Critical Author Caper: The Adventures of Sam Spade (August 15, 1948)

“Critical Author Caper” is an episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 15, 1948. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Sam Spade is hired by Mrs. Leggett to find her missing stepdaughter Gabrielle, who disappeared after her father's funeral. Spade discovers Gabrielle has run away with Eric, the family chauffeur, and is hiding in a rooming house. When a mysterious telegram summons Spade to a coastal town, he uncovers a dark family secret involving a childhood game and a death by the cliffs.

San Francisco and the coastal town of Cassada, including the Leggett mansion on Knob Hill, a rooming house on Fillmore Street, and a cliff path overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Characters: Sam Spade, Gabrielle Leggett, Mrs. Leggett, Eric the chauffeur, Owen Fitzsteven, Gertrude Leggett, Effie

Listen for: A complex tale of psychological manipulation, murder, and childhood trauma, with Spade unraveling a mystery that involves a detective novelist and a family curse. The story explores themes of guilt, insanity, and moral responsibility.

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.