Tuesday Night Detectives - The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (Trouble is My Business) & Boston Blackie (The Rockwell Diamond)

Tune in every Tuesday night for Vintage Classic Radio's Tuesday Night Detectives, as we present a double bill of the best old-time radio detective serials from the 1930s to the 1960s

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe - Trouble is My Business

First up tonight is "Trouble is My Business", a radio play that aired back in August 5, 1947, as an episode of "The Adventures of Philip Marlowe" series. The show starred Van Heflin as the iconic private detective Philip Marlowe, and it was written by Robert Mitchell, based on a short story by Raymond Chandler.

The plot of the play revolves around Marlowe being hired by a wealthy man named Ralph Bright to locate his missing wife, Crystal Kingsley. As he delves deeper into the case, Marlowe uncovers a complex web of lies, murder, and blackmail, involving a diverse cast of characters.

Apart from Van Heflin as Philip Marlowe, the radio play featured a talented ensemble cast that included Lurene Tuttle as Crystal Kingsley, Lou Merrill as Ralph Bright, and Georgia Ellis as Mrs. Bright.

Van Heflin was a highly respected actor with an illustrious career in both stage and film. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1942 movie "Johnny Eager" and was later nominated for Best Actor for his performance in "The Yearling" (1946). Heflin's portrayal of Philip Marlowe was widely praised by audiences and critics, and he went on to reprise the character in several more radio adaptations of Chandler's stories

Boston Blackie - The Jonathan Diamond (a.k.a "The Rockwell Diamond)

The second half of this week's Tuesday Night Detectives double bill ends with "The Jonathan Diamond" (also known as "The Rockwell Diamond") -- an episode from the Boston Blackie radio show that aired on June 23rd, 1944, on NBC. The episode revolves around Boston Blackie, a reformed thief turned detective, and his efforts to track down a stolen diamond. Blackie is hired by a wealthy businessman named Jonathan Rockwell to find his missing diamond. Blackie's investigation leads him to a gang of jewel thieves, who are also after the same diamond. Blackie must outwit the criminals and recover the diamond before it's too late.

The episode was part of the long-running Boston Blackie radio series, which aired from 1944 to 1950.

Cast:

Chester Morris as Boston Blackie

Jan Miner as Mary Wesley

Tony Barrett as Inspector Faraday

Maurice Tarplin as Jonathan Rockwell

Winifred Lenihan as Ellen Rockwell

Bernard Lenrow as Eddie Myers

Ed Begley as Arthur Manleder

Arthur Peterson as Police Sergeant

Mandel Kramer as Jimmy, Rockwell's butler

The Boston Blackie radio series was based on a popular series of detective novels by Jack Boyle. The character of Boston Blackie first appeared in a short story by Boyle in 1914, and he went on to feature in several more stories and novels. The character was later adapted for film, television, and radio, becoming a beloved figure in the world of detective fiction.