Episode Transcript
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(00:28):
Welcome to the Great Detectives of OldTime Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
is your host, Adam Graham.If you have a comment, email it
to me Box thirteen at Great Detectivesdot net, Follow us on Twitter at
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(00:53):
Great Detectives. Today's program is broughtyou in part by the financial support of
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as little as two dollars per month. About just going to Patreon dot Great
Detectives dot net. Well, nowwe get to the final circulating Howard Duff
(01:17):
episode of Sam Spain. The originalairdate September thirtieth, nineteen fifty and the
title is The Farmer's Daughter Keeper.Wild Root Cream Oil Hair Tonache and the
New Wild Root Liquid Cream Shampoo presentsthe adventures of Sam Speedy Detective Agency A
(01:49):
Sweetheart. Oh Sam, I'm gladyou're back in town. All my face,
all my confidentially. I didn't thinkI'd make it confidentially, that is,
was it dangerous day? I shouldsay it was why for the past
twenty four hours, I've been addedhammer and tongs, over hill and tale,
through shot and shell. It wasenough to turn any ordinary man's blood
to ice and his hair pure.Wife. Oh that sounds terrifying. I
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wish it had been only terrifying,Effie. It was blood curdling, spine
shilling, hair raising. I wasbored. It was also rural and country.
Fine, well what happened? Sam? Tell me you've heard of the
monks in the kois No and theBoston massacre. No, Custa's last stand.
No, well, put them alltogether and they spell when I'll shortly
(02:30):
be in too, dictat a reportwhich I call in a first of clever
literary plagiarism. The Farmer's Daughter CaperThe Adventures of Sam Spade Detective starring Howard
Duff, Produced, edited and directedby William Spear. Presented by the makers
(02:51):
of Wild Root Cream Oil hair tonic, the non alcoholic hair tonic that contains
lenolin. To look your holiday bestfriends, be sure do you use Wild
Root Cream Oil, America's favorite hairtonic. Wild Root Cream Oil grooms your
hair neatly and naturally relieves annoying dryness, removes loose, ugly dandroof What's more,
it's non alcoholic and contains soothing lanolin. Get Wild Root Cream oil in
(03:15):
the big, family sized bottle orhandy tube. Ask for it at your
drug or toilet goods counter very firstchance you get. For the holiday,
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with howarduff as Spade, Wild Rootbrings to the air the greatest private detective
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of them all in the Adventures ofSam Spade, Effie, pull up all
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shade all right, now, turnon every light in the place. Do
what I say? All right.Soon I'll check the closets a snipers.
What do you think? All right? So nobody here, Okay, I
guess it's safe to come all theway in, Sam. I don't understand,
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Effie. It's just that I don'tever want to be caught on the
dark again, especially when people areshooting at me. I want to see
every nook and cranny of every squarefoot of land that surrounds me. Who
is shooting at you? Where theywere shooting from the left, from the
right, from up above, downbelow, everywhere. Death was winging on
every breeze that blew, and Iall blew my way. Oh Sam,
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I'll stop this. I'm just dyingof curiosity. When my time comes,
I hope that's all I ever dieof. Ready, Yeah, Uh,
date this week too, mister ElliottParson. Parson Drive yourself Garage sixteen eighteen,
Saint Charles Straight Sam was this gothirteen, California from Samuel Spade Lights
Our Monthly seven five nine six subjectthe Farmer's Daughter caper Dare Mister Parson,
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I fear you have an explanation coming, one that you can pass along your
insurance company as to why the carI rented from you last week appeared as
late as it did and in thecondition that did. As you know,
I rented said vehicle that drive toMiddletown to bail a client out of the
drunk tank on the way back,and Native showed me a short cut,
and I'll get him if it's thelast thing I do. Dusk was falling,
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and so are my eyelids. WhenI saw a sign that said tourists
invited. Behind it stead a ramshacklefarmhouse in a surly woodland setting. I
should never have knocked on that farmhousedoor that then I wouldn't have had any
story to tell, would I?Good evening, young man, Good evening,
madam. I'm afraid I need aroom for the night. Well of
course you do, lan Sakes,you're tired, I can tell by your
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eyes. Then on the road andlong, too long, lan Sakes,
or you have come in? Pleasethank you, ma'am. You'll find this
is the homiest tourist home in California. Really like your grandmothers. No electricity,
no phones, just quiet. Isee. Now I have two rooms,
a three dollar one and a fivedollar one. Which one do you
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think you like? Oh? What'sthe difference? One last blanket, one
squeaky spring And with a three dollarone you might have to take the walk.
I'll take the five dollar one.Thank you. I'm missus Elkins,
Missus burg Elkins. Who might yoube, Sam Spade? Spade, lad
Sakes, that's a very unusual name. And who are you traveling with?
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Mister Spade? I'm alone? Oh, I mean what company? We only
accept traveling salesman, you realize that. Oh yes, wow, I'm traveling
for the makers of Multon mustache wax. Oh oh, use it all the
time. You are well grown man. You will go far young man.
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Yeah, it before that, I'dlike to go to bed. Go on.
She led me upstairs to my fivedollar room and left me as lumpy
as it was. The bed invitedme, but I decided to shave first
and thus facilitate an early start inthe morning. I poured myself a drink
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out of my traveling bar kit andthen stepped into shave. It wasn't easy
because all I had for light inthere was an oil lamp. When I
came back to the bedroom of alamp in one hand, I stopped short
and uttered, surprised. I hadheard about these things and traveling salesman stories,
but I never expected to see it. She was sitting in an armchair,
smoking a cigarette, high heels,silk stockings, light ryan dress in
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the face right off the cover ofCosmopolitan. Hello, say hello Mary Smith.
Hope you don't mind me just bargingin? Well no, well,
no, that is a never endedmy mind. Well I might. I'm
so tired of talking to myself.I need someone like you. You know
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you're not bad to look at?Who me? Where do you live?
What do you do for a living? Well? I guess you'd call me
independently wealthy? And which someone would? How nice? San Francisco. There
must be some fog on my lapowe. Look Sam, I'll give it to
you straight. I want to getout of here and go to San Francisco.
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Could you take a passenger tomorrow?What would your mother say? She's
my aunt? What do I carewhat she says? I don't belong on
a farm out in a west Whatpasture ruins my n eyelands. I'm a
city girl Philadelphia. Why did youleave? My parents died? Look?
Sam, I won't be a burdento you. I just want to get
to San Francisco. After that,I'm on my own. Sam, take
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me with you. Please take mewith you. You won't regret it.
What am I going to do witha slam? Who cares? Oh?
Sam, I thought i'd find somethinglike this going on in here and I
get out of here. Go backto your room, young lady. Go
on now, mister Speed. Itdoes look bad, doesn't it. Oh?
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I'm not blaming you, mister Spade, nan sakes it's her. She
ain't responsible for what she does.She's like this all the time. I
see now when I go out tojust lock your door, just keep it
locked. But man, this isa five dollar room. A sleepless hour
later, I heard something slide undermy door. I looked and found it
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was a note that read, misterSpade, Sam, please unlock your door,
and when the house is quiet,I'll come and see you. I
am desperate, terribly, terribly desperate. Don't leave me. Give me a
chance to tell you what it's allabout. Please stipid May I unlock my
door, dressed again and waited.An hour and a half later I heard
my door knob turning in the dark. The door opened quietly quickly, Sam.
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The things that go on in thishouse, they're insane. Oh I've
been here three months. When myfather died, I had no money in
because Aunt Maud was my only relative, I came here, and ever since
I came they never let me outof the house for more than an hour.
They never let me see anyone ordo anything. Why I wish I
knew. Five days ago Uncle Bertleft early one morning. He hasn't come
back since. Aunt Maud says he'saway on business. He doesn't have any
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business. Oh well, even sothat doesn't seem strange to me. Then,
there's my dog. What about it? It disappeared the same night Bert
did. He told me it ranaway. I know it didn't. I've
had it for three years. Itnever ran away. What do you think
I was sure I could hear ithowling somewhere for two or three nights,
and the howling stopped. I thinkI know where it is, but I
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don't know why it scares me.Where do you think it is? Sam?
You're going to think I'm crazy,right out of my mind. But
well, about one hundred and fiftyyards behind the house there's a hillside with
an old cave in it. Idon't know what it's used for, but
yesterday I saw the whole front andif it closed closed with dirt. Sam
By buried that dog alive in thatcave. I know it. Oh wait
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a minute now, did you askmissus Elkin? Yes? Oh, she
said, was the dog ran away? In mind your own business? She
told me to leave the cave alone. Sam, let's go out there and
look. Please. Wow, sobig, brave, stupid Sam idiot boy
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allowed her to show me the backway out of the house and we snaked
to the barn together. She founda shovel and we walked to the cave.
My eyes got accustomed to the dark. I saw the entrance had been
covered with dirt and recently. Itook the shovel as she stood watching.
I cleared half of the dirt awayand worked as quietly as I could,
But apparently not quietly enough. Aflashlight suddenly hid both of us in the
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face, and a shotgun barrel flashedin the beam. Get away from there
before I shoot your head off.Point that thing someplace else place, ma'am.
Yes, what do you think you'redoing? Mister digging Mary? You
get back to the house. No, and mad I won't get back to
the house before I come three oroff with a load of buck shot right
through you. Now one, then, maud, my dog is in there
all right now, missus elk andsuppose you put that gun down and tell
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me what this is all about.I got one thing to say to you,
mister, getting your car and getout of here, and don't waste
any time doing it. But anew cases in the car and you're five
dollars is with it? Now?Get or I should choose a transpasser and
I could do it, mister lenShakes, I could do it now get
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so I got under guard to mycar. I got in and drove off
and miss the driveway, but theshotgun still pointed at me until I was
out of sight. I turned lefterthe first cross road, parked the car,
and cut through the woods back tothe farm. I could see a
light in the living room. Nobodywas in or near the barn. When
I got to the cave, therewasn't a sound anywhere. I picked up
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the shovel i'd dropped and started diggingagain. Thirty minutes later, the shovel
broke a small hole through that cave, and a stifling blast of fetid air
rush stop. And something leaped outat me in the dark. And it
wasn't the dog. It was ahuman hand on a human arm. The
(13:16):
makers of Wild Root Cream Oil arepresenting the weekly Sunday adventure of America's favorite
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(13:41):
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(14:03):
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with Sam Spade. Night already fullof surprises. I should have been ready
for the next one, but Iwasn't. The loose earth, which had
blocked the entrance to the cave,suddenly fell away and I fell with it.
Then I heard something like nothing onearth. Nails dragged across my face,
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taking skin and flesh with him.I twisted and went down, and
something went down with me. Thesnile became a voice alive, bade me
alive, and he Tenny's best,which was pretty good. Finally I got
a good hold on him and saton his chest. After that, I
lit a match and looked at atall, thin man in his middle forties.
He was caked with mud from headto foot. His hands were impossibly
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torn and bleeding. I could guesswhy, judging from the stubble on his
face. He'd been bottled up inthat cave at least five days. How
he was still alive, I didn'tknow. He acted like a madman,
and he had every right to.But surprised when his eyelids fluttered open again,
he read a very same line.I'm all journine. He got a
drink friend, not on me.He hit me on the head, had
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left me there. I thought,I just stay in there forever. Whoever
put you there, who did it? But they couldn't give me there.
I ducked my way out, didn'tnight, didn't night. I took my
way up the course of the bullets, knocked them halfway back down the and
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climbed the cave all I could do. It was after dirt. Finally,
when it seems safe, I brokecover and ran smack into somebody carrying two
bags. No, Pa, let'shave a look at you. Sam.
Sam, it's me Sam. Iknew you wouldn't go away without me.
I knew it. I couldn't stayin an awful house any long. Now?
Who was that shooting at you?Know? Where's your aunt? I
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suppose the way any visitors tonight?No? What is it? What is
it? I think I find youruncle Bert? Come on? I led
her back to the cave, Anersonshowed her the body of the man I'd
dragged out. I watched the facea long time as she looked at him,
very carefully. That's not Uncle Bert, saying really, no, it's
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mister Lindon, jewelry salesman. Cameto the place a few nights ago.
Five nights ago. Yes, yes, come to think the same nights your
uncle disappeared. Tell me did youask mister Lenna to take you back to
San Francisco the same way you askedme? Did you? Yes? He
said he would, got up earlyand left without me. He didn't get
fire. What kind of car washe driving? I don't know. I
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don't remember you drive a car.Yes, sir, mine's down the road
about five hundred yards. Go tothe nearest phone and call the highway patrol,
a sheriff, anybody who represents law. Got that? Yes, yes,
I know exactly what to do.To make sure we were both thinking
of the same thing to do,I followed her in the dark, watched
her get into the car. Irunted from you and drive off. Then
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I turned around, put a newclip in my gun, and walked back
to the old homestead. It wasso very homey the light of an oil
lamp. Missus Alkins was peacefully nettingwhat looked like a shroud. Why,
mister speed, Why Missus Elkins,lan sakes, land sakes. Not that
we got that out of the way, Let's get down to business. If
you're here to make trouble, youngmen, believe me, I can handle
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trouble. My kind of stuff.Know about trouble, Well, I suppose
you tell me about the trouble Ijust had. Or haven't you heard all
the shots were fired around here anight shots? My mind seems I would
have heard gunshots names you would look, I've got a sheriff on the way.
Why I suppose you didn't hear theshooting? Oh, yes, yes,
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I'd forgotten it was any wouldn't hurt? Man named Lyndon? He's dead,
Linden. Now that sounds familiar.Should he stayed here five nights ago?
He was a jewelry salesman? Yes, yes, now I remember you
say he's dead. Somebody tried tobury him alive. And you're a little
cave. How awful I do declare? I thought you would. Well,
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you must be Josh and mister Speed. I'm not joshing at all. Missus
Alkins really buried Aliveviously, Look,let's talk just like plain folks. Where's
your husband? Where's the jewelry samplesyou probably stole from Linden? Is there
anything else you want to say?Gunshot? I left the sweet old thing
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knitting and rocking, and made myway through the house looking for guns,
jewelry and killers. I got downstairsin time to see Missus Alkins disappear out
the front door, and I triedto follow. I stumbled over the rocking
chair, which was indeed a luckything for me. After a few minutes
of silence, bravely crawling on mystomach, I followed the shadows of the
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house until they blended into the shadowsof a large, hulking building, which
happened to be the barn inside.I bumped my head on the radiator of
a car. Naturally, I didn'tfind any keys in it, but I
did find a familiar jewelry salesman typemudsilk corpse. I was trying to remember
how to cross ignition wires. Iheard the hum of a motor and saw
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two headlight beams swinging up the driveway. They lasted as long as any other
lights. The car came to alurching stop, and a thick set figure
in a stets and hat stumbled towardsme, tugging it a gun. Dad
burns, go blame cuff thing.I under the flap the old thing.
He put your hands off. Whoeveryou are the sheriff, your dad blame
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right on the sherf Your dad rainright under her. Who are you?
What's the out? Are shooting thelights out my car? My car?
Spade? Well, I'm Homer picka sher for this county. A girl
come with me upside. Whole sortsof funny things going on around here,
said there'd been a murder, who'skilled? What's going on? To stand?
Sam? Well? If one thing, somebody's been trying all sorts of
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ammunition on me for size. Youdon't say, I do, say,
mister Sheriff. Why because I founda man in a cave who'd been left
at a die. I want tolook at the corpse. You can look
at him right here. He's sittingin this car, so here already get
here as somebody moved him here shortento move a court to the police examine
it. I didn't move it.I listened closely, listening. I found
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the man. He was still alive, and somebody shot him, moved him.
Then they tried to kill me becauseI found him. When they didn't
kill me, they decided to hidehis body. They probably intended to drive
away and dispose of it so there'dbe no evidence when an efficient, smart,
alert, courageous police officer like yourselfcame around to ask questions, Hey,
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I sound reasonable? Who buying allthis? Well? Missus Elkins threatened
me once and tried to kill memore? Well, Land say that's her.
Yeah, y'all want to talk toher? Where roaming the countryside with
a gun? No doubt I wouldnot clear all this up. See what
it's all about. I will justfollow in the car. His name's James
Lindon. Got a pencil, I'mgoing to write that down, Tildon Lindon.
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By any strange coincidence, Sheriff,you have known man named Dundee,
San Francisco homicide Lieutenant Dundee, oldtime Tom. Yeah, shucks, I
learned everything I know about. Pleasework from him. Law's law, Dundee
always say. I've heard him sayit, Sheriff, and I am turnforested
around here one side, mister SladeSpade, Hey ah, you'll be sorry.
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Wow, I look here, allyour welcomes. Let's homer pick a
talking. And I ain't a smalltown comfortable. I'm the sheriff for this
county. You'll get a square dealfrom me. But first I order you,
in the name of the law,gonna throw down your guns. Well,
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all right, nothing but feeling.I thought i'd do some good,
you know, Hey, look,maybe it did do some good. Than
he came across the farmyard as thefirst light was showing in the eastern sky.
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Her hands were above a head.One held a shotgun. We could
hear, but we couldn't say it. Maud stopped, hesitated for a moment
and then began running causes she almostmade it. I ran out to drag
her back, expecting any second tobe the target for the night. That
was a sudden and curious silence.As I pulled under the barn, she
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was still alive. That man's beenmissing everybody all night. Every thought he'd
be able to hit me easy.I come from good stock. I'm no
criminal, mister Spacher. If youknew that, I know Maudain, let
me take a look at you.You'll be okay. No blame Bert too
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much. He wanted to have moneyonce in his life, so when this
man came along with old jewelry,Burt went out of his mind. Yes,
he put the man in the caveand the door two because the dog
wouldn't call attention to him, Andthen he took the man's car, waiting
to San Francisco to try to sellthe Jews underwe no like it. Bert
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says he laughed at him. Jewsjust pieced stampos. And he came back
and found me at the cave,and he figured he had to knock us
both off. I just stuck bymoll away. No he's like a tiger
that smelled blood. No chilling.What do you do? Well? I
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forgot help, spade, rolled blocks, boot out, No, no,
this is his land. He won'trun, He'll hide here Where Why the
cave? Well, I raisoned one, But no matter how much a man
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loved his land, he was notgoing to let himself He trapped in a
cave, but only one exit andtwo. It followed therefore, that we
did hide in the cave. Therewas more than one way out, which
the late Linden hadn't found. SheriffPickett volunteered to watch the front of the
cave while I looked around for arear exit. After a twenty minute search
which netted me nothing, I rememberthe car parked inside the barn and how
quickly Elkins had carried Lindon's body toit. I went back there and took
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a look around. In a cornerof the barn, I found a trail
of dirt leading to a bail ofhay. When I moved to the bail,
I found you guessed it a trapdoor. I pulled it over and caught
a familiar whip of used up airand lowered myself into a black hole that
turned out to be a passageway.I cautiously made my way forward in the
darkness for a few yards. Ipressed back against the dirt wall, listening
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to him approach. When I figuredhe was close enough, I threw a
cloud of dirt to him across thepassageway. His gun flashed and lit up
the whole place for a second,and I fired three times. I waited,
then I went towards it. Hewas lying on his back. I
kicked his gun away, and whenI bent over from the phillies pulse,
he suddenly came to light. Somethingcrashed against the side of my head,
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and everything became darker than the insideof a cave. The next thing I
knew I was looking at a pairof red rimmed eyes. Several minutes have
gone by. Kho was a gunner, for sure. It's used to this
country fighting area. Is this countrylike a shriff? Yeah? Gimme,
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yeah, country, Tell me,sheriff, did you buy any Sure?
Of course I did. I gothim slade, arion and a report.
Do you mean to tell me,you little country's sheriff? How do you
(27:02):
well? Effie Homer Picket's coming upfor reelection next fall? And Besides,
you might think I was egotistical ifI told you how it really ended.
But your reputation you're the greatest privatedetective of them all, and so I
can afford to be generous now.Not. In other word, scoop type
that up. If your supply ofwild root cream oil hair tonic is getting
(27:26):
low, better make a note toget some more tonight or first thing tomorrow.
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hair neatly and naturally, relieves dryness, removes loose dandroot. Always keep a
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of wild root cream oil hair tonic. Again and again, the choice of
(27:48):
men and women and children too.See if you rewrote the ending, I
had to say, you're much toomodern. And Sam Spade, with a
(28:11):
knot of cold fury in the pitof his stomach, of vindictive fire in
his eyes, stepped wearily over theloose rocks on the cave floor to do
battle with a thing that loomed upin the darkness ahead. The thing's roar
filled the night with terror, ButSam Spade, dauntless and knowing not fear
stepped up to the monster, laughedin its hairy face, and with one
(28:33):
quick convulsion of his powerful shoulder muscles, dropped the thing in its tracks.
I see well, is that theway you think it ended? Effie?
Oh Sam, I guess I wasbeing a little foolish. I'll change it.
No, No, as long asyou've done it this way, we'll
leave it this white can't waste paper. No, no, I'll change it
than Yeah. I copied that endingout of an old black mask magazine.
(28:57):
You watch. Don't be mad,queen. I copied that of an old
whisbye now, good night, sweetheart. The Adventures of Sam Spade of produced
(29:26):
and directed by William Spear. SamSpade is played by Howard Duve Loreene Tuttle
is Effie. Tonight's Adventure with SamSpade was written for radio by John Michael
(29:56):
Hayes and E. Jack Newman.Musical direction Violot Gluskin, with score composed
by Pierre and Renee Garrigaane. Joinus again next Sunday, when producer William
Spear presents another adventure with Sam Spade, brought to you by Wild Root Cream
Oil. Again and again. Thechoice of men and women and children too
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(30:21):
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(31:02):
Stay tuned for the Summer Symphony withKatherine Grayson on NBC Welcome back. Well,
I think this was a really solidepisode, an interesting premise, a
good setup, and some really nicegnashes of humor. Plus, I thought
(31:27):
the conversation between Fade and Effie wasreally nicely done, with the kiss from
Sam for her rewrite of the reportwith the nod to Black Mask Magazine where
Sam Spade originally appeared. The serieswould end two weeks later, or at
(31:48):
least Duff's involvement in it with thefan Fat Talk Keeper. The reason that
it ended was because Duff was namedin Red Channels, a publication that purported
to reveal Communist manipulation in the entertainmentindustry. The historical record on Howard Duff
(32:12):
is pretty clear he was not acommunist, beating the allegations that were included
in Red Channels. What was citedwas his objection to certain activities and prosecutions,
which was just in the realm oflegitimate political disagreement. And also they
cited him as for his association witha radio program created by Dashel Hammond.
(32:42):
However, untrue the allegation. WildRecreemoil decided they wanted out and without a
sponsor, NBC was going to cancelthe program, even with two hundred and
fifty thousand letters from listeners streaming inprotesting Wild Roots decision. Wild Root decided
(33:04):
to sponsor a new program called CharlieWild Private Detective. Amusingly enough, the
series was named after the title oftheir posing jingle, which was called Cream
Oil Charlie, and the brand wasthe basis for the last name. So
(33:27):
we have one of the most completelycorporately named characters since file Co was a
character in a series of mysteries createdto promote the company Philco, who manufactured
(33:49):
radios. None of the Charlie Wildmysteries are in circulation. The radio series
ran for thirteen weeks and the seriesstar George Petrie, who appeared in a
bunch of programs, including Called thePolice, which we played previously and would
later star in The Amazing Mister Malone, which we've also already played on this
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podcast, and who we are currentlyenjoying in the role of District Attorney Markham.
However, Wild Route wanted to takeCharlie Wild to television and NBC could
not find a spot for it,so Charlie Wild moved to CBS and George
Petrie left, and the series airedover CBS radio and television, with Kevin
(34:42):
o'morrison initially playing Wild and then beingreplaced by John McQuaid. Wild Route actually
canceled the program at that point,but Charlie Wild, who couldn't help but
call to mind Wild Root Cream Oil, continued to stick around or another year,
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appearing on ABC Television and then onDumont Television. And really during this
era, it was very much theera of live TV. Now, there
is one kinescope of Charlie Wild thatmade it onto YouTube and they're around fifteen
(35:22):
episodes over at UCLA and the BaileyCenter in Los Angeles. There's some talk
about Effie being in Charlie Wild,I'm dubious of that, since George Petree
worked in New York, Lorene Tuttlebased in Hollywood. Occasionally you would have
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actors like Frank Lovejoy who worked inNew York radio and then went to Hollywood,
but that was kind of rare,and that didn't happen with Loreene Tuttle.
As for the ending of Sam Spain, in his book, Martin Grahams
prants the script for the finals Samand Effie scene with Howard Duff and Loreen
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touddle, with Sam talking about placinga want ad and also assuring Effie that
the bonus provided by their last climatewill cover Effie's back salary. Effie made
an appeal for people to right in, demanding the show be brought back,
and Sam comforts Effie and says,look, one of us has got to
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be strong. This isn't the endof the world. Let's be big about
it. It's been four and ahalf nice years. We'll see what happens.
I won't worry, You'll get work, and Effie says at the end
of this, well, then itisn't goodbye. Sam Spade concludes, No,
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not for us. Good night Sweetheartand thus ended Howard Duff's time is
Sam Spade. It has to besaid that the effects of Duff's blacklisting were
limited. This may have been becauseof his being married to Ida Lupino,
as well as the flimsiness of theallegations against him. One magazine even alleged
(37:15):
that Ashell Hammett had told Duff oncommunism, when the truth was that Howard
Duff never met Dashel Hammett, aswas the case with all of Hammett's radio
detective series, his only real rolewas to collect the checks at the end
(37:36):
of the month, even when theshow was boasting of its relationship to Hammett.
The character as portrayed on the radiowas much more the from the collaborative
process of William Spear, the writers, and Duff himself than it was from
Hammett. Duff's blacklist time would bebrief, maybe a year, perhaps even
(38:02):
a few months. Some older oldtime radio resources state that Duff did not
work in radio for another six years. However, a recording of an episode
of Hollywood dar Playhouse less than sixmonths after the end of Sam Spade has
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emerged in recent years, and lessthan three months After the cancelation of Sam
Spade, he was a featured gueston Head of Hopper's Hollywood. The mention
in Red Channels, rather than destroyinghis career, was more of a bump
in the road. He had filmand television roles throughout the nineteen fifties,
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including the sitcom Mister Adams and Eve, in which he starred with Otta Lupino.
He would later have a lead rolein the TV series Dante nineteen sixty
and sixty one, where he playeda casino owner who was originally played by
(39:06):
Dick Powell, as a recurring leadcharacter in the anthology series Four Star Playhouse,
and he'd also star in the nineteensixty seven to sixty nine series Felony
Squad as Detective Sam Stone. Andoutside of those starring roles, he would
(39:27):
be in film and on television nearlyup until the point he passed away of
a heart attack at the age ofseventy seven, appearing in shows ranging from
a Spy and the nineteen sixties Batmanto the Streets of San Francisco Murder She
(39:50):
Wrote, Magnum Pi and The LoveBoat. Of course, none of these
roles really achieved the cultural resonance heenjoyed as Sam Spade, and it's sad
how that ended with what Wild wrotetried to do with Charlie Wild. I
kind of wonder whether, if eventshad unfolded differently, if Sam Spade would
(40:17):
have made it to television starring DashelHammont. As it is, though,
we have just around fifty of theAdventures of Sam Spade that Duff recorded,
which is less than a quarter ofthe two hundred and twenty one episodes that
were recorded with him. However,on the bright side, three of the
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episodes that we played in this runwould not have been available four or five
years ago, so we can begrateful for that. We can also appreciate
at unlike the other series that Hammettwas credited as the creator of, we
have a much higher percentage of Duff'sSam Spade episodes than we do Fat Man
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and The Thin Man, both ofwhich are missing ninety six percent of their
episodes. So while we may nothave the entirety of Duff's run, or
even close to it, we haveenough to really appreciate what made the Adventures
of Sam Spade one of Old Timeradio's most iconic programs and of course,
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we should be clear that we're notdone with Sam Spade totally. There would
be more, but with a verydifferent feel, but we'll talk about that
all next week. Well, nowit's time to thank our Patreon supporter of
the day, and I want togo ahead and thank Robert. Robert has
been one of our Patreon supporters sinceAugust of twenty sixteen, currently supporting the
(41:54):
program at the Detective Sergeant level ofseven dollars and fourteen cents or more per
month. Thank you so much foryour support, Robert, and that will
actually do it for today. Ifyou are enjoying the podcast, I encourage
you to follow us with your favoritepodcast software, and please write and review
the podcast wherever you download this from. We'll be back next Monday with a
(42:20):
new era in Sam Spade. Butjoin us back here tomorrow for yours truly,
Johnny doll or wear what was shewearing, missus Stromberry? Oh?
She had her coat on, hermink coat. Yes, well how do
you know about her mink coat?A friend of mine. I'll take a
look around out here, all right, Oh, witman, I'll come wait,
(42:44):
you know, of course she mighthave wait a second look? Is
that Gloria. Well, yes,I think so. Something's wrong with her?
Yes, A girl crossing the streetof the mink coat weaves slightly from
side to side. As I gotclose to her, I could see she
was a pretty girl in the latetwenties. On here, dont guys.
She hardly looked up as I cameup to her, just stopped and stood
(43:04):
there, weaving slightly. Mis Tenny, Yes, well, can I help
you? I'm Johnny Doller. Comeon, we've got to go and sign
Yes, what is it? Hestruck me? What? He struck me?
Here? Come on? I hopeyou'll be with us then. In
(43:28):
the meantime, do send your commentsto Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net,
follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us out on Instagram,
Instagram, dot com, slash GreatDetectives From Boise, Ottaho. This
is your host, Adam graham Sonand Off