The Dear Dead Days: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (July 14, 1951)

“The Dear Dead Days” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 14, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by the elderly and genteel Mrs. Phoebe Cardwell to locate Stevens, her former chauffeur who now works for another family in Pasadena. Mrs. Cardwell misses Stevens's regular Thursday visits and is concerned about his absence, though she cannot afford to employ him herself since her husband's death in 1948.

Venice and Pasadena, California in 1951

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Mrs. Phoebe Cardwell, Matilda Reed, Stevens, Kip Harcourt, The Brands

Listen for: Marlowe's wry observations about his clients and the case, the contrast between Mrs. Cardwell's faded gentility and her present circumstances, and the developing connection between Marlowe and the young Mrs. Harcourt.

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.