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The Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character
Sam Spade, created by writer
Dashiell Hammett for
The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946-1949, and finally for 51 episodes on NBC in 1949-1951. The series starred
Howard Duff (and later,
Steve Dunne) as Sam Spade and
Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie, and took a considerably more tongue-in-cheek approach to the character than the novel or movie. The series was largely overseen by producer/director
William Spier. In 1947, scriptwriters Jason James and Bob Tallman received an
Edgar Award for Best Radio Drama from the
Mystery Writers of America.
Before the series, Sam Spade had been played in radio adaptations of
The Maltese Falcon by both
Edward G. Robinson (in a 1943
Lux Radio Theater production) and by Bogart himself (in a 1946
Academy Award Theater production), both on CBS.
Dashiell Hammett's name was removed from the series in the late 1940s because he was being investigated for involvement with the
Communist Party. Later, when
Howard Duff's name appeared in the
Red Channels book, he was not invited to play the role when the series made the switch to NBC in 1950.
Television
In 1961
Broadcasting reported that Four Star Productions planned to film a
Sam Spade television pilot with Peter Falk in the title role, but no such series ever arrived on TV.
The 1946-51 series
The different...
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