The Heat Wave: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (April 16, 1949)

“The Heat Wave” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 16, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by Karen Driscoll Jr. to discover whether a mysterious dancer performing as "the Heat Wave" at a burlesque theater is actually her estranged sister Midge. Karen fears her sister is staging this public humiliation to ruin her wedding to a diplomat's son, happening tomorrow. Marlowe must uncover the dancer's identity before the midnight reveal.

Los Angeles during a heat wave in August, including the Palace Theater of Burlesque on Main Street and an airport cocktail lounge.

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Karen Driscoll Jr., Midge Driscoll, Jesse, Hinky Bonds, Tracy Leake, Josh Freeman

Listen for: Marlowe's investigation of the mysterious masked dancer, his encounters with the theater's security and the comic Hinky Bonds, and the revelation of family secrets and rivalry.

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.