The Iron Coffin: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (July 12, 1950)

“The Iron Coffin” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 12, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Philip Marlowe is hired by Mrs. Newbold to find her daughter Irene's fiancé, Bennett Baragos, a history student who has become obsessed with 16th-century Spanish history and disappeared a month ago. Mrs. Newbold believes they may be at a reconstructed Spanish castle built on the California coast near Morro Bay, a place locals claim is haunted by sealed coffins kept in its depths.

Los Angeles and the California coast near Morro Bay, including a reconstructed 16th-century Spanish castle on Point Starrow.

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Mrs. Newbold, Irene Newbold, Bennett Baragos, Chesty

Listen for: Marlowe's skeptical attitude toward the supernatural as he learns about the castle's dark history and the mysterious sealed coffins beneath it.

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.