Cheesecake Caper: The Adventures of Sam Spade (November 6, 1949)

“Cheesecake Caper” is an episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade, the old-time radio show, first broadcast November 6, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Sam Spade finds a fifty-dollar bill and mysterious photograph of a blonde woman hidden in his sandwich at a deli. When he traces the photo to a cheesecake advertisement shoot, he discovers the girl walked in front of the camera by accident. His investigation leads him to uncover connections between the blonde, a dead showgirl named Monica Weston, and corrupt politician Uncle Mike Sheldon.

San Francisco, including a deli, photography studios on Harrison Street, the University of California, and Sam Spade's apartment in North Beach.

Characters: Sam Spade, Effie Perim, Freddy Mowar, Danny Weston, Monica Weston, Uncle Mike Sheldon, Helen McKelvie, Leonard and Perkins photographers

Listen for: A clever mystery involving mistaken identity, political corruption, and a photograph that captures more than intended. The story unfolds through Spade's detective work, interviews with photographers, and a landlady who reveals the victim's secret political activities.

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.