1001 Radio Crime Solvers The Adventures of Philip Marlowe – Episode Show Notes
⭐ Episode: "The Hiding Place" Series: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe Starring: Gerald Mohr Episode Summary
"The Hiding Place" is a tight, shadow‑drenched mystery that begins with a missing man and ends with a revelation buried beneath layers of fear, greed, and betrayal. Philip Marlowe is hired to find a man who has vanished—only to discover that the missing person may be hiding from more than danger.
Story Overview
A worried client comes to Marlowe with a simple request: find a friend who has disappeared. The man left behind a trail of odd behavior, nervous habits, and cryptic hints that something—or someone—was closing in on him.
Marlowe starts digging:
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He interviews people who knew the missing man, each offering a different version of who he was
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He uncovers a secret tied to a past crime
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He finds evidence that the man was being hunted
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He discovers that the "hiding place" is not a location—but a desperate state of mind
The investigation leads Marlowe through dingy apartments, back‑alley bars, and a final confrontation where the truth comes out in a burst of violence. The missing man's fate becomes a commentary on how guilt and fear can imprison a person long before the law ever does.
Key Themes
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The psychological toll of living in fear
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How guilt creates its own prison
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Marlowe's ability to read human weakness
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The noir idea that hiding from danger often leads straight into it
Why It Resonates
"The Hiding Place" is classic Chandler territory—lonely rooms, frightened men, and a detective who sees through every lie. It's a story about the places people hide, and the truths they can't escape.
⭐ Episode: "The Cloak of Kamehameha" Series: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe Starring: Gerald Mohr Episode Summary
"The Cloak of Kamehameha" is one of the most exotic and adventurous episodes in the Marlowe radio canon. It blends noir mystery with Hawaiian legend, stolen artifacts, and a deadly hunt for a priceless royal cloak. Marlowe finds himself in a case where history, greed, and murder collide.
Story Overview
Marlowe is hired to recover a stolen artifact—the sacred cloak of King Kamehameha, a priceless relic woven from thousands of rare feathers. The cloak's disappearance has set off a chain reaction of fear and violence among collectors, smugglers, and those who believe the cloak carries a curse.
As Marlowe investigates:
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He encounters a collector obsessed with Hawaiian history
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A thief who knows the cloak's value extends far beyond money
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A rival who will kill to possess it
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A trail of clues that leads from Los Angeles nightlife to hidden caches and secret deals
The case becomes a race against time as Marlowe tries to recover the cloak before it disappears into the black market forever—or before someone else dies trying to claim it.
The Adventures of Philip Marlowe was a radio series featuring Raymond Chandler's private eye, Philip Marlowe. Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz, in their book, The A to Z of Old Time Radio, noted that the program differed from most others in its genre: "It was a more hard-boiled program than many of the other private detective shows of the time, containing few quips or quaint characters."
In 1948, the series moved to CBS, where it was called The Adventure of Philip Marlowe, with Gerald Mohr playing Marlowe. This series also began with an adaptation of "Red Wind", using a script different from the NBC adaptation. By 1949, it had the largest audience in radio. The CBS version ran for 114 episodes. That series ran 26 September 1948 – 29 September 1950.
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