Get this and get it straight. Crime is a suckers road and those who travel it'd wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

The story you were about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective.

The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Prize

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Yours truly, Johnny Deller. And the Hello and welcome to Down These Mean Streets.

On this week's episode we're celebrating the anniversary of Philip Marlow's debut as a radio detective,

as well as the birthday of the actor who memorably played Raymond Chandler's private eye on the air. The Adventures of Philip Marlow first came to radio as a weekly series on June 17, 1947.

It was a summer run starring Van Heflin as Marlow, but when the show returned in the fall of

1948, actor Gerald Moore assumed the role and made it his own.

Born June 11, 1914, Gerald Moore had one of the greatest voices of the era,

and his performances, Marlow, ranks at the top of the list of the best radio characters.

More starred as Marlow in over 100 episodes between 1948 and 1951.

It probably comes as no surprise that I'm a massive fan of both Gerald Moore and his

Philip Marlow portrayal.

After all, it's his voice that opens every episode of this show, declaring that

crime is a suckers road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the

prison, or the grave.

Moore's powerful portrayal turned the radio Marlow into a tough, funny, but ultimately

sensitive man whose cynicism hadn't completely overtaken him, very much in keeping with the

errant knight with a chivalrous code conceived by Chandler. Today we'll hear

...