peter Lorre - 30 minutes duration H. BBC
The Maltese Falcon - the 2 hour BBC
dramatization from 1996. |