Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Tom Radio from Boise Idahold. This is
your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, email it to
me Bucks thirteen at Great Detectives dot net, Follow us on Twitter at Radio
Detectives, and check us out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash
Great Detectives. Our listener support campaign continues. You can become one of our
ongoing Patreon supporters as little as two dollars per month. Just go to Patreon
dot dot Great Detectives dot net. Well for our second listener support special,
we have something really different and it's what I'm calling a little bit of mystery
audio. This audio is all over the internet in several places as Sam Spade,
First Night or spoof. But what exactly is it? Where exactly did
it come from? Was it broadcast on air? When was it recorded?
Answers are really hard to find. So we're going to play it and we're
going to talk about what we can to douce about it. Now, I
will warn you that there are a couple of minor swear words, which itself
may be a clue, but we'll talk about that afterwards. But listener discretion
is advised. All right, so let's listen to this bit of audio and
see what we can figure out. It's the Sam Spade First Night or spoof
Campanna's First Night, or program from the Little Theater off Times Square, starring
Barbara Bloody and Olin Soule, with an all star cast sent to you by
Campanna, the quality name in cosmetic. It's thet or time on Broadway,
and tonight we're to witnessed the biggest defense on the Great White Way, the
premier of a brand new play in the Little Theater off Times Square. There'll
be plenty of excitement too, because the opening night performance is the crucial one,
the evening when the public and the critics say yes or no, the
plays bid for success. And now here's our hosts for the evening, the
genial first night, the evening, Ladies and gentlemen. I'm just in the
mood for a gay Broadway premiere this evening. Are you all right? Here's
my cab, won't you step in? Okay? Driver to the Little Theater
up Broadway across forty second Street, tat of the glare and glamor of the
dazzling lights that give the Great White Way its famous name. And now up
ahead is the little theater off Times Square. Well we are, isn't that
beautiful creature over there? Dorothy McQuire, someone saying Governor Huey's hidden at your
ticket. Pready a date at your ticket? Ready? Please, good evening,
mister first nighter the eshol Shade, thank you will go right here.
Yes, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, this is a fact house tonight,
because word is out that this evening's play is a comedy that no one wants
to miss. And from the looks of the first night is crowding inside the
theater. Everyone is here to enjoy it. The famous first Night are orchest
first being conducted to night by Frank Worth. And now the house lights are
about to gim so let's prepare to enjoy ourselves. Curtain, first curtain.
There's a signal for first curtain. The house lights are out, and here's
the play, The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective than Detective Agency, shame
wise freethart f where have you been for two games? If you please speak
shortly and start clapping your gun like a cannon. Oh, I'm about your
Sam. Are you working on something big? The biggest in town? At
my head your whole stop, but you try to kill me. I am
in a state known as a New Year's Eve hangover. Not to be confused
with any evil taper. I made the mistake of trying to stand a drink,
but drink with everybody in the place, White Sam, not a week
aroo, Well, we all wanted to get a head start. For two
days now, I've been lying in an insensible state, drinking from a hose
I fashioned to the water post. I have so much water in me now
I will shortly appear on the new maps as lake speed. Don't will teach
you the evils the drinking. I've already made plans to take the plants on
my way to the office. Every so turn off the radiant of the planks,
muffle anything that makes the slattest noise, smash all my drinking, parapherna
you with your souvenir, Carrie Nation hatchet, and then only then I appear
to dictate my version of the Magic Castle. Dashel Hammett, I'm ICA's leading
detective picture writer and creator of Sam Spade, The hard Boiled Private Eye,
joins with Howard Deff and Lorene Huddle to make your hair stand on end with
the adventures of Sam's spade O take my army, effy or a doll,
but I'll make a solo. I need the practice. Sam. I didn't
wake up your drinking equipment. I thought maybe the hair of the dog.
That wouldn't help at all. If the only time, and Mother Nature and
her infinite mercy and deliver me. Now that's your cheer. Squeaking sounded like
thunder. Put some free in one oil on it, no double it,
make it to six and food. Tell me all about it, Sam,
I will, I will my fet as quickly as I can. I have
to get back to my apartment. Are you ready ready? Sam? Dude?
Detective Lie Son of Dundee, Homicide d fail from Samuel spate Less number
one, three, seven, five, nine six, subject built Larshan,
Dear Dundee, this is not a caper wherein I was a great detective.
I will admit that from the beginning, but I wound up becoming one of
the world's great magicians. The Magic Castle is the famous private club for magicians
nestled in the hills overlooking Hollywood. It was half past eight I heard of
How could that be? Well, maybe it's a telephone company checking the line.
Yeah, Samuel space being as your dollar. This is the first letter.
I'm don't hear the Little Theater off Times Square, and I've got a
problem, can you And if you come down here right away, mister First
Nighter where three thousand miles from Broadway, Why well, never mind, hold
on to your hat. Through the magic of radio, fie and I will
be right there. It doesn't take long. Here we are, Effie.
Oh dear, what are they doing? Well? It looks like they're about
the rehearse the opening of the First Nighter program. Listen in the later time
and Broadway buzzing with holiday excitement and eagerly awaiting the welcome an opening night performance
at the Little Theater off Times Square, starring Less Fermaine and Barbara Letty.
There'll be a crowd of onlookers and autograph fans on hand at the entrance to
greet the celebrities who always attend the premiere on the Great White Way. So
let's not miss a minute to the excitement. Shally, will you join me?
There are lots of uniforms in the crowds of night at Broadway and forty
second Street. Shall the crowd the street here well here we are at a
little theater off Times Square. Have your tickets ready, plea, have your
tickets ready at me pretty ending, mister First Night, y Asher will show
you to your box. And mister first Nighter, mister first minor, isn't
this the stop where the first Nighter is supposed to? Read this line?
It sure is? Where is he? I'm right here, Sam, Hello,
Weppy. I'm so glad you got here. Read this this note,
I guess not. Yes, yes, they're gonna kill me. They're after
me, save me, help me, Sam, and not. Please be
calm mister first Nighter. Mister momnolomy reader, nothing you can do can save
you. You will be killed a night at midnight, just before your show
begins midnight, and it's nineteen minutes to twelve miles. Don't let him kill
me. I'm too young to dodge. That's how old are you, mister
First Night? Eighty six? Well, eighty six going on eighty seven.
I hope, well, I hope so too. Now this should be very
easy to solve. It reminds me of a case we had a year ago.
Last sponsor or was it a sponsor before that? Oh yeah, yeah,
yeah, I remember it's a late autumn night. I had a client
just like you, fourteen minutes to Turne's feller got a note that he was
going to be killed at nine o'clock. My note says twelve o'clock. Wow,
this is specific coast time for the repeat broadcast. Home. When this
man called me about the note, we took every precaution. We bolted the
doors, barricaded the windows. We had police on every foot of ground around
the apartment, police dogs, electric eyes, burglar alarms. Every precaution known
to criminology was taken to see that this man would not be killed by nine
o'clock. Oh good, What happened, Sam? What happened to the man
he was killing? But not until ten o'clock we'd all gone home. We
were all dead and tired. He was dead and we were tigered. I'm
Sam, I don't know which way to turn. I called every detective like
a pink boat. Why aren't they here? There's someone now, twelve minutes
left? Yes, yes, come in my time? Is your time happen?
My first time? You're not infective? Get out of here. Excuse
me? Mister. Firston, I find Casey crying for tiger. Hold it
thank you. What part in the morning gets fresh? Flea casey, will
you do something? They're gonna kill me at midnight? Midnight? Can't wait
for midnight? We got a press at once. Paint it light on the
floor. I'll take one more. Well, I don't want to lie down
on the floor. I'm gonna be killed at midnight. There's somebody else at
the door. Who is it? I am Charny Ken Chinese detective hey Age
has said, no job too big, No jobs too small. That's the
trouble. No job. How do you do? Mister Chan? I am
Sam Spade, Life number one three seventy five nine six. And this is
happy, my my right hand happy. This is Charlie Chan, the man
who helps the police solve all those difficult crimes by brilliant deductions. Oh yes,
I know, but isn't it strange that he's never been able to lose
his accent? Please it's eight minutes to midnight. My life is at stake.
This note, I god knowe what the not? The note threatening my
life? Missus Spade has it their chant? Have a look? What are
you making it? Nothing can help You'll die at midnight? So who's empty?
Who said it? Who said it? I don't know, don't know
who's empty, no date, no signature. Oh come come, mister person.
Exactly what I told him, saying, if people must get threatening letters,
the least they can do is suppliers with some cluer of it. They
make it too hard for a cop. It is not easy being a cop
us, I'm sure it is. Everybody puts you down. How's it going,
Dick Tracy? How many Jaywalkers did you pins? Today? And there's
always the one who refuses to believe you're not on the take all at once.
You're a cop, a flatfoot, a bull, John Law, you're
the funds, the heat, you're poison, your trouble, you're bad news.
They called you everything, but never a policeman. Oh the pay is
addequate. If you count your pennies, you can put your kids through college.
But you better plan on seeing Europe on your television set. You rub
elbows with all the elite addicts, thieves, bums, liars, cheats,
con men, the class of skid row, underfed kids, beating your kids,
bolested kids, broken armed kids, broken lake kids, broken head kids,
sick kids, dying kids, and dead kids. For every crimes committed
you get three million suspects to choose from. Most of the time you'll have
few facts and a million hunches. You'll do legwork and said you're sure.
You've talked to everybody in the city. People who saw it happen but really
didn't, people who insist they did but really didn't, people who remember,
those who try to forget, those who tell the truth, and those who
lie in the paperwork. You'll fill out a report when you're right. You'll
fill out a report when you're wrong. You'll fill out one when you're not
sure. You'll fill out one listing all your leaves. You'll make out a
report on the reports you made. You'll learn to live with a district attorney,
testify in court, the prince, attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, judges,
juries, witnesses. Sometimes you won't be happy with the outcome. But there's
also this. There are over three thousand men in a city who know that
being a policeman is an endless, glamorless thankless job. It must be done.
I know it too, That's what a cop is. Well, one
thing is for sure, What's that I'll never asked that question again. Seven
minutes to go. Well, this is becoming credit gathering of the crime plan.
Come in my time? Is your time, I'll get out of here.
I'm just getting late. You bet to solve this case. Yes,
extreme minutes to twelve, and I'm worried. Do something for me, Do
something and save me. Yes, who is it? Come in? I
am the wires and I know many things for I walked by night. You're
just insigne. Jeff, you dive of murder. Don't rush me. I
still got two minutes. What's the whistler doing here? You must know the
writers on this show, No, detective, you don't even know. We
have to walk in the daytime. Oh oh, it's sustained, the hot
boiled Private Eye, the James Bond of the Supers. How are you doing,
mister Westler houts vessels with your weird strained stories. Oh goody, be
rikily damn? Oh please please, can't any of you do anything? Save
me? Save me? They hold Paul, Thank you, look part in
the morning. It's friends. You can fall out. Oh bleed? Good?
Well, don't they be here anymore? Just a minute, Sam,
how do we know he is? Well, let's get a doctor. Let's
make sure the corpus is the lectile imbody looking for a doctor. I'm doctor,
right, Oh, do come in doctor r Q. What are you
doing here? I'm looking for a leading in the balcony where you've come to
the right place. But we really need a real doctor. Print I have
silver dollars, says I'm a real doctor. If you can repeat that to
leave the suck Custer exactly as I say, remember one time, and one
time only it goes like this. Jim is Slim, said Tim to Kim.
Jim is slim. Tim to him, said Kim Jim. As Tim
said Slim to Kim, Slim said help. Oh, I'm sorry, but
here's a box of twenty four bars of delicious no pybat candy bars and two
tickets for next week's production. Here it's a little deer off time square.
Merry Christmas, Effy, we better check this fell on the floor. I
think he's dead. There's a chance you may not be, dare Effie.
No pulse, no heartbeat, so blood he's dead. Well. I was
reading in Amy Vanderbilt's Book of Etiquet that some people are quieter than others at
social gatherings. I don't think that this applies in this case, Effie.
Now wait a minute, Wait a minute, I'm not dead. I'm okay.
But mister first Nighter, you were shot four time. I know they
missed me. The bullets went wild. They shot that man over there.
Oh there is a man lying in the floor. I think he's dead.
I don't know it. Must roll him over and see. Mister are you
are you dead? Say something time? You're right after me. It's Rudy
Valley and he's dead. Well, Sam, you solve the chase. What
would mister first Night who have done with got you? Probably a hell of
a lot better. Oh yeah, don't be modest, Sam. Why the
number of people who owe a dead of gratitude for you must be must be
without number? I know, look at it the other way, these number
of people whom I owe death's gratitude, and otherwise the otherwise they of course,
cash could easily be numbered somewhere upwards. Speaking of that, this seems
like an opportune time to bring up last last week's sorry well, h effy
the first Night. I should remit me some money soon, or a horse
I know might shock everybody in come in, Or I might say, find
a twenty five dollar bill on the sidewalk, somewhere and then you will be
graciously taken care of. First twenty five Effie late, leave us not picking
things. Let's get out of this. Say good night, good night,
Sam, good night sweetheart. I said, why did you do dollar back
of another of visual Broadway player? If the body and listens away a laws
ado. If you want to hear a truly dripping play, Bondard will hold
you spellbound for every minute of the performance. Junior next week for the drama
entitled A Story Revised. Here's the kind of play that you hear too seldom.
So join us next week, same time, same station, and now
we move out of the theater and into the streets your cab, mister,
first natter, Thank you, good night. Campana's First Nighter Programs starring Olden
Soule and Barbara Loody, is a copyrighted radio feature. Tonight's play was pure
fiction and did not refer to real people or actual events. The First Nighter
Program came to you over CBS, where ninety nine million people gather every week
the Columbia Broadcasting System. Welcome back. All right, so let's go ahead
and talk about this. First of all, we should talk about the first
Nighter Program. It's actually referenced a lot in old time radio on other programs.
It's one of those series that relatively few episodes survived from its nineteen years
on the air, plus but a year and a half of reruns. The
series was known for putting on original plays every week, which may not have
seemed like a big deal because you have suspense and the whistler, but this
was the first. This was a program that paved the way for so many
other anthology series that would follow. Definitely revolutionary for nineteen thirty when it got
started. Now, the first thing we can observe with the recording is that
there has clearly been some splicing done by an old time radio enthusiast, adding
the opening to the Alan Sulet version of the First Nighter Program. And that
makes sense since all In Soulet, while not the first host of the First
Nighter Program, was the mister First Nighter from nineteen forty three on, succeeding
Don Amici and Less Tremaine. However, in the midst of the audio we
get another First Night or opening, and this one references Less Tremaine as the
star. That, of course makes no sense if we take this as a
recording from era Sam Spade was playing in because Less Tremaine left the First Nighter
Program in nineteen forty three, so there's that. So this was not actually
made as part of the First Nighter Program, and I think that the ending
and beginning were just added on by someone who wanted to make it fit for
whatever reason. Other possibilities include that it was some sort of private performance,
perhaps for a sponsor or for the network. Does sound like the character of
mister First Nighter. My best guest for the voice is Harry von Zelle,
was a famous old time radio announcer on a whole lot of different programs,
mainly comedy, you know, which would be appropriate in this case. There
are two other big internal clues. The first is that Howard Duff does a
version of the to be a Cop speech from the Dragnet episode The Investigation.
Now, this initially caused me to wonder whether the speech might have been written
before Dragnet, but I think there's another clue in here where James Bond is
reference. Now, when Sam Spade was on the air, James Bond was
really not a thing in the United States, you know. On video theater
a few years back, we played the adaptation of Casino Royal, which featured
the character of Jimmy Bond. I think Bond's popularity in the United States took
off with the Sean Connery movies in the sixties, so this makes this a
later performance. Another clue is found in the title of the caper that Sam
begins to relate to the audience's applause, and that is the Magic Castle Caper.
The Magic Castle is a private club for magicians as well as magic enthusiasts.
It's located in Hollywood, and it's a location that definitely rings a bell
to me since I'm currently watching my way through Bill Bixby series The Magician,
and in the second half of the series, Bill Bixby's character Tony Blake moves
into an apartment in the Magic Castle, and the Magic Castle's founder, Milt
Larson, is a known old time radio aficionado. So what seems likely here
is that some year on Christmas Eve, a performance was arranged at the Magic
Castle that featured Sam Spade in a tribute to old time radio. The Magic
Castle opened in nineteen sixty three. However, based on the inclosion of the
to be a Cop speech that it was recorded in nineteen sixty eight or after.
Now. Of course, the nineteen seventies may have been a perfect time
for this to be recorded, because that's when nostalgia for the Golden Age of
radio really began to be a force in popular culture that would lead to the
revival of network radio drama in the United States. And also in the nineteen
seventies, neither Duff nor Lorene Tuttle had a regular television gig. They were
essentially at the point in their careers where they were in demand, but it
was as guest stars. Personally, I probably leaned more towards the idea that
this was recorded in nineteen sixty eight, just because the inclusion of the speech,
well, it could have been done later, had really hit a nerve
in sixty eight, and I think that that would make it far more likely
to be included in the scrap than if it were played several years later.
At that time, in nineteen sixty eight, our Duff was playing Sam Stone
on Felony Squad, though would have been a fitting thing to read now,
of course, but only did Duff have his role on Felony Squad, but
Loreene Tuttle had a recurring and Emmy nominated role on the series Julia as Hannah
Yarby. However, we're talking about a single performance for fifteen minutes on Christmas
Eve, even with an actor's busy schedule, this seems plausible that it could
be worked at, though again it's possible that it could have been later,
though I do lean towards nineteen sixty eight regardless, stepping away from the mystery,
and I would imagine that this whole thing is a private recording that somehow
ended up getting traded into the old time radio community and has been circulating around
for the past forty years or so. I guess it's fascinating to me that
Loreene Tuttle and Howard Duff had not played these parts together for at least eighteen
years, could have been two decades, and they just stepped right back into
them, back a pair of comfortable slippers. And it's a reminder that Howard
Duff and Loreene Tuttle were truly talented radio performers, and any performance with them
together is definitely worth listening to. Well, I would love to hear your
thoughts. Did you catch any clues I missed and do you think I got
it right or is there evidence that points in another direction? Regardless, I'd
love to hear from you. Email it to me Box thirteen at Great Detectives
dot net. Now let's go ahead and thank our Patreon supporter of the day.
Thank you to David, Patreon supporter since January twenty nineteen, currently supporting
us at the detective Sergeant level of seven dollars and fourteen cents or more for
a month. That will do it for today. Next week we'll be back
with another listener support special, but coming up tomorrow. Listen for an actual
episode of Sam Spade where you slid into a booth at the end of the
boat at the gun out of your shoulder, Holsta, and laid it down
on the table in front of you. I walked over. It's under the
round so it was pointing at the jukebox instead of men. Sat down.
Some other time, Spade, some other time, I drink with you and
waiting for a friend. Why the gun? You're selling it to him?
Maybe I give it to him? Go on, you drink at the bar.
It's kind of crowded, looks like Charlie Rosenfoy's old mob. Who were
they gunning for? You were child? Why don't you ask them? What
are you drinking? Leo? And I was with that bottle all day,
got a bad taste. Do me a favorite, Spade. There's a bar
two doors down the street. Go drink there. There's my friend coming in
the door. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, Leo.
Look Spade, Hello, Leo, what's the matter? You bring a bodyguard
and meet your old friend, Charlie. This Shamas threw his weight in here.
I didn't ask him. I don't need him. That sounds like the
earlier Scarlattia used. The name is Scarlet. Pardon me. I've been on
the rock for so long it's hard to catch up on all the changes.
There's been a ward, Charlie, and tips to it again. You got
a smart body guard, Leo. Let's talk. Let's go somewhere else and
talk. I like it here. Okay, we start? How come you
tip them up? We were coming here. You promised you wouldn't like the
Shamas. They got a drink. I hope you'll be with us then.
In the meantime, do send your comments to a box thirteen at Great Detectives
dot net, follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check us out
on Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash Great detectives from Boise, Idaho.
This is your host, Adam graham Son and Off