Sound and the Unsound: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (September 15, 1951)

“Sound and the Unsound” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 15, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Philip Marlowe is called to investigate strange tapping sounds coming from his neighbor's bungalow at a modest court. When he and his elderly neighbor Lucille Bellows investigate, they discover the building's resident Clinton Rogers has just returned home from out of town, claiming he made the noises with his suitcases. Marlowe notices something doesn't add up about Rogers' story and finds a suspicious crack in the wall that suggests someone was searching for something.

A bungalow court in Los Angeles, late evening

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Lucille Bellows, Clinton Rogers, Barbara Curtis, Mr. Larry

Listen for: The mysterious tapping sounds that prompt the investigation, and hints of what Clinton Rogers might be hiding

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.