Episode 662 - Statues for the Sleuths: Van Heflin (Philip Marlowe & Man Called X)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Jack Mooney
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2026
⏱️ 129 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For the final installment in our month-long series of Oscar-winning radio detective stars, we shine the spotlight on Van Heflin. The star of Shane and 3:10 to Yuma won his Best Supporting Actor prize for his work in Johnny Eager, but on radio he starred as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe in the character's first regular series. We'll hear him as the Los Angeles gumshoe in three radio mysteries - "Red Wind" (originally aired on NBC on June 17, 1947), "The King in Yellow" (originally aired on NBC on July 8, 1947), and "Robin and the Hood" (originally aired on NBC on August 19, 1947). Plus, Heflin pinch hits for Herbert Marshall on The Man Called X (originally aired on NBC on May 25, 1951).
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Get this and get it straight. |
| 0:02.1 | Crime is a sucker's road. |
| 0:03.9 | And those who travel |
| 0:04.6 | it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave. |
| 0:12.3 | The story you were about to hear is true. |
| 0:15.2 | Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. |
| 0:18.6 | The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective. |
| 0:21.7 | The Adventures of the Saint, |
| 0:23.4 | starring Vincent Price. |
| 0:25.5 | Bob Bailey, in the exciting adventures |
| 0:27.7 | of the man with the action-packed expense account. |
| 0:30.6 | America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator... |
| 0:33.4 | Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. |
| 1:04.4 | ... Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Hello and welcome to Down These Mean Streets with more old-time radio detectives and crime solvers. |
| 1:13.6 | All month long, we featured radio detective stars who took home Oscars for their big screen work. And today we bring this miniseries to a close with Van Heflin. Best known for his performances in Shane and |
| 1:21.7 | 310 to Yuma, Heflin won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Johnny Eager. |
| 1:29.3 | But to radio detective fans, Van Heflin has the distinction of being the first actor to play |
| 1:35.3 | Philip Marlowe in a weekly radio series. |
| 1:38.3 | Hefflin starred as Raymond Chandler's legendary Private Eye in a 1947 summer show, a series that adapted several of Chandler's legendary private eye in a 1947 summer show, a series that adapted several |
| 1:47.7 | of Chandler's short stories into radio plays. |
| 1:52.1 | Today, we'll hear three of those Philip Marlowe mysteries with Van Heflin, beginning with |
| 1:57.9 | the show's first episode and one of my favorite old-time radio shows ever. |
... |
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