Enjoy two free detective episodes of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe w/ Gerald Mohr

A) 12/3/49 The Kid on the Corner

B) 1/28/50 The Hairpin Turn

Raymond Chandler, author of the celebrated Philip Marlowe novels, had originally wanted to approve the scripts for the radio adaption of his creation. After the success of the Marlowe movies, Chandler knew the detective was a sure-fire hit, but in the end had very little involvement with the radio program. Van Heflin was the first actor to portray the cynical sleuth in a series that debuted in 1947, a scheduled summer replacement for The Bob Hope show. With his restrained yet forceful handling of the part, Heflin turned Philip Marlowe into a slicker sleuth than most. Chandler reportedly disliked Heflin’s portrayal, believing it was “thoroughly flat,” according to a letter sent to writer Erle Stanley Gardner. Marlowe returned to the airwaves in the fall of 1948, played by Gerald Mohr. The Broadway actor’s baritone voice was perfect for the fictional Los Angeles detective, and Mohr played him as a “packed personality” who would even rough up a street urchin to get information. Marlowe was a lone wolf who hired himself out to anyone who could pay his “ten-a-day plus expenses.” When the series left the air in 1951, CBS had begun production of a television pilot in the hopes of adapting the character for the tube. Mohr went along for the ride but the pilot didn’t sell. No worries, the actor soon found himself being offered strong supporting roles in television series and motion pictures by nearly every major TV and film studio. Philip Carey was cast as Marlowe in an ABC 1959-60 TV series and Powers Boothe portrayed the celebrated detective in a top-notch HBO series from 1983-1986.