The Marlowe Files

Originally Aired: December 28, 1948 Philo Vance #25, "Rhumba Murder Case," When Sally Henderson, secretary to District Attorney F.X. Markham, visits a South American dance studio to learn the samba and rumba, she encounters the mysterious Senorita Rosita Ortega. The dance instructor initially agrees to teach her, but suddenly changes her mind upon learning Sally works for the district attorney, in...

Originally Aired: December 21, 1948 Philo Vance #24, "Vanilla Murder Case," opens with Philo Vance making a casual late-night visit to District Attorney Markham's office, hoping for an interesting case to break up his routine work. His timing proves fortuitous when a terrified young woman named June Mills arrives with an urgent plea. She desperately needs help preventing a murder, but the victim-t...

Originally Aired: December 14, 1948 Philo Vance #23, "Murdock Murder Case," tensions run high at a horse racing stable where dangerous secrets lurk beneath the surface of thoroughbred training. When trainer Burke watches exercise boy Pinky work out Miss Murdoch's promising filly, the routine morning takes a sinister turn with the arrival of star jockey Billy. The cocky rider makes it clear he's mo...

Originally Aired: December 7, 1948 Philo Vance #22, "Star Studded Murder Case," brings the gentleman detective into the world of astronomical ambition and deadly rivalry. At a banquet held by the International Astronomical Society, Dr. Humphrey J. Kent receives a prestigious medal for discovering the first new planet since Pluto. However, the celebratory atmosphere quickly turns tense when Lloyd,...

Originally Aired: November 30, 1948 Philo Vance #21, "Blackjack Murder Case," opens with a heated confrontation at an exclusive rest home where something sinister lurks beneath the surface of compassionate care. Miss Westcott desperately pleads with the facility's director, Ward, to release her wealthy Aunt Alice, insisting her family has wrongfully committed the woman to gain control of her fortu...

Originally Aired: November 23, 1948 Philo Vance #20, "Tree Trunk Murder Case," finds the detective and District Attorney Markham heading to the peaceful lumber town of Northville for a much-needed vacation weekend. As they board the train, Markham expresses relief that no murder cases will interrupt their fishing trip, while Vance remains characteristically skeptical about finding such tranquility...

Originally Aired: November 16, 1948 Philo Vance #19, "Heavyweight Murder Case," Mike Daggett stands on the brink of realizing his dream: a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world. His manager Sam Billings believes Mike is a cinch to win against the current champ, but Mike finds himself torn between ambition and love. His girlfriend Billy Stanley desperately wants him to quit boxing befor...

Originally Aired: October 12, 1948 Philo Vance #14, "The Cover Girl Murder Case," In the cutthroat world of high fashion modeling, tensions reach a boiling point when jealousy and blackmail collide. Sugar Keene, the top photography and fashion model in the country, discovers that her boyfriend, prizefighter Slugger Davis, has been seeing fellow model Betty Downs. Meanwhile, photographer Stevens is...

Originally Aired: October 5, 1948 Philo Vance #13, "The Bulletin Murder Case," Reporter Eddie Harkins receives what seems like a routine assignment from her editor Mike: get an interview with the renowned private investigator Philo Vance. But before Harkins can reach Vance's office, she's found stabbed to death in the back of a taxi cab, a knife plunged into her heart. District Attorney Markham br...

Originally Aired: September 28, 1948 Philo Vance #12, "The Argus Murder Case," opens with Philo Vance returning home in the early morning hours after an evening out with District Attorney Markham. Upon arriving at his apartment, Vance encounters Edgar Walters, a desperate man who has been waiting for hours outside his building. Walters explains that his wife, a compulsive gambler, went to an offsh...

Originally Aired: September 21, 1948 Philo Vance #11, "The Backstage Murder Case," District Attorney Markham arrives at Philo Vance's office with an unexpected guest: Doris Janell, the star of a play at the King's Theater. Miss Janell has received a chilling anonymous note threatening her life if she performs the following evening. The message is direct and ominous: "If you play your role in the t...

Originally Aired: September 14, 1948 Philo Vance #10, "The Blue Lady Murder Case," a mysterious and dangerous woman known only as "the lady in blue" arrives in town, and her reputation for bringing trouble—killings, bank holdups, and kidnappings—precedes her. District Attorney Markham summons detective Philo Vance to his locked office, where informer Ricker warns them about this tall, dark, striki...

Originally Aired: September 7, 1948 Philo Vance #9, "The Midget Murder Case," Theatrical manager Billy Edwards is shot during rehearsal with his vaudeville troupe, which includes Colonel Tim the midget, trapeze artist Louise, human giant Andy Anderson, and magician Duke Miller. When District Attorney Markham discovers the tiny two-inch French pistol used in the shooting, he calls in Philo Vance to...

Originally Aired: August 31, 1948 Philo Vance #8, "The Coachman Murder Case," wealthy industrialist J. Morton Zachary is found murdered in his swimming pool, a fishing rod lying at the edge with its hook attached to his body. The victim, a renowned authority on trout fishing, has a knife in his chest and a coachman fly serving as grim bait. His young wife Grace and magazine editor David Douglas di...

Originally Aired: August 24, 1948 Philo Vance #7, "The Poetic Murder Case," finds Commissioner and Sergeant Heath under intense pressure as two dramatic critics are murdered within twelve hours of each other. Each victim is found with a mocking poem pinned to his chest with a knife. The first victim, Robert Carnes, has a verse declaring him first on a killer's list, while Roger Dakon's body bears...

Originally Aired: July 20, 1948 Philo Vance #2, "The Merry Murder Case," Renowned psychologist Joseph Merry finishes a lecture on the power of the subconscious mind when he receives a mysterious visitor in his office. Shortly afterward, Merry is found shot dead, and Detective Philo Vance finds himself in the middle of an impossible case. Alice Barkley arrives at his office claiming she killed Merr...

Originally Aired: July 13, 1948 Philo Vance #1, "The Eagle Murder Case," begins with an impossible crime that baffles the police. James Dalton, injured in a car accident alongside his wife and two business partners from the Eagle Manufacturing Company, is placed alive in an ambulance with only minor fractures. When the vehicle arrives at the hospital, however, he's dead with a knife in his side. T...

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired to locate Norma Delaney, a troubled woman who vanished after an argument with her dangerously jealous husband. The search leads through foggy Los Angeles streets to a fortune teller, a secret lover, and a trail of deception that grows darker with every clue. As Marlowe pieces together the mystery, he uncovers a chilling plan involving blackmail, murder, an...

On a night when the hot Santa Ana winds blow trouble into Los Angeles, private detective Philip Marlowe stumbles into a barroom killing that quickly turns personal. A small-time hood named Waldo is gunned down, leaving behind stolen money, a trail of blackmail, and a terrified woman desperate to recover a priceless necklace tied to a lost wartime love. As Marlowe navigates jealous husbands, hired...

When a small-time hood named Waldo turns up riddled with bullets, private detective Philip Marlowe is hired to untangle a case no one else wants. The trail leads through cheap nightclubs, frightened witnesses, and a tangle of double-crosses involving stolen money and misplaced loyalties. As suspects pile up and alibis crumble, Marlowe pieces together the truth behind a killing that was never as si...

Hired to keep a reckless young millionaire out of trouble, private detective Philip Marlowe heads to a county fair where a daredevil parachute act hides more than cheap thrills. When one of the performers plunges to her death before a stunned crowd, Marlowe uncovers sabotage, jealousy, and murder behind the colorful spectacle. As rivalries and greed collide midair, Marlowe races to stop a killer b...

In this episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, a blinding blizzard forces Marlowe off a mountain road and straight into a lodge filled with people who despise him—because six months earlier he killed Virgil Boraki in self-defense. What should have been a routine night of shelter becomes a suffocating trap of grief, resentment, and looming violence. Inside the isolated lodge, Marlowe meets Vi...

In this episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, a quiet Christmas Eve turns into a whirlwind of double-cross, murder, and international intrigue—all centered around a mysterious relic known as the Sword of Cebu. When Marlowe is visited first by a desperate stranger waving money and then by his old client Henry Polne, he’s pulled into a tangle involving a murdered pearl dealer in Manila, a smu...

In this episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, a half-dead Marlowe is jolted from a few minutes’ sleep by a terrified young woman named Carolyn Shepherd—beautiful, shaken, and certain that a man has been following her for weeks. But before Marlowe can even pour the coffee, she vanishes out of his apartment without a sound, leaving only her wallet behind. When he hunts down her address, Marlo...

In this episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, a simple missing-person search turns into a deadly game of impersonation, cover-ups, and a murder that was never supposed to see daylight. Marlowe is hired by a polite, too-slick Philadelphia lawyer named Martin Almond to find a man named Buff Ryan—an easy job on the surface, since Buff has allegedly inherited $5,000 from a deceased aunt. But wh...