Raymond Chandler Serial Thriller

New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 727, 19 June 1953, Page 15

Raymond Chandler Serial Thriller

HILIP MARLOWE, the tough-talking detective of Raymond Chandler’s crime novels, is to be heard from ZB stations soon in a radio dramatisation of two Chandler books. The serial, entitled Philip Marlowe Investigates, is adapted from the best-selling novels The Lady In The Lake and The High Window. Both stories have been filmed, the first under its own title and the second ds Time To Kiil. The first story tells of the disappearance of a woman, and how her husband, much as he hates her, hires Marlowe to trace her. Violence and the unaccount-_ able silence of many of those concerned make Marlowe’s task cats but in a ets Sits, 29> Pee CTE |) MT eee ee De el ei.

startling ending he finally reveals the true identity of the lady in the lake. At one point the detective is even warned off by the police, for Marlowe is no cosseted private-eye for whom everything is made to go right. He is ‘as tough and as shrewd as the criminals he pursues. The second story, The High Window, starts with the disappearance of a rare and valuable coin. Its wealthy, autocratic owner proves surprisingly unwilling to give information; while her secretary is frightened and diffident. Finally the secretary takes refuge in Marlowe’s flat and makes a confession. Then the coin is found. Chicago-born Raymond Chandler is one of the best modern exponents of "tough" crime fiction, but in appearance he resembles an Oxford Don, and he likes best music, travel, tea, his pipe and his "private secretary," an 18 Ib. Persian cat. Although he feels that crime does not belong at weekend parties of the English upper classes, his favourite reading is, the leisurely English detective story. Philip Marlowe Investigates was prepared for radio by Kathleen Carroll of Grace Gibson Radio Productions, Sydney, and directed by Lawrence H. Cecil, the man who produced such shows as Dossier On Dumetrius, Deadly Nightshade and Twenty-Six Hours. It will be broadcast on Tuesdays at 9.0 p.m. and Thursdays at 7.30 p.m., beginning from 1ZB on June 23, from 2ZB on July 7, from 3ZB on July 21, and from 4ZB on August 6.