Originally broadcast on NBC, 30 March 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The run
- Network
- CBS
- Years active
- 1943–1951
- Surviving broadcasts
- 76
- Genre
- noir
The Adventures of Sam Spade was first heard on ABC July 12, 1946, as a Friday-night summer series. The show clicked at once, and went into a regular fall lineup on CBS September 29, 1946. From then until 1949, Sam Spade was a Sunday-night thriller for Wildroot Cream Oil, starring Howard Duff in the title role.
1951 · 171950 · 91949 · 14
Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files
Clean transfer · 40 of 40
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Sam_Spade_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
17 dated broadcasts across 9 years on the air, with 6 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1949, in original transmission order.
- 1. Love Letter Caper AFRS · 27 Mar 1949
- 2. Stopped Watch Caper · 10 Apr 1949
- 3. Subject - Edith Hamilton AFRS · 17 Apr 1949
Hail & Farewell Caper
27 Apr 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 27 April 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Rowdy Dowser Caper
20 Apr 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 20 April 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Civic Pride Caper
13 Apr 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 13 April 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Denny Shane Caper
6 Apr 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 6 April 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Vendetta Caper
30 Mar 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 30 March 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Kimberly Cross Caper
23 Mar 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 23 March 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Sinister Siren Caper
16 Mar 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 16 March 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Spanish Prisoner Caper
9 Mar 1951 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 9 March 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Same night on the air
30 Mar 1951
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 30 Mar 1951.
Originally broadcast on NBC, 30 March 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 30 March 1951. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Also on CBS
CBS in 1943–1951
Other series the network carried while The Adventures of Sam Spade was on the air.
Same seasons
noir on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The private eye at the microphone
First-person narration, a case that walks in the door, and a city that talks back. Marlowe, Sam Spade and Johnny Dollar turned detection into a listening form.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of The Adventures of Sam Spade
Modern series carrying this form forward.
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