The Good Neighbor Policy: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (July 28, 1951)

“The Good Neighbor Policy” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 28, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Philip Marlowe's phone gets crossed with that of his unfriendly neighbor Art Mitter, causing calls meant for each other to go astray. When Marlowe overhears a cryptic message about someone named Ernie being crossed and a plan to flee, he becomes curious about his mysterious neighbor. The next morning, a man is found murdered at an investment company, and Marlowe finds himself entangled in a case involving theft, crossed identities, and a dangerous scheme.

An apartment building in Los Angeles, with scenes also at a library and investment company

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Art Minter, Rina Toland, Adelaide Garrity, Ernest Toland, Mr. McWilliams, Anne

Listen for: The clever use of crossed telephone wires as the catalyst for Marlowe's investigation, Miss Garrity's talkative neighborliness and her xylophone playing, and the twist that Minter is involved in a library robbery scheme

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.