Trouble Is My Business: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (August 5, 1947)

“Trouble Is My Business” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 5, 1947. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a stern old man named Jeter to investigate a gold digger named Harriet Huntress who plans to marry Jeter's adopted stepson Grover, and to look into forged IOUs allegedly signed by Grover for $50,000 owed to gambler Marty Estelle. When Marlowe discovers that the handwriting expert analyzing the documents has been murdered, the case becomes far more dangerous than anyone anticipated.

Los Angeles, including Sunset Boulevard, the El Milano Hotel on North Sycamore, and various offices around the city

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Mr. Jeter, Harriet Huntress, Grover, Marty Estelle, John D. Arbergast, house detective

Listen for: The interplay between Marlowe's tough-guy attitude and his moral code as he navigates multiple suspects with unclear motives; Harriet Huntress's revelation of her vendetta against Jeter for ruining her father; the sudden violence that erupts when Grover arrives at Harriet's hotel room.

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.