The Torch Carriers: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (January 7, 1950)

“The Torch Carriers” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast January 7, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Philip Marlowe encounters a frightened young woman named Claire at a hotel bar and agrees to help her recover a borrowed diamond bracelet from a loan shark named Larry Sulfin. His investigation leads him through a dangerous web of people connected to a fatal car accident and a woman named Janice Trauer who died two nights before.

Los Angeles, including a hotel bar at Wilshire Gardens, an old foundry in East Los Angeles, and Larry Sulfin's bungalow in Hollywood near Lucerne.

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Claire Osman, Larry Sulfin, Madge Gilbert, Cobra, Freeman Best, Janice Trauer

Listen for: A noirish tale of misguided love and loyalty, with Marlowe uncovering secrets about a car accident, a dead woman, and the lengths people will go to protect those they care about.

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.